Since the early 2000s, acceptance of the positive role that youth work based on the principles of non-formal education plays for the social integration, active citizenship and the employability of young people has grown significantly. This growing awareness has put youth work and non-formal learning high on the political agenda for many national governments and international institutions.

This more positive attitude to youth work is largely the result of efforts made by youth work organisations and providers to gain better recognition. Their advocacy has resulted in a more strategic approach of the European institutions to encouraging governments to value, recognise and support this kind of work through dedicated policies, programmes and resources. What is today known as the ‘European recognition debate’ addresses four main ‘how to’ questions, as follows:

This debate takes place in many different communities of practice, from education to social work, in public institutions and in civic organisations, and from local up to international levels. Recognition is a key work area in the youth policies of the Council of Europe and of the European Union. Policy makers, youth work practitioners and researchers from all over Europe are all involved in trying to map out the best and most strategic ways to ensure that youth work gets the recognition it needs in order to be able to deliver on its commitments to young people. The main aim of the actors involved can be summed up in the following quote from a 2011 policy paper on the issue of recognition of non-formal learning in Europe:

[…] working together to establish a common ground for a medium to long term co-ordinated strategy toward recognition of youth work and non-formal learning in Europe with the involvement of actors and stakeholders of various policy sectors concerned.[i]