We are now entering the final stage of your ESC Space flight: the cosmic dimension of Quality! In this module, you will learn about quality within the European Solidarity Corps and the strategic documents that define it, and find out how we cooperate to improve quality within the programme structures.

Programme priorities. Illustration: Laura Mellanen | Vaste

European policy frameworks

Understanding the basic structures, processes, documents and stakeholders of European youth policy is essential for a National Agency or SALTO employee. It takes time to see the “big policy picture”, but you cannot reach for the stars or catch the moon without studying a bit of astronomy. In what follows, we present the basics to navigate the cosmic dimension of quality.

EU Youth Strategy & EU Youth Goals

The EU Youth Strategy (EYS) is the framework for European cooperation in the youth field for 2019-2027.

The Youth Strategy promises to help more young people get the opportunities they need to succeed in life. It focuses on three essential fields of action:

• Engage: encourage youth participation in civic and democratic life.
• Connect: provide opportunities for young people in the EU to get to know one other through learning mobility, solidarity and intercultural understanding.
• Empower: promote youth empowerment through high-quality, innovative, and recognised youth work.

The EU Youth Strategy is built on the 11 EU Youth Goals developed within the 2017-2018 EU Youth Dialogue process. They are the result of a dialogue with over 50.000 young people and represent the views of young people across Europe.

Youth Goals present a vision for a Europe where young people can reach their full potential. They identify cross-sectoral areas that impact the lives of young people and point out the challenges to be addressed.

Watch the video to discover the 11 Youth Goals.

The Youth Goals are a vision of the preferred future outlined by a number of young people. Given that EU youth programmes are an instrument for implementing EU youth policy, we should do our best to help reach the goals of youth.

Council Recommendation on the mobility of young volunteers across the European Union

A Council Recommendation is a non-binding act adopted by the Council of the European Union. They are used to express the Council’s views on a particular issue and to suggest a course of action for EU member states. Council recommendations can cover a wide range of issues, and they often guide national policy and decision-making.

In 2020, an expert group involving SALTO ESC, developed a background paper to support the European Commission in reviewing the Council Recommendation of 2008 on the mobility of young volunteers across the European Union. The other important supporting documents for the review included the Report on the implementation of the EU Youth Strategy and the Vision of the European Education Area by 2025.

The new Council Recommendation on young volunteer mobility across the European Union was adopted in 2022. The updated version reflects changes that have occurred since 2008, giving member states recommendations on how to remove or reduce the persisting barriers of transnational volunteering.

The reflected changes include:

• the evolution of the volunteering landscape,
• mobility issues related to unforeseen circumstances and the health, safety and security of volunteers,
• recognition and validation of the learning outcomes that support the volunteers’ personal, educational, social, civic and professional development and their employability,
• inclusion of more young people with less opportunities in a volunteering experience,
• demographic challenges, including Europe’s ageing population,
• new trends in volunteering, such as digital volunteering and ‘commercial’ volunteering,
• growing concerns around environmental impacts and sustainable mobility.

The most important obstacles, according to the study on removing obstacles to cross-border solidarity activities, include:

• the diversity of national administrative and regulatory frameworks for volunteering,
• the lack of practical online information on matters such as the social security or the European Health Insurance Card,
• lack of awareness of the value of a volunteer experience and the underuse of provisions to validate the skills a volunteer acquires through volunteering,
• lack of volunteering opportunities for young people with fewer opportunities,
• unclear rules to support and protect volunteers, including in times of crisis,
• lack of synergy between EU and national schemes targeting transnational volunteering activities.

Considering the developments and changes in the volunteering field and working towards removing or reducing obstacles is crucial to ensuring the effective functioning of the European Solidarity Corps across the EU. This is why the SALTO ESC coordinates a long-term activity closely linked to the Council Recommendation to Strengthen European Youth Volunteering. All details and outcomes of the SNAC volunteering can be found on our website.

European Youth Work Agenda

The European youth work agenda (EYWA) is a policy and practice framework aimed at enhancing and developing quality, innovation, and recognition in youth work. In 2020, the European Union and the Council of Europe took their cooperation on youth work and youth work development to the next level by establishing the European Youth Work Agenda, which is an important step towards the recognition of youth work.

The EYWA promotes knowledge-based youth work and links political decisions to their practical implementation. It also strengthens youth work as a distinct field of work that can act as an equal partner with other policy areas.

The Agenda implementation process is called the ‘Bonn Process’. It includes the youth community of practice on the development and proposal of implementation strategies, measures and priorities.

To better understand the process and the content of the EYWA, sit back and watch the video explanation.

Programme Priorities and Strategies

The European Solidarity Corps has specific programme priorities which contribute to a better understanding of quality.

The priorities are: inclusion and diversity, digital transformation as well as environmental protection, sustainable development and climate action. The permanent priorities are thoroughly explained in the ESC Guide. The sustainable development priority has a strong link to the EU Green Deal objectives. Furhermore, the European Commission also highlights the importance of health promotion and Covid-19 recovery.

