The European Commission launches its initiative ‘Investing in Europe’s Youth”
On 7 December the European Commission launched its new flagship initiative “Investing in Europe’s Youth”. One of the main parts of this new initiative is the European Solidarity Corps, announced by President Juncker during his State of the Union address in September. The initiative also includes proposals to encourage apprenticeship mobility through ‘ErasmusPro’ as well as a quality framework for apprenticeships. Whilst the European Youth Forum (YFJ) welcomes both action on young people’s issues at such a high level, they believe it would have benefited from further engagement and consultation with youth organisations. Read the YFJ reaction here. In the meantime the European Youth Forum and MEPs has been calling for EU leaders to prioritise the youth in the current negotiations on the revision of the Multi-Annual Financial Framework. In fact further efforts need to be taken to invest more in young people, particularly in supporting them to get a quality job through the Youth Employment Initiative which is central to the implementation of the Youth Guarantee.
Mobility Scoreboard launched!
The European Commission launched the Mobility Scoreboard, developed to follow up on the 2011 ‘Youth on the Move’ Recommendation of the Council of the European Union promoting the learning mobility of young people. The purpose of the Mobility Scoreboard is to provide a framework for monitoring progress made by European countries in promoting, and removing obstacles to, learning mobility. Mobility helps students grow academically and socially, with positive repercussions for their future employability. It also has a positive impact on education systems and institutions, pushing them to have a more open, international outlook, and improving quality. The Mobility Scoreboard has been jointly developed by Eurydice (EACEA), for higher education, and CEDEFOP, for Initial Vocational Education and Training (IVET). A common online platform features dynamic maps that allow the user to understand at a glance the policy environment for learning mobility in Europe.
Investment in education and a lifelong learning approach: Only way to reach ET2020 targets
This year’s Education and Training Monitor highlights the persistent challenges Europe has been facing for years, such as youth unemployment or uneven educational opportunities, with a particular focus on integrating migrants and refugees in education and training systems, and stresses the strong need for more investment in education. However, as suggested by the LLLPlatform in its Press Release, the benchmarks used need to be thought critically with monitorable and qualitative aspects, in order to avoid another irrelevant ranking of Member States that forgets to reflect the diverse realities in Europe.
Pact4Youth: business-education partnerships
On 24 November, the STEM Alliance conference: Skilling up the next generation for an innovative Europe – together! was held in Brussels under the auspices of the Pact4Youth, a mutual engagement of business and the European Union leaders, initiated by CSR Europe, to support youth employability and inclusion.Business and political leaders, as well as other involved stakeholders representing the educational sector and youth put forward the proposal to “make business-education partnerships the “new norm” across Europe.”
The Youth Forum and its members at the UN Forum on Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law.
On 21-22 November in Geneva the United Nations gave a strong signal that it places a significant priority on the active participation of young people in public decision making. Read more here.
LLLPlatform launches Feasibility Study on National Stakeholder Forums
The LLLPlatform has just launched an online survey on the feasibility of national lifelong learning platforms in Europe. This comes as a follow-up to the Feasibility Study on National Stakeholder Forums it had already run in 2012. This 2016 version is meant as an update to the 2012 Study. The survey targets Austrian, Hungarian, Portuguese, Slovakian and Swedish member organisations of European networks in the field of Education. The results of the survey, combining quantitative study and qualitative interviews conducted in these 5 countries, will be analysed and compiled into a mini-study/final report. On the basis of the report, a strategy proposal will be shared with LLLPlatform members.
Yo! Fest 2017
The 8th Edition of YO!Fest (Youth Opinion Festival), the annual political youth-led festival organised by the European Youth Forum, will be held in Maastricht and will be a space for young people to discuss their vision for Europe. The event will be run in partnership with the City of Maastricht and Province of Limburg and will be a key event for the “Europe Calling” celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Maastricht Treaty.
More than education – European Citizens’ Initiative has been launched!
The initiative that aims to bring Civic Education on the European political agenda for a more democratic and educated Europe. In order to achieve this we are using the first-ever tool for direct democracy at the transnational level: the European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI)!
The challenge that we have taken up is to collect 1.000.000 signatures from at least 7 EU Member States, and thereby to force the European Commission to discuss our ideas on strengthening Civic Education in Europe. We want more than education! Do you? SIGN here: www.morethaneducation.eu
Take part in the We are Youth Work campaign!
We Are Youth Work app is launched! Millions of young people take part in and benefit from youth work, but they do not shout about it! Join the campaign and spread the word about youth work across Europe.
Check these publications:
LLLWeek2016 Main Outcomes and Presentations
Study on obstacles to recognition of skills and qualifications
The Structure of the European Education Systems 2016/17
Handbook for History Learning and Human Rights Education, DARE network
A Union of shared values: The role of education and civil society
Children’s Participation: From tokenism to citizenship
Source: European Youth Forum and Lifelong Learning Platforms newsletters, period 19th October-8 December 2016