Youth in the News
Youth in the News | May 2013 Edition. More than 90 articles showcase which youth issues are reported and which are ignored, and paint an intricate picture of how young people and youth policies are covered in the media across the globe. Our extensive overview covers 13 thematic areas, including the employment crisis, politics and participation, online privacy and rights, health and wellbeing, crime and justice, violence and conflict, migration and development, and Post-2015 and the United Nations. More
Introducing our new podcast
With our new youthpolicy podcast “Stirring up the grounds” we want to look beyond and behind the high-flying rhetorics of youth policies and politics. With our guests we discuss and explore which policies for young people work, which don’t, and why. For the first episode, published today, the new UN Youth Envoy, Ahmad Alhendawi, joins us to look at his first work plan, to reflect on the commitments he has now made, and to discuss how youth policy and the youth sector have to change. More
“Role models and identity” – Youth workers are often presented as mentors and role models for young people. Is this necessarily the case?
‘People seldom improve when they have no other model but themselves to copy.’ (Oliver Goldsmith) Very few of us can fail to have recognised the significant influence of individuals during our life time, especially at key stages of our own development. Individuals who we held in such high regard that consequentially led us to challenge our own levels aspirations through a desire to replicate their behaviour and attributes. If we Start reading this book…
International Youth Work
International youth work – put this into any search engine and you will come up with the usual suspects – international NGOs, university courses and conferences. All perfectly reasonable, presumably all engaging in important work to further the lives of young people. However, far from the rounds of supportive statements on youth at global summits or continental cooperation projects, around the world there are countless small projects, rooted in their local communities, maybe only working with a small number of young people, who form the backbone of youth work internationally. More
Alice in Bosnialand
My local Bosnian friends often joke at my expense. They are saying that I’m Alice in Wonderland because I still believe I can make a difference even though our reality is still painted with dark colors of politics, segregation, hatred, religious and ethnic divisions, social powerlessness…. They are saying, just look at the world we live in – look at all the grief, pain and sorrow; look at the country in which we live in… Whence any enthusiasm that something will change for the better? More
Education, Climate Change & Sustainable Development
This week /environment is focusing education. We hear from the UK where moves are being made to remove climate change from the national curriculum, and from Kennedy Mbeva on opportunities for young people to influence the shape of education for sustainable development. More
Youth and Public Policy in Estonia
Estonia, with its eventful recent history, is an ageing society: Young people only make up 22 percent of the total population, a percentage which is dropping quickly. Our youth policy audit documents that institutionalized and permanent cooperation is lacking, that minorities remain particularly vulnerable and are likely to be ignored by society and policy alike, that youth budgets are often the first to be cut, and that youth involvement in policy development is still too tokenistic and irregular. More
A dire lack of Global Ambition – time for Europe to lead
The European Union comprises some of our planet’s richest and most technologically advanced nations and accounts for around 17% of global emissions. It’s time for the EU to take a lead on climate action. More
Which structures really change the world?
Despite the growing list of global problems, international institutions are unable to act with the speed, urgency and gravity needed. /participation asks five leading figures from the world of global activism, politics, campaigning and the UN for their perspective on: “What are the real structures that change the world?” More
Of women, environment and climate change
From the women who have organized themselves into groups that provide alternative livelihoods to those taking care of important ecosystems such as forests, we celebrate you all; no wonder we always talk of Mother Earth! More