Additionally, the EU Youth Programmes have common programme strategies that lay strategic expectations towards the programmes implementation. These strategies include:

• European Training Strategy:
  • Development of quality youth work,
  • Competence-based approach to education and training,
  • Future generation of youth workers.
• Youth Participation:
  • Youth voices in decision-making,
  • Civi action and youth activism,
  • Common vision of youth participation.
• Cooperation with Neighbouring Partner Countries:
  • Bringing the cooperation back on the agenda,
  • Open TCA/NET activities for NPCs,
  • Development and recognition of youth work in the NPCs,
  • European (Union) awareness.

The specific objectives of Programme Strategies linked to inclusion and diversity and Youthpass are reflected in other paragraphs (in the context of the LTA/SNAC Volunteering and Youthpass tool).

Quality-enhancing cooperation projects among National Agencies and SALTO Resource Centres

In the previous module we mentioned the LTAs – long-term activities or strategic partnerships of National Agencies (SNAC) – explaining that they are the main tools for quality development in EU Youth Programmes. You will now learn what is currently happening in the LTA sphere and how these activities relate to the development of quality within the ESC.

Research-based Analysis and Monitoring of European Youth Programmes

The RAY Network is a self-managed open European research network in which 35 National Agencies of the Erasmus+ Youth in Action and the European Solidarity Corps programmes and their research partners are currently involved. The network in coordinated by the Finnish NA.

The network conducts research on international youth work and youth learning mobility,

• promotes dialogue between research, policy and practice,
• contributes to evidence-based youth policy-making across Europe.

RAY’s work is divided into research projects that focus on different aspects and are designated by their abbreviations (RAY DIGI, RAY INNO, RAY MON etc.).

The RAY SOC research project is focused on implementing the European Solidarity Corps. The research-based analysis and monitoring of the ESC explores a wide range of aspects of the programme and shares the research findings with different players and stakeholders.

So far, the RAY Network has published a preliminary study in 2020, which we conducted, exploring the implementation of the ESC during its first year. A thematic study, based on interviews with NA staff and key stakeholders, will be released in 2023. In addition, the questionnaires for RAY SOC have been updated and the surveys will be opened in the first half of 2023 – meaning that a new transnational report on the impact of the programme will follow.

Strengthening youth work in Europe by supporting the implementation of the European Youth Work Agenda

The LTA/SNAC EYWA, coordinated by the German NA, strengthens and develops youth work in Europe and is an integral part of the Bonn Process.

The European Youth Work Agenda stresses the importance of the Erasmus+ Youth and the European Solidarity Corps as crucial tools for European-wide implementation of the Agenda. National Agencies and SALTO Resource Centres serve as intermediary bodies between various stakeholders of the youth work community of practice, between European and member States, and between youth work policy and practice.

Partners: AU, BE-FL, EE, DE (coordinator), HU, IT, LT, MT, NL, PT, SI, TR, SALTO TC, SALTO ESC, SALTO SEE and SALTO EECA.

EuroPeers and the power of peer-driven and youth friendly communication and youth engagement LTA

EuroPeers are young people who have participated in EU youth programmes and want to share their experiences and promote these opportunities to others.

The EuroPeers LTA is coordinated by the Estonian NA and supports several youth policy objectives and programme priorities by:

• encouraging youth to become active citizens and agents of solidarity and positive change in their own communities,
• supporting the inclusion of all youth by paying special attention to young people with fewer opportunities,
• contributing to community-building and strengthening ties among young people across Europe,
• allowing young people to participate in the production, dissemination and evaluation of youth information (in line with the European Youth Information Charter).

EuroPeers can be a great addition to your National Agency’s communication activities and/or to the work of the Eurodesk – most EuroPeers are former volunteers, with valuable first-hand experience in the ESC programme. EuroPeers can organise or participate in events and workshops, give presentations or storytelling in many creative ways.

Partners: AU, BE-DE, BE-FL, DE, EE (coordinator), FI, FR, IT, LV, NL, NO, PL, RO

N.B. There is also a network called European Solidarity Network (EuSN). This network was initiated by the European Commission, and is currently producing podcasts.

Other long-term activities

In total, there are approximately 20 long-term activities involving both National Agencies and SALTO Resource Centres, all of which support quality in EU youth programmes.

Working groups

Working groups are a small yet important part of quality improvement. We, SALTO ESC, coordinate two working groups that have a significant role in developing the programme. For experienced NA/SALTO officers, participating in a working group is an excellent opportunity to contribute to the development of quality within the ESC!

In addition, the European Commission coordinates a number of working/steering groups. The groups focus on the following themes:

• Digital transformation
• Green transition
• Inclusion
• Accreditation & Quality Label.

We, as SALTO ESC RC, have a position in the groups that focus on Inclusion and Accreditation & Quality Label.

Recognition of learning outcomes – Youthpass

For young people, recognising and validating learning outcomes is a significant quality aspect of the ESC experience. The Youthpass is a European recognition instrument used to identify and document learning outcomes acquired in the context of Erasmus+ Youth projects and the European Solidarity Corps programmes.

The Youthpass process encourages individual reflection and fosters awareness of learning. It makes learning results visible to both learners and others. Using Youthpass reinforces reflection practices in youth work and solidarity activities, thus improving their quality and recognition.

Youthpass certificates are available for all types of activities within the ESC, and all project participants are entitled to a Youthpass. Youthpass is developed by SALTO Training and Cooperation RC.

Watch the video “Let’s talk about Youthpass” to learn more about it.