This presentation summarises the review of literature and policy documentation undertaken as part of the YouthMetre Project. YouthMetre is a youth-based project funded as a forward-looking project to engage and empower young people in affecting policy making.

1. How to empower youth to
become engaged & make an
impact on policy?
http://www.youthmetre.eu

2. Summary of literature on
youth policy and associated
research
http://www.youthmetre.eu

3. European Youth Strategy
• EU Youth Strategy, agreed by EU
Ministers, sets out a framework for
cooperation covering 2010-2018
• EU Member States have overall
responsibility for their own youth
policy (subsidiarity) i.e. not the EU

4. European Youth Strategy
EYS has two main objectives:
•Provide more and equal opportunities for
young people in education and the job
market
•Encourage young people to actively
participate in society

5. European Youth Strategy
• Education & training
• Employment &
entrepreneurship
• Health & well-being
• Participation
• Voluntary activities
• Social inclusion
• Youth & the world
• Creativity & culture
EYS indicates initiatives in eight areas:

6. Education & Training
• shapes place of young people in the world
• EU policy lacks power of enforcement
• resistance to country performance targets
• youth activities are also non-formal
• policy on recognition of youth work
• innovative approaches, not widespread
Review of policy and research

7. Employment &
Entrepreneurship
• smart, sustainable and inclusive economy
• youth employability a key policy objective
• policies should link to needs of youth
• transition from education to the workplace
• more entrepreneurship education
• but, little evidence of what works
Review of policy and research

8. Health & Well Being
• advantages of a healthy lifestyle
• links to inclusion and employment
• some policy aims to reduce risky behaviour
• big differences between countries
• promotion of physical activity
• healthy education policy: drugs, sex, alcohol
Review of policy and research

9. Participation
• policies encourage participation
• increasingly low levels in youngsters’
socio-political involvement
• impact of mass media and Internet
• need to involve youth in creating policies
• capacity building processes important
Review of policy and research

10. Voluntary Activities
• voluntary activities a form of social action
• based on free will, choice and motivation
• citizenship construction
• needs efficient volunteering infrastructures
• disseminate information on opportunities
• regular and systematic research important
Review of policy and research

11. Social Inclusion
• young people most affected by exclusion
• multidimensional issue
• policies to fight exclusion and poverty
• combat feelings of uncertainty and
alienation
• shift from state to civil society / individuals
• competences for Democratic Culture
(CoE)
Review of policy and research

12. Youth & the World
• globalisation impacts on life chances of
young people – identity, citizenship, work
• example: effects of migration flows
• need to consult youth
• require proper global education to
construct global identity
• remove barriers to integration: radicalisation
Review of policy and research

13. Creativity & Culture
• culture stimulates creativity and opportunity
• close links with digital technologies
• impact on education, training, employment
• based on communication and cultural
consumption
• fuelled by multilingualism and mobility
• young people disadvantaged
Review of policy and research

14. Web: http://www.youthmetre.eu
News http://tinyurl.com/YouthMetre1
Email: j.mahlerova@youthpress.org
Twitter: @youthmetre