16 National Agencies and SALTO Youth Resource Centres joined forces in a Strategic Cooperation project to “Strengthening youth work in Europe by supporting the implementation of the European Youth Work Agenda!”. Get some insights in this article.
16 National Agencies of the Erasmus+ Youth programme, the European Solidarity Corps and SALTO Youth Resource Centres are working together on a project called SNAC EYWA, or the official title “Strengthening youth work in Europe by supporting the implementation of the European Youth Work Agenda! (SNAC EYWA)”
First perhaps it is important to deal with the acronyms. SNAC stands for “Strategic National Agencies’ Cooperation” and EYWA is the “European Youth Work Agenda”. There are many different SNAC projects taking place all over Europe with National Agencies and the Resource Centres. This article will explore a little bit of what this SNAC is about.
SNAC EYWA is a cooperation project that supports the implementation of the European Youth Work Agenda. This is through the EU youth programmes and through specific thematic events for the community of practice, and it is operating as part of the Bonn Process.
It was important to bring people together to learn from each other, to develop strategic direction and start or maintain cooperation.
The concept behind the SNAC is to contribute to the common vision of making youth work stronger and of developing it further across Europe. The mission of the SNAC has several elements, these include: continuing work on the recognition of youth work, ensuring that youth work is accessible to all young people regardless of their identity, where they come from, where they live, or any other circumstances and barriers. To support youth work in being innovative, making youth work visible, seen and heard, and ensuring that youth work is future-fit and able to meet any need or crisis that may affect young people into the future.
The SNAC EYWA was established after the 3rd European Youth Work Convention and has been working on this mission in the current project phase from 2021 until now. From 2024 onwards the partners will re-shape their work and continue their engagement for youth work development within the Bonn Process.
It was important to bring people together to learn from each other, to develop strategic direction and start or maintain cooperation. The SNAC provided several opportunities for this, for example there was the “Bonn Process Meet-up”. This was an annual digital event that created a space for anyone in the community of practice to share about their engagement or steps forward in the eight priority areas of the European Youth Work Agenda.
In addition to this, and in support of national processes, there were the bi-monthly online “Bonn Process Coffee Talks on National Processes” and there was the annual residential event, the “Bonn Process Exchange Forum on National Processes”. These formats addressed the national contact points and other key players responsible for managing and supporting the Bonn Process implementation in the Member States.
In 2022, the Bonn Process website was launched. This creates a central digital space to inform about the Bonn Process, store materials related to the 3rd European Youth Work Convention of 2020, and it contains information and stories to inspire and support the community of practice as a whole.
2023 saw the establishment of the Bonn Process newsletter, this provides insights into youth work development that is taking place in different countries connected to the Bonn Process. Its aim is to inspire by sharing country reports, information on relevant events and conferences, and showcase specific youth work activities that are happening around Europe – at national or European level.
The Bonn Process team has also been running social media channels on Facebook and Instagram.
The eight priority areas of the Bonn Process cover a wide variety of topics. At different times the SNAC focused on a specific topic. Between the 4th and 7th December 2023, there was a conference in Zagreb organised through the SNAC, titled, “Value and Recognition of Youth Work”.
This brought together approximately 80 people from the community of practice to explore the four dimensions of recognition: self, social, political and formal. The conference explored strategies and good practices that are happening all over Europe and highlighted the value of youth work – a full article about this will be in the first newsletter of 2024.
This area promoted and showcased what the National Agencies and Erasmus+ Youth and European Solidarity Corps can offer. It highlighted the funding and support that is available. The SNAC partners developed materials on how to link funded projects with the Bonn Process and thus support the implementation of activities to develop youth work further in local and very specific ways.
The possibilities are endless.
There are different funding formats that can be used for different purposes, for example: an inclusive youth exchange to close gaps in the local youth work offer; a cooperation partnership project for increasing quality or developing advocacy strategies for youth centres, youth worker mobility around an innovative approach towards AI, mental health, peace-building or civic engagement… the possibilities are endless.
Right now, the partners of the SNAC are planning for the working period 2024 to 2026. A future Bonn Process newsletter will present and promote to the community of practice the future plans of the SNAC and the many opportunities for getting involved.