With a shared mission to provide young people with quality information and opportunities, EYCA, ERYICA and Eurodesk have enjoyed a longstanding partnership. Since formalising our cooperation with a Memorandum of Understanding in 2016, we have developed several actions together.

Engage. Inform. Empower.

The cooperation between the three networks kicked off in October 2016 with a joint position paper. to inform the next EU Youth Strategy. Entitled Engage. Inform. Empower., the position paper elaborates on the recommendations of the three networks and stresses the importance of making youth information and mobility opportunities available to all young Europeans.

In terms of youth information, the three networks called for support in making quality youth information easily available to all young people, further developing information tools such as the European Youth Portal and more focus on involving young people in the production of youth information. To ensure the provision of quality youth information across the EU, the networks recommended the development of an ambitious Youth Information Strategy as one of the pillars of the new EU Youth Strategy.

The networks also called for youth mobility to be recognised as one of the key pillars of the EU Youth Strategy in order to encourage member states to mainstream youth mobility in their national policies, thus developing programmes and opportunities that would offer access to a learning, volunteering or working mobility experiences to all young people. EYCA, ERYICA and Eurodesk believe that every young citizen should have the right to participate at least once in European and international mobility programmes. This involves supporting young people from disadvantaged groups to overcome potential barriers to have access to mobility opportunities. In addition, the Erasmus+ programme should be expanded as it represents one of the most successful European programmes and can contribute enormously to building a more open, tolerant and resilient society.

For the full text of the position paper, please click here.

Joint training for youth workers

The position paper was followed by a training for youth workers from across the three networks. The training took place in Brussels, from the 5th to the 7th of April 2017 and brought together 34 youth workers from 18 countries and communications specialists. The aim of the training was to explore new ways to reach more young people so that youth work and youth information services become accessible to as many young people as possible.

Good practice from across the three networks

In July 2017, the three networks launched a joint publication showcasing models of good practice from their members on how to effectively reach out to young people. The publication aims to inspire youth workers in their daily effort to increase the quality of their services and serves as a tool for policy-makers to advance youth work & youth mobility at all levels.

The collection encompasses models of good practice from across Europe: from Finland to Cyprus, from Portugal to Turkey and Lithuania. They show the diversity, creativity and effectiveness of digital tools and non-formal education in engaging young people as active citizens.

Louise Macdonald, President of EYCA, said: "Across Europe there are innovative and exciting examples of how organisations are creating opportunities for young people, encouraging youth mobility and sharing youth information tools and practices. We can all learn from one another and EYCA, ERYICA and Eurodesk are powerful networks that support youth organisations to better serve the young people of Europe. We hope you find the information in this resource inspiring."

Please click here to read the publication.