Youth work essentials

In this episode we discuss why and how to advocate for youth work.

Guests:

Federica Demicheli (Italy) is a vice President of NINFEA (National Association aiming for the recognition of youth workers in Italy) and active as a youth worker and European trainer since 2004. She works in the field of prevention of violent radicalisation, youth work recognition and volunteering both at national and European level. She has been working in the youth work field in South Med countries. 

Anna Yeghoyan (Armenia) has been working in the field of youth work, youth training and youth policy in Armenia for almost 20 years, and has been an active advocate of youth participation at all levels: community development to policy making. She has significant experience in grassroots youth work, capacity development, volunteering promotion and accessibility of non-formal education both as a freelance expert and as one of the founders and a project consultant of Gyumri “Youth Initiative Centre” NGO. After receiving the Executive Master in Development Policies and Practices from Geneva Graduate Institute in 2015-2016, the main areas of her professional interest have become youth research and evidence-based, participative policy development and implementation.

Podcast host: Ekaterina Sherer

In this episode we are talking about values and ethics in youth work and their importance in youth work practice. 

Invited guests:

Hilary Tierney - Maynooth University, Ireland. Hilary worked as a youth worker for many years before joining the Department of Applied Social Studies in Maynooth University where she contributes across the professional community and youth work programmes. Her practice and research interests converge in a specific interest in reflective practice, professional supervision, informal education, digital youth work, global youth work, ethics and values in professional practice and the professional formation of gender conscious practitioners. She is particularly interested in the potential of informal and non-formal learning to develop young people's critical capacities as local and global citizens who are committed to equality, social justice and human rights. Hilary was the co-ordinator of the Youth Work eLearning Partnership [YWELP], an Erasmus+ KA2 Strategic Partnership which produced youthworkandyou.org (Links to an external site.) an open source, interactive eLearning platform for youth workers and youth work educators.

Antti Korhonen - Finland

Podcast host: Ekaterina Sherer

In this episode we are discussing youth research and its role in youth work practice. 

Invited guests:

Lana Pasic is a Youth Research and Policy Officer at the Partnership between the European Commission and the Council of Europe. Lana holds MPhil degree in Development Studies from the University of Oxford, where she specialised in youth, children and development. Before joining youth partnership, she consulted with various international and non-governmental organisations, working with young people from Bosnia and Herzegovina, South-East Europe, Europe, Africa, Asia and Latin America.

Adina Marina Șerban (PhD) is a youth researcher, member of PEYR - Pool of the European Youth Researchers, national correspondent for Youth Wiki, being as well a grassroots youth worker, leading a rural youth NGO (Center for Sustainable Community Development) in  SW part of Romania. Adina is highly interested in better understanding the impact of digitalisation on youth social inclusion, as well as finding out what participation mechanisms better fit young people's needs and interests. 

Tomi Kiilakoski (PhD) is a leading senior researcher in the Finnish Youth Research Network and an adjunct professor in the university of Tampere.   His areas of expertise include youth work, youth participation, educational policy, school violence and its prevention, cultural philosophy and critical pedagogy. He has developed participatory research methodologies for studying sensitive subjects with young people. Kiilakoski has published extensively (in total over 170 publications, in journal such as YOUNG, Youth & Policy, Education Culture & Society. ) He has authored ten books on youth work,  school as seen by the young, and critical pedagogy in his native language, Finnish. He engages actively in promoting participation and developing youth work and educational policy on the local and state level in Finland.  His expertise is widely used in formal and non-formal learning context from designing national core curriculum to designing participatory activities in the local policy level. 

Podcast host: Dariusz Grzemny

We are talking with Sabine Klocker from Austria and Jonas Agdur from Sweden about quality and standards in youth work. This podcast was produced for the MOOC - Essentials of Youth Work. 

Jonas Agdur (Sweden) spent 18 years as a youth worker, the head of a youth centre and street worker in suburban Stockholm. After moving to Gothenburg in 1998 he became head of a local department for youth work and in 2005 he founded and became executive chair of KEKS, today a network of 43 local departments for youth work. Jonas also chaired the European Expert Group on Youth Work Quality systems between 2013 and 2015 and in 2014 he became chair of InterCity Youth, the European Network of Local Departments for Youth Work, with almost 400 member departments. He is a member of the 3rd Youth Work Convention steering group. 

Sabine Klocker (Austria) works as a trainer, psychosocial coach and supervisor. She has been training for the European institutions and NGOs in Europe, Africa and the U.S. She especially loves the field of personal and organisational development and working with disadvantaged or special needs’ groups. She has been active as a youth worker and trainer on local/national European level for 25 years and is a member of the trainers pool of the CoE since 2005. She worked as Secretary General of an International NGO or as temporary educational advisor for the Youth Department of the CoE. She has worked in many study sessions, Training of Trainers, seminars and symposia, preferably on topics such as Human Rights Education, Intercultural Learning, Youth Participation, Personal and Organisational Development. Her passion is life-long-learning, training, creativity and music. Moreover, she has a genuine interest for human beings, in specific, young people and their lives, worries, struggles and inspirations. Sabine is crazy about interculturalism, the joy of life, hidden potentials, the inner child and more! - She combines it all at her training and coaching practice in Vienna/Austria.

Podcast host: Dariusz Grzemny