From 15 to 20 October 2023, representatives of eight youth centres in Ukraine took part in a study visit to the Kerry Diocesan Youth Service (KDYS) youth centre in Killarney (Ireland), which has the Council of Europe Quality Label for Youth Centres.
The delegation included representatives of the youth center "Hurkit" (Varash, Rivne region), the youth center of the Zhytomyr region #kreativ_space (Zhytomyr), the Youth Center of the Zhuravnensky village council (Zhuravno, Lviv region), NGO "Kremenchuk Information and Educational Centre European Club" (Youth Center "Space of Ideas") (Kremenchuk, Poltava region), Hub "Ideas" (Zmiiv, Kharkiv region), "Space of Equal Opportunities" (Sumy), Youth Resource Center "New Wings" (Novovolynsk, Volyn region), youth center "Youth Residence" (Chernivtsi).
The study visit was organised by KDYS (Ireland), the NGO "Kremenchuk Information and Educational Centre European Club" (Youth Centre "Space of Ideas", Ukraine), the Council of Europe project "Youth for Democracy in Ukraine: Phase III" and the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine.
The purpose of the study visit was to support co-operation with the network of youth centres with the Council of Europe Quality Label (in particular with the KDYS Killarney Youth Centre in Ireland) by developing the competencies of Ukrainian Youth Centre representatives in the field of outreach and trauma-informed youth work.
This initiative originates from a seminar for Ukrainian youth workers from youth centres held in Strasbourg in December 2022 and the European Platform of Youth Centres that gathers Council of Europe Quality Labelled youth centres, which took place in May 2023 at the European Youth Centre in Strasbourg.
The KDYS Youth Centre in Killarney has the Council of Europe Quality Label, which demonstrates international recognition and allows for the improvement of youth work at the centre through the exchange of experience and involvement in the Council of Europe processes.
The first day of the visit began with an introduction to Berni Smyth, CEO of KDYS and Gareth Harteveld, KDYS Youth Work Development Manager.
The official study visit programme began with a meeting at the office of Youth Work Ireland in Dublin with team members from KDYS, Youth Work Ireland and Ms. Shauna Markey, representative of the Department for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth of Ireland.
The delegation visited and met with the Ballyfermot Youth Service (BYS) team. Here, the delegation got acquainted with the areas of activity, in particular, the experience of creating a skate park with young people involved in all aspects of this project which was a great example of youth participation.
During the study visit, youth workers from Ukraine:
- met with a number of KDYS teams to discuss the role of youth work in the context of the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine;
- explored the professional training of volunteers working in youth clubs;
- took part in a workshop on trauma-informed youth work;
- met with local stakeholders involved in working with children and youth from Ukraine, including representatives of Kerry ETB, HSE and Kerry County Council.
It should be noted that cooperation with the network of youth centres that have the Council of Europe Quality Label takes place within the framework of achieving the planned result of the Youth for Democracy in Ukraine project, when youth workers and administrative staff of youth centres in Ukraine are competent in the practices and approaches of youth centres with the Council of Europe Quality Label.
More news and experience can be found on the page – Co-operation with youth centres with the Council of Europe Quality Label - https://www.coe.int/uk/web/kyiv/cooperation-with-youth-centers-that-have-the-quality-mark-of-the-council-of-europe
