The Council of Europe is committed to empowering young people, supporting their meaningful participation in democratic processes, equipping them with the skills and knowledge to foster peaceful and inclusive societies, and ensuring their full access to rights.
For decades, young people have been central to the Council of Europe’s activities. The youth sector’s decision-making structures are designed to guarantee that young people’s needs and interests are reflected in the organisation’s priorities. In line with its mandate from the 2023 Reykjavik Summit, the Council of Europe is now undertaking an ambitious effort to further integrate the youth perspective across all areas of its work.
Revitalising pluralistic democracy
- Help youth organisations strengthen participatory democracy, both within their own circles and in wider society.
- Ensure policymaking and governance actively involve a broad range of young people and their representatives.
- Support youth policies and youth work that break down barriers to participation.
- Adapt institutions to respond to new trends in democracy, such as how young people participate, digitalisation, and internet governance.
Young people’s access to rights
- Promote the full implementation of Council of Europe standards on young people’s rights.
- Expand training and resources for youth organisations and partners to deliver human rights education and advocate for access to rights.
- Strengthen institutional responses to emerging challenges young people face as they transition to adulthood, including climate change, artificial intelligence, digital spaces, increased mobility, and new forms of employment.
Living together in peaceful and inclusive societies
- Equip stakeholders to build inclusive societies by designing policies, programs, and projects that embrace diversity, and by effectively monitoring and combating discrimination, violence, and exclusion.
- Create opportunities for all young people—including those who experience discrimination—to actively participate in democratic life.
- Highlight the importance of European unity, global solidarity, peace, diversity, intercultural and intergenerational dialogue, and environmental sustainability in youth policy, practice, and research.
- Empower young people with the skills and support they need to prevent violence, resolve conflict, and promote a culture of peace, including funding, networks, and recognition of the diverse ways young people organise themselves.
Youth work
- Promote and strengthen youth work by embedding it within youth policy frameworks, including advancing the European Youth Work Agenda in close partnership with the European Union.
- Improve the quality of youth work, whether delivered by volunteers or paid professionals.
- Make youth work and non-formal education more accessible and attractive to a wider range of young people.
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The Advisory Council on Youth. The council is made up of thirty representatives from youth NGOs and networks. It gives input on all the youth sector activities and ensures that young people are involved in other Council of Europe activities.
The European Steering Committee for Youth. The committee brings together representatives of youth ministries from the 50 countries that are part of the European Cultural Convention. It fosters co-operation in the youth sector and provides a framework for national youth policies. It is part of the co-management and decision-making system with the Advisory Council on Youth, together they form the Joint Council on Youth.
Instruments
The European Youth Centres in Strasbourg and Budapest. The European Youth Centres (EYCs) in Strasbourg (opened in 1972) and Budapest (opened in 1995) are permanent structures for the implementation of the Council of Europe’s youth policy. They are international training and meeting centres with residential facilities, and host most of the youth sector’s activities, with thousands of participants visiting each centre each year. The professional staff includes an advisory team giving educational and technical assistance in preparing, running and following up activities.
The European Youth Foundation. With an annual budget of nearly 4 million EUR, the European Youth Foundation (EYF) provides financial and educational support for European youth activities organised by non-governmental youth organisations and networks, such as international youth meetings, conferences, campaigns, training courses, seminars, and study visits.
The EU-CoE youth partnership stems from the close relations that the Council of Europe and the European Commission have developed in the youth field over the years since 1998. The overall goal is to foster synergies between the youth-oriented activities of the two institutions. The specific themes are participation/citizenship, social inclusion, recognition and quality of youth work.
Highlights of the Council of Europe's Work on Youth
Human Rights Education Programme
The Ethics and Human Rights Toolkit offers a practical guide for policymakers and developers to ensure AI systems comply with ethical and legal standards.
Quality Label for Youth Centres
The Quality Label for Youth Centres is a project to promote the European Youth Centres of the Council of Europe as standard-setting instruments and examples of good practice for youth policy. Currently 14 youth centres across Europe hold the Quality Label as a testament to their adherence to the rigorous criteria established by the project. They also represent the Council of Europe’s values in their own communities.
Democracy Here | Democracy Now is a Council of Europe project coordinated by the Youth Department and aiming at revitalising democracy through strengthening mutual trust between young people and democratic institutions and processes.
Council of Europe Youth Work Portfolio
The Council of Europe Youth Work Portfoliois an online tool that helps individuals, teams and organisations doing youth work around Europe to understand their competence and to develop it more effectively. This tool can also be used by trainers, youth work managers and policy makers and generally all those interested in the topic of quality development and recognition of youth work.
Living libraires
Adapted and launched under the Council of Europe’s banner by the European Youth Centre Budapest, the Living Library is a tool that seeks to challenge prejudice and discrimination. It works just like a normal library: visitors can browse the catalogue for the available titles, choose the book they want to read, and borrow it for a limited period. After reading, they return the book to the library and, if they want, borrow another. The only difference is that in the Living Library, books are people, and reading consists of a conversation.
Youth against hate speech
The No hate speech movementwas a campaign led by the Council of Europe youth department to mobilise young people to combat hate speech and promote human rights online. Launched in 2013, it is still active in 45 of the Council of Europe member states.
