The capacity for thoughtful and responsible participation in political, economic, social and cultural life. Young people learn about active citizenship through an introduction to the concepts and values underpinning citizenship in a democracy (usually through some form of education, formal or non-formal), by being active and responsible members of their community (through the activities of civil society) and, once they have reached the relevant age, by practicing the rights and responsibilities of citizens in a democracy (joining a political party or group, voting, standing for elected office, etc.). Active citizenship is both a human right, but, also, a responsibility. Young people experiencing barriers to accessing social rights are also more likely to experience barriers to exercising active citizenship and participating responsibly in society.

The Council of Europe's system of co-management involves representatives from public authorities (governmental representatives in charge of youth) and civil society (representatives of non-governmental youth organisations and networks). The model of partnership has been in places since the 1960s. Partners in the co-management system decide together on an equal basis about the policies and programmes of the Council of Europe’s youth sector and determine how they shall be financed.

Consultation is about asking communities, individuals and other stakeholders their views on policies and decisions that impact on their daily lives.

Co-operation is working or acting together for a common purpose and for the benefit of the community as a whole.

Democratic society is a society in which all citizens have meaningful and effective ways to participate in the decision-making processes of every organisation that makes decisions or takes actions that affect them and to hold other individuals, and those who are responsible for making decisions and taking actions, fully accountable if their decisions or actions violate fundamental human rights, or are dishonest, unethical, unfair, secretive, inefficient, unrepresentative, unresponsive or irresponsible, so that all organisations in society are citizen-owned, citizen-controlled, and citizen-driven, and all individuals and organisations are held accountable for wrongdoing

A lack of access to the instruments required by every person for self-sufficiency and sustainable autonomy. In the context of the Enter! LTTC project, disadvantage is viewed as the process through which some groups of young people or other individuals are systematically denied (whether by design or neglect) the opportunity and/or means to fully enjoy social rights (as defined by the Revised European Social Charter), which in effect represents a violation of their human rights. The experience of disadvantage may include a lack of independence; incentive; responsibility; self-respect and respect from others; health; education; information; employment; adequate financial support; social, cultural and financial capital; responsive support systems and participation.

Areas or communities in which residents, including young people, experience poverty, deprivation, violence, exclusion, marginalisation, a lack of opportunities, poor living conditions, a degraded environment and vulnerability to a higher degree than the majority of the population. Disadvantaged neighbourhoods lack important infrastructure and services for young people, which has negative impacts on their life chances and future development. Such infrastructure and services include youth centres, schools and other education amenities, sport and cultural facilities, libraries, public meeting spaces, health centres, employment and training agencies, as well as local businesses and community initiatives.

These neighbourhoods are often denied or overlooked in terms of funding from national, regional and local authorities and from the private sector. Furthermore, they are often at a distance from city centres without adequate transport systems, leading to isolation and segregation. In this Recommendation, the terms “disadvantaged neighbourhoods” refer essentially to urban areas but also to the rural areas where Roma communities are settled and generally live in poor conditions.

Young people living in disadvantaged neighbourhoods (as defined above) experience various and multiple forms of (social) disadvantage (as defined above), including a lack of economic, cultural, and social capital and/or resources; a lack of access to or success in education; a lack of training or employment; a lack of perspectives for the future; a greater risk of homelessness, conflict with the law, sexual exploitation and/or violence and substance abuse, etc. Furthermore, some young people from certain categories could become disadvantaged young people, including young people growing up in care or without their families; young people from migrant backgrounds or from ethnic minorities; Roma young people; young people with disabilities, mental health problems or living with illness and young people living in segregated or isolated communities are much more likely to experience social disadvantages than other young people. Disadvantaged young people are among the most marginalised in society and require special support measures to access the same opportunities as their peers.

Discrimination in all its possible forms and expressions – is one of the most common forms of human rights violations and abuse. It affects millions of people everyday and it is one of the most difficult to recognise. Discrimination occurs when people are treated less favourably than other people are in a comparable situation only because they belong, or are perceived to belong to a certain group or category of people. People may be discriminated against because of their age, disability, ethnicity, origin, political belief, race, religion, sex or gender, sexual orientation, language, culture and on many other grounds. Discrimination has direct consequences on those people and groups being discriminated against, but it has also indirect and deep consequences on society as a whole. A society where discrimination is allowed or tolerated is a society where people are deprived from freely exercising their full potential for themselves and for society.

