Key take-aways from the Youth Work Talks Conference
It was a nice and sunny day in October in Rotterdam - the birthplace of Erasmus. And what a better place to be at and talk about youth work? From 6 to 9 October 2025, more than 80 people from youth work and related sectors across Europe gathered at the conference Youth Work Talks Conference which was titled “Space for (youth) growth. Building cross-sectoral alliances in the changing political climate”. They all came to tackle one of the most important questions facing youth work sector today: How can different sectors work together to support young people?
And the answer to this question is… well, it’s both simpler and more complicated than we think.
The conference was kicked-off with an interesting key-note speech from Dermot O’Brien, who has worked in youth work, university teaching, training, facilitation, and even stepped into politics. He shared with us how the current turbulent era is characterized by disorder, instability, chaos, and unpredictability. This turbulence directly impacts young people and shapes the context in which cross-sectoral cooperation has to operate. Five big pressures young people are carrying, explained by Dermot, are the following: the constant noise that turns into protective numbness when it gets too much; a future that feels fragile and hard to plan for when housing, work, peace, and even the planet look uncertain; inherited burdens where young people are told to “be the change” in a world they didn’t build; a deep hunger for belonging that can be hijacked by isolation or divisive groups; and “civic silence” where young people pour energy into cause, but zoom out and see powerful institutions doing little. Underneath all of it, he argued, is a wider fracture in the “rules-based order” - when rules seem optional for those with power, it’s not a surprise that trust collapses.
In this context, cross-sectoral cooperation should not be perceived as a “nice extra”: it’s one of the few ways to give young people proof that things can work differently. A simple test could be used: if our collaborations just mirror the same chaos and hypocrisy young people see outside, we prove nothing; but if we can show health, sport, youth work, education (and other) sectors pulling in the same direction, even imperfectly, we build imagination and hope grounded in reality.
Besides the key-note input, during the conference there were several panels held, where participants had the opportunity to learn from examples of good practice. Also, they had a chance to visit several organisations in Rotterdam, who shared their stories of successful cooperation with other sectors.
Several times during the conference, we have heard that without financial stability youth work cannot be an equal partner in cross-sectoral cooperation. However, it's not just about money. Yes, financial stability matters. But it's also about time - youth workers don't have time to invest in cooperation if they're running youth centers alone. It's about recognition - other sectors (especially schools) don't always see youth work as an adequate partner. It's about bureaucracy - there are too many rules from each donor. And it's about understanding - many sectors simply don't understand what non-formal learning entails.
And no matter all the challenges, there are some examples of good practice that could be a source of inspiration for all of us.
Three years ago, Poland didn't have consistent national policy for youth work and youth work was not recognised. But something had shifted after Lublin became the European Youth Capital in 2023. Several NGO’s formed a coalition and realized that they need to bring municipalities and ministries to the table. From the first talks and coming today, a coalition has grown to over 40 organisations - including institutions and NGO’s who are all working together. They created standards for youth work, but also secured long-term funding for youth work programmes. In just two years, the situation changed from the narrative that says that “youth work doesn’t exist” to “youth work is a recognised sector”.
And if Poland's story is about quick change, Belgium’s story is about patience and investment paying off. For 25 years, the city of Ghent has been quietly investing in cross-sectoral cooperation. When they won the European Youth Capital in 2024, it was just celebrating the success and cooperation they had before. "We didn't create a programme and hand it to youth organisations. We had 180 youth organisations in the city. If we were really talking about co-creation and youth participation, then it was up to them to create the programme.", it was mentioned at the Conference. Youth organisations partnered and brought in people from completely different worlds: skate urbanism experts, opera academy students, hip-hop artists, poets… The municipality did not direct the work, but rather connect what already existed.
These two stories show us that all stakeholders need to be open, persistent and forward-looking toward the same goal: a better ecosystem for youth work and young people.
Through discussions in smaller groups, panel discussions, study visits to organisations in Rotterdam and peer sharing, participants mapped several factors that can be relevant in cross-sectorial cooperation:
At the end of the conference participants made individual commitments. Quite different commitments were shared, from fostering collaboration between sectors, walking in young people’s shoes, building bridges between young people and different sectors to exploring new opportunities and rethinking approaches based on what they learn. These kind actions and commitment - small steps - usually lead to change and are the best first step in cross-sectorial cooperation.
As the conference showed us, cross-sectorial cooperation is possible and definitely not easy. It requires money, but also patience, humility, listening, and a willingness to start small and build from there.
If you're working in youth services, education, health, culture, or civic engagement, the message from our conference in Rotterdam is clear: young people care about being seen, heard, and supported. This means breaking down the walls between your world and the worlds of people doing similar work in different sectors. It means starting conversations. It means being willing to learn from people who do things differently than the youth work sector.
And we all came home with questions in our heads: What could be the first move that makes collaboration easier tomorrow than it is today in our context? Because in turbulent times, small steps are not small at all. They’re how new systems begin.