Retrospective look on youth policies in Europe
The first formally identified need for youth research in Europe hapenned in 1967 by the Council of Europe, when the Parliamentary Assembly adopted a directive, calling for the study of youth problems in Europe. The Commet Programme, adopted in 1986 and related to vocational training was one of the first initiatives on European level, devoted to young people. The first European Conference of Ministers responsible for Youth took place in Strasbourg, 1985 - it was a highlight of International Youth Year in Europe, together with the European Youth Week, the Council of Europe's contribution to International Youth Year.
In 1988 the “Youth for Europe” Programme was launched, focusing on non-formal learning. The Maastricht Treaty in 1993 extended the scope of EU policies to include the youth ‘field’. Article 149 § 2 states that the EU should “… encourage the development of youth exchanges and of exchanges of socio-educational instructors…”. 15 years after the first youth programme have started, the White Paper on Youth was adopted in November 2001, representing the first step made by the European Commission to set up a youth policy framework in the European Union.
In September 2007 the Commission communicated another key document “Promoting Young People’s Full Participation in Education, Employment and Society”, emphasising on the “a need for a transversal youth strategy, building on cooperation between policy makers and stakeholders at European, national, regional and local levels".
Youth policy today
Youth policy is a challenging and complex concept, with increased importance nowadays at all levels of governance – at supra-national, national and sub-national.
The European Commission Directorate General for Education and Culture has split its policy actions under 6 main themes: education and training; youth; culture; multilingualism; citizenship and sport. The section on youth has a double mission in the field of youth: to develop a framework for political co-operation and to manage the Youth in Action programme.
Youth in Action Programme (2007-2013) is a major initiatives of the European Commission, Department for Youth. It is the successor of the former “Youth Programme 2000-2006” and has four main priorities: European citizenship; cultural diversity, inclusion of young people with fewer opportunities and active participation.
The European Youth Week (EYW) took place in Brussels (November 2-8, 2008), providing an open platform for young people and policy makers from across Europe (31 countries participating in the Youth in Action Programme) to meet and discuss policy and practical issues. Marking the 20th anniversary of European programmes for youth, EYW looked at the past achievements while discussing future challenges for young Europeans, suggesting further steps to be taken in the field of EU youth policy, making sure that young people’s future is improved.
The new EU strategy for youth entitled "Youth – Investing and Empowering", released in April 2009 is a follow up to the Renewed Social Agenda announced by the European Commission in 2008 and covers the three key policy areas mentioned there. Further, under each of them, two to three 'fields of action' are proposed with objectives for the first three years, 2010-2012. The key field of actions are related to: mobility, education, employment, social exclusion (incl. living conditions and poverty), active citizenship and youth participation, volunteering, creativity and entrepreneurship, health and sport, youth and the world.
Official institutions on national level, responsible for development and implementation of youth policies in most of the Member states are the Ministries of Culture and Ministries of Education. There is a general natural integration between cultural and educational policies at all levels on the issue of “youth access to culture”. The main reasons for this could be:
- Educational policies include also arts education (implementing art subjects within the school curricula) and with after-school education and leisure activities of young people, where certain amount of time is taken by cultural events and artistic experiences. In some cases, the Ministries of Education aim at setting up policy priorities not only in the field of education, but also-for preparing young people to find appropriate work corresponding to their educational background, needs and expectations, as well as to adapt to the post-educational life. In these cases, joined programmes between the ministries of Education and Ministries of labour/social affairs are set up.
- Cultural policies are directed towards providing wider access to cultural institutions and events, including for vulnerable groups of the population. Children and young people are considered as one of them.
Specialised national bodies especially devoted for youth issues, or distinct departments for youth under one of the ministries are established in almost half of the Member States. These youth units are reported to consider youth policies very closely related to:
- leisure time of young people, primarily sport, physical education, social tourism;
- education-both formal and non-formal (after school) one;
- equal opportunities for young people, especially emphasising on disadvantaged groups.
Youth access to culture as a policy priority
Youth access to culture usually comprises two main aspects:
- Access of young people to culture as users (for example, opening up of cultural sites, facilitating access to museums, collections, concerts, libraries).
- Access of young people to culture as creators outside of education and vocational training systems (support for their forms of expression, development of their creative potential, facilitating creation).
Youth access to culture is different in various parts of Europe, as well as in rural and urban areas. It differs according to factors such as: social background, ethnicity, culture, religion, gender, social and economic circumstances in which young people live. A quick glance on cultural policies and youth policies shows that access to culture is not yet a prominent part of youth policies, although it is sporadically mentioned in policy documents, especially related to issues of education, human rights, inclusion and social cohesion of youth. Generally, access to culture is not regarded as an issue by its own, but in close connection with all existing social problems of young people across Europe. In some cases, youth issues are squeezed, incorporated, even hidden by other bigger and more prominent sectors such as: education, social and employment sectors, health sector, which do not deal with culture and arts as a priority. Therefore “access to culture” appears as a peripheral issue in these policy priorities, as the impact is more on solving social problems of young people and work-related issues. One of the difficulties in implementing specific policy programmes aiming at stimulating young people and children to attend cultural organisations and events by decreasing (or abolishing) entrance fees is to convince the directors of cultural organisations that such approaches will increase participation.
One of the factors to increase the efficiency and outcomes of policy-making related to young people and access to culture is to regard young people not only as users and/or participants in cultural events and experiences, but as active citizens who should have their voice heard in all aspects concerning their life and future. A key factor seems also the involvement of the main stakeholders at all levels in a synchronised and collaborative manner – from European institutions, national bodies (ministries of culture, education, youth and sport), to local and regional authorities, and cultural organisations, as well as other funders).
Forthcoming study on access of young people to culture
In August 2008, Interarts Foundation was selected to carry out a study on Access of Young People to Culture in Europe as a response to the May 2008 call of proposals of the Education, Audiovisual and Culture Agency, in cooperation with the European Commission. The aim of the study is to map the European landscape of opportunities of, impact of and obstacles to the access and participation of young people in culture. The ultimate aim is to produce a set of conclusions for a better understanding and recommendations for concrete actions that reflect the demands, necessities and needs of young people in Europe.
The results of the study will be ready in the autumn of 2009.
LabforCulture ist eine Partnerinitiative der European Cultural Foundation. LabforCulture dankt seinen Förderern für Ihre Unterstützung.