Gender Identity refers to “one’s sense of oneself as male, female, or transgender”. When one’s gender identity and biological sex are not congruent, the individual may identify as transsexual or as another transgender category.

Understanding and consideration of socio-cultural factors underlying sex-based discrimination. Gender sensitivity encompasses the ability to acknowledge and highlight existing gender differences, issues and inequalities and to incorporate these into strategies and actions.

Hate crimes are any crimes that are targeted at a person because of hostility or prejudice towards that person’s disability, race or ethnicity, religion or belief, sexual orientation, transgender identity. This can be committed against a person or property. A victim does not have to be a member of the group at which the hostility is targeted.

Recommendation No R (97) 20 of the Committee of Ministers to Members States on Hate Speech, defines the term "hate speech" as all forms of expression which spread, incite, promote or justify racial hatred, xenophobia, anti-Semitism or other forms of hatred based on intolerance, including: intolerance expressed by aggressive nationalism and ethnocentrism, discrimination and hostility against minorities, migrants and people of immigrant origin.

Throughout history every society has developed systems to ensure social cohesion by codifying the rights and responsibilities of its citizens. In 1948 the international community came together to agree on a code of rights that would be binding on all states; this was the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). Since 1948 other human rights documents have been agreed, including for instance the European Convention on Human Rights in 1950 and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) in 1990.

Human rights reflect basic human needs; they establish the basic standards without which people cannot live in dignity. Human rights are about equality, dignity, respect, freedom and justice. Examples of rights include freedom from discrimination, the right to life, freedom of speech, the right to marriage and family and the right to education.

Human rights are held by all people equally, universally and for ever. Human rights are universal, that is, they are the same for all human beings in every country. They are inalienable, indivisible and interdependent, that is, they cannot be taken away – ever; all rights are equally important and they are complementary, for instance the right to participate in government and in free elections depends on freedom of speech.

Informal education/learning is the lifelong process whereby every individual acquires attitudes, values, skills, knowledge and insights from daily exposure to the environment, such as at home, at work, during leisure; from travel, reading, through different media sources. In contrast to formal and non-formal education, informal education is typically unorganised and unsystematic. It is virtually never certified, but it constitutes the majority of a person’s lifetime learning.

All learning activity undertaken throughout life which results in improving knowledge, know-how, skills, competences and/or qualifications for personal, social or professional reasons

Local and regional authorities are the local and regional representatives, elected in free and democratic plebiscites, with responsibility for decisions on those aspects of citizens’ lives devolved by national governments, and the public administration structures that implement the decisions of the elected representatives.

Homes may be owned outright or secured on a mortgage; or rented from the local authority, housing association, registered social landlord, or a private owner; or they may be subject to a shared ownership agreement. Mixed housing schemes provide different forms of tenure in the same locality as a matter of planning. They aim to prevent social isolation by creating diverse and socially mixed neighbourhoods, in which people of different ages, backgrounds and socio-economic status live in close proximity.

A flexible and “outreaching” form of youth work that goes to the young people with which it tries to engage, rather than grouping them together in a centralised point such as a youth centre or office. Mobile youth work takes a variety of forms and includes street work, individual assistance or counselling, group work, and community work, and takes place outdoors as much as indoors, in private as much as in public spaces.

Youth mobility is the capacity of young people to move between different places in their home country and outside of it, with the purpose of achieving personal development goals, autonomy, for the purposes of volunteering and youth work, of education systems and programmes, of expert training, of employment and career goals, of housing opportunities and free time activities.

Non-formal education/learning is an extensively used and intensely debated notion in the youth field. Non-formal learning is any planned programme of education designed to improve a range of skills and competences, outside the formal educational setting. It stands for a range of core learning principles, methodologies and approaches in the youth sector, commonly emphasising the learner's intrinsic motivation, voluntary participation, critical thinking and democratic agency. The glossary of the European Knowledge Centre for Youth Policy describes non-formal learning as “purposive but voluntary learning that takes place in a diverse range of environments and situations for which teaching/training and learning is not necessarily their sole or main activity. These environments and situations may be intermittent or transitory, and the activities or courses that take place may be staffed by professional learning facilitators (such as youth trainers) or by volunteers (such as youth leaders). The activities and courses are planned, but are seldom structured by conventional rhythms or curriculum subjects. They usually address specific target groups, but rarely document or assess learning outcomes or achievements in conventionally visible ways”.

