Youth worker competences:

• Understand the social contexts of the lives of the young people and support them in navigating these
• Build positive, non-judgemental, trusting relationships with young people
• Demonstrate openness in discussing young people’s personal issues
• Relate to young people as equals
• Address the needs and aspirations of young people.

Youth worker competences:

• Support diverse young people in identifying their learning needs, wishes and styles, taking any specific needs into consideration
• Create safe, motivating and inclusive learning environments for individuals and groups
• Support young people in reflecting on their own learning
• Inform young people about learning opportunities and support them in using them.

Youth worker competences:

• Assist young people in identifying and taking responsibility for the role(s) they want to have in their communities and societies
• Support young people in identifying goals, developing strategies and organising individual and collective action for social change
• Support young people in developing their critical thinking and understanding about society and power relations, how social and political systems work, their consequences for diverse young people and how they (as young people) can have influence and develop agency
• Support young people in developing their competence and confidence for being active in their communities and societies as individuals and members of groups and teams
• Actively involve young people in shaping policies and programmes, especially those that will affect them.

Youth worker competences:

• Support young people in developing their competence for living in diverse societies, notably in relation to values and attitudes towards diversity
• Promote inclusion of and exchange between young people who come from diverse backgrounds at home and abroad so that they can learn about other countries, cultural and social contexts, political beliefs, religions, levels of access, abilities and lifestyles, among others
• Work creatively on enhancing young people’s competence for dealing with social, political and interpersonal conflicts constructively
• Support young people in recognising and working against injustice, oppression, discrimination and all other forms of human rights abuse, individually and in collaboration with others.

Self-tailored part with potential specific and contextual Youth Work functions focusing on outcomes for young people 

Youth worker competences:

• Plan and apply a range of participatory methods of reflection and evaluation
• Use the results of evaluation to improve youth work practice
• Stay up to date on research on the situation and needs of young people and on youth work
• Actively evaluate teamwork with colleagues and use the results to improve it
• Recognise and evaluate your own needs, boundaries and limits in different youth work contexts and develop strategies for addressing these, as appropriate
• Reflect on how to innovate your own youth work practice, and experiment with new approaches.

Youth worker competences:

• Involve young people in the development of youth projects
• Involve young people in the implementation of youth projects
• Involve young people in the communication and visibility of youth work projects and programmes
• Involve young people in planning and organising evaluation of youth work projects and programmes.

Youth worker competences:

• Prioritise collective learning and working with colleagues to develop youth work practice
• Share relevant information and practices within your youth work community of practice
• Engage with youth work related processes, as appropriate to the needs of your youth work context, for example, recognition.

Youth worker competences:

• Gather and document evidence of the impact of the youth work you do
• Involve young people in activities to evaluate and communicate the positive impacts of the youth work you do to stakeholders who can support its development
• Collaborate on the development of visibility activities for the positive impact of youth work.

Youth worker competences:

• Co-operate with others to shape youth policies and programmes
• Advocate for the participation of young people (especially those with whom you work) in shaping the development of youth policies and programmes
• Seek links between youth work practice and policies that can support the development of youth work.

Youth worker competences:

• Reflect on the diversity of eco-systems the young people you are working with live in, and on what this means for the youth work you do with them
• Develop your sensitivity for signs of change(s) (in attitude, behaviour, issues they find concerning, atmosphere) among the young people you work with and in their context
• Design responses to challenges and opportunities you and the young people you work with see emerging and think are important for the community and society 
• Make contingency plans and design youth work activities that can be adapted easily.

Youth worker competences:

• Develop strategic co-operation and partnership with colleagues from other parts of your organisation, other organisations, and/or in other sectors to support your youth work
• Advocate for a youth perspective to be included in other sectors’ policies, practices and services within and beyond your organisation
• Support colleagues from other parts of your organisation, other organisations and in other sectors to develop attitude, experience and skills, and act towards youth perspective integration in their respective fields.