From Wales to Malta: Highlights from the 4th European Youth Work Convention

Earlier this year, ProMo Cymru’s Communication and Content Officer, Halyna Soltys, had the opportunity to attend the 4th European Youth Work Convention in Malta.

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The event, which only happens every 5 years, brought together over 500 members of the youth work community, including policymakers, researchers, and youth workers.

The convention was a huge learning experience for ProMo from start to finish. We joined the delegation from the European Youth Information and Counselling Agency (ERYICA), a long-standing partner of ProMo.

A shared vision for Youth Work

The European Youth Work Convention (EYWC) is a crucial event for the future of youth work in Europe. Under the theme “Youth Work Xcelerate,” the agenda was packed with workshops focused on three core areas: Youth Work Core, Youth Work Environment, and Youth Work Systems.

To ensure we got the most relevant insights for our organisation, we chose to focus on sessions about:

• Monitoring and evaluating youth work to measure its impact.
• Exploring new technologies, including how to integrate innovative digital tools to improve youth work effectiveness.
• How the public and voluntary sector can cooperate to strengthen youth work at a national, regional, and local levels.

These sessions provided a space for colleagues from across Europe to share experiences, challenges, and suggestions to help build a roadmap for the next five years.

Inspiring practices and projects

In addition to the thematic workshops, there were sessions dedicated to sharing inspiring practices, projects, and initiatives. During these sessions, we learned about some excellent projects, including:

• Trauma-informed youth work from the Voices of Young People in Ukraine project. Sharing the experiences of Ukrainian young people and the impact war has had on their lives.

• The use of AI in inclusive communications from Eurodesk. Exploring practical applications such as automated captioning and generating alternative text to ensure digital content is accessible to all young people. It was also a great opportunity to share the digital tools we use at ProMo.

Key Takeaways for ProMo and Wales

While the formal sessions were invaluable, some of the most insightful moments came from the informal conversations with colleagues over coffee and food. We had a chance to network with the UK delegation, including Leigh Middleton from the National Youth Agency (England), Marion Allison from the CLD Standards Council (Scotland), and Jamie Plant from the Department of Education (Northern Ireland). It was particularly great to meet Tom Weiser from WCIA, who was also representing Wales.

We also chatted with the leadership team at ERYICA, including then-President Patrick Burke and Director Anja Frohner, who provided great insights into youth work across Europe.

Some of the key takeaways we brought back with us include:

• We’re a leader in digital youth work. After talking to many of our European peers, our team’s expertise in digital and AI seems to be ahead of the curve. Our expertise is grounded in years of using digital as a tool when engaging with young people.
• We’re doing great work in Wales. Our youth work provision, with a good balance of statutory and third-sector support, is something to be proud of. It was wonderful to get such positive feedback on our projects, like the Meic helpline and Mind our Future Gwent.

What’s next?

The outcomes of this convention will feed into a new European Roadmap that will guide our community for the next five years. We’re excited to see how our contributions, and the work of colleagues across Europe, will shape the future of youth work.