Brussels, 27/04/2015 (Agence Europe) - The Commissioner for Education, Culture and Youth, Tibor Navracsics, will be taking part in the “European Youth Work Convention”, one of the flagship initiatives of the Belgian Presidency of the Council of Europe, inaugurated on 27 April.
The Commissioner will take part in the plenary session on Thursday 30 April at which the Commissioner will make a speech to conclude the event. Navracsics is also expected to mention certain elements in the Declaration, which will be published at the end of the event. His comments are expected to be based on the contributions and conclusions from the workshops. This declaration seeks to provide a new boost to policy in this area in Europe. Isabelle Weykmans, the minister for culture, employment and tourism for the German-speaking community of Belgium, explained: “We want to deliver a strong political message from the Convention, with a Declaration calling for action at the European and national levels to support youth work as a way for Europe's young people to find their place in a fast evolving, digitally driven economy and society and pursue their dreams”.
The European Youth Work Convention this week is expected to bring more than 400 political leaders, researchers and practitioners together, to debate the problems confronting young people at local, national and European levels. The event takes place five years after the first Convention held in July 2010 in Ghent, when Belgium held the presidency of the Council of European Ministers. The different panels and workshops will assess the changing situation since the 2010 declaration and will call for more attention to be paid to young people's demands in the elaboration of European policies affecting them, as well as wider recognition by the public and private sector of non-formal learning from youth work experience, in addition to formal education. For further information: http://www.eywc2015.eu. (Isabelle Lamberty)