Prejudice is an unfair and unreasonable belief, opinion or judgement about someone or a group of people, which is not based on reason or actual experience of those persons or groups.

Roma and Travellers is the term used by the the Council of Europe to encompass the wide diversity of the groups covered by the work of the Council of Europe in this field: on the one hand a) Roma, Sinti/Manush, Calé, Kaale, Romanichals, Boyash/Rudari; b) Balkan Egyptians (Egyptians and Ashkali); c) Eastern groups (Dom, Lom and Abdal); and, on the other hand, groups such as Travellers, Yenish, and the populations designated under the administrative term “Gens du voyage”, as well as persons who identify themselves as Gypsies.

Second chance education is a pathway for completing a high school equivalency programme, diploma or qualification, typically for young people who have been pushed out of mainstream schooling, who have otherwise disengaged from schools, or who missed schooling altogether.

Sex is a person’s biological status and is typically categorized as male, female, or intersex. There are a number of indicators of biological sex, including sex chromosomes, gonads, internal reproductive organs, and external genitalia.

Sexual Orientation refers to the sex of those to whom one is sexually and romantically attracted. Categories of sexual orientation typically have included attraction to members of one’s own sex (gay men or lesbians), attraction to members of the other sex (heterosexuals), and attraction to members of both sexes (bisexuals). While these categories continue to be widely used, research has suggested that sexual orientation does not always appear in such definable categories and instead occurs on a continuum

Social cohesion is the capacity of a society to ensure the welfare of all its members, minimising disparities and avoiding polarisation. A cohesive society is a mutually supportive community of free individuals pursuing these common goals by democratic means. Social cohesion is not only a matter of combating social exclusion and poverty, it is also about creating solidarity in society such that exclusion will be minimised (See Revised Strategy for Social Cohesion Council of Europe (2004))

Social exclusion is the failure of society to provide certain individuals and groups with those rights and benefits normally available to its members, such as employment, adequate housing, health care, education and training.

Social inclusion is the process of improving the terms for individuals and groups to access the rights and benefits normally available to members of society, such as employment, adequate housing, health care, education and training.

The rights set out in the European Social Charter (ESC) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). The ESC is a Council of Europe treaty that guarantees social and economic human rights; it was adopted in 1961 and revised in 1996. The Charter confers rights in the areas of housing, health, education, employment, legal and social protection, free movement and non-discrimination. The ICESCR is one of the key UN human rights treaties, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1966. The ICESCR, confers rights in the areas of work, social security, food, clothing and housing, health and education.

Stigmatisation is the process of treating someone or something unfairly by disapproving of them.

Universal Design refers to broad-spectrum ideas meant to produce buildings, products and environments that are inherently accessible to older people, people without disabilities, and people with disabilities.

Education and training which aims to equip people with knowledge, know-how, skills and/or competences required in particular occupations or more broadly on the labour market.

Vocational Guidance is assistance in choosing a career or profession or in making employment or training decisions.

A strategy implemented by public authorities with a view to providing young people with opportunities and experiences that support their successful integration into society and enable them to be active and responsible members of their societies, as well as agents of change. It involves four dimensions referring to all aspects of young people’s lives:

• Been in a good shape (physically and mentally)
• Learning (informal, non-formal and formal)
• Participation
• Inclusion.

Youth policy may combine different means of intervention (legislation, specific programmes, etc.) and integrates a long-term educational perspective. Youth policy targets all young people, but should pay special attention to those who are socially, economically or culturally vulnerable.

Youth work encompasses a broad range of activities (e.g. social, cultural, educational, sports-related and political) carried out with, by and for young people through non-formal and informal learning. Youth work has three essential features (i) young people choose to participate; (ii) the work takes place where the young people are; (iii) it recognises that the young person and the youth worker are partners in a learning process. Its value is recognised in the Council conclusions on youth work and highlighted in a study released in 2014.

People involved in work or activities with and for young people, either on a voluntary basis or professionally and in several contexts, including youth organisations, youth services, youth centres, youth/social work training institutions, or any other structure operating in the area of non-formal education with young people.