LTA EGL & DR: Municipal youth work and youth participation in big cities and capitals

We are looking for participants who work in local governments of cities either capitals or big cities (the number of inhabitants was given as a guide, taking into account the size of each of your countries). Since there are 20 places for participants and we are looking for 2 people from each city, we will give absolute priority to 10 large cities to ensure mutual learning and exchange between practitioners with similar background and context.

The study visit will provide an opportunity to understand how local youth policies, facilities for youth are managed in the City of Paris and to share experiences and practices with other major European cities.

The specific objectives of the activity are to:

- Understand how the City of Paris manages local youth policy, with a particular focus on youth participation and the management of local youth work services and facilities,

- To share experiences and look at approaches and methods of youth work in different neighbourhoods of Paris and other cities,

- Exploring ways to involve local youth in municipal policy-making decisions,

- Reflection on the quality aspects of local youth work and municipal youth participation based on the instruments of the partnerships Europe Goes Local (Charter of Local Youth Work) and Democracy Reloading (Competence Framework).

The expected profile of the participants
Interested practitioners must apply in tandem (in pairs) as follows:
1. One practitioner working within the youth policy department or unit of the municipal administrative authority (head of youth department, youth policy officer, etc.)
2. A young person (age between 18 and 26 years, selected by the municipal administration) who has experience on municipal participation (organisation of local youth activities, participation in local youth council etc.)

Methodology of the activity

We will work in a dynamic and stimulating environment.

The event will include:

- presentations on the local youth policy of Paris,

- visit of different local youth facilities,

- fair of different local youth work actions and methods,

- exchange of experiences and practices among participants,

- reflection on quality aspects of local youth work and youth participation based on Europe Goes Local and Democracy Reloading reference tools,

- meetings with members of the Paris youth city council (Conseil Parisien de la Jeunesse).