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The European Platform of Youth Centres is organised annually in order to encourage professional knowledge sharing among youth centres recognised with the Quality Label and those aspiring to its acquisition.

The first platform meeting was held in 2010 in the European Youth Centre in Budapest, although since then many other youth centres rewarded with the Quality Label have provided a home to this event.

Through the years of its existence the platform developed to be an important event for youth centres, and as of 2018 some new approaches are being implemented regarding its organisation. Platform meetings are mainly about strategic issues of common interest related to the running of a youth centre, held primarily in either of the two Council of Europe Youth Centres of Budapest or Strasbourg, and shorter to better accommodate the needs of people in management positions. Complementary to the Platform meetings, training courses are also organised within the frameworks of the Quality Label Programme. These occasions ensure sharing of good practices amongst educational staff of youth centres. The training courses are usually hosted by a Quality Label youth centre who most closely matches the theme of the course – in order to utilise that centres expertise and knowledge.

The following objectives are set in relation to the future of the platform meetings:

  • to inform about recent developments in youth policy on European level and to discuss how they can be used by the centres in terms of recognition of their work and impact;
  • to exchange experience and practices among centres in how they address the challenges they are facing at national/local  level;
  • to develop joint approaches in order to promote the youth centres;
  • to ensure networking and cooperation possibilities among labelled centres.
European Platform of Youth Centre Meetings