Youth in Action Programme

/ EUROPEAN COMMISSION
Directorate-General for Education and Culture
CJ/09/2012
Youth and sport

YOUTH IN ACTION PROGRAMME

ACTIVITY REPORT 2011

1.Introduction

2011 was the fifth year of implementation of the Youth in Action Programme (YiA). This report provides an overview of this implementation at centralised and decentralised levels, based on activities carried out by the European Commission and on information and data provided by the National Agencies (NAs), the Education, Audiovisual and Culture Agency (EACEA) and the other structures of the Programme.

Beside continued attention placed on consolidating the management of the Programme and on supporting in particular activities aimed at strengthening the quality, visibility and impact of YiA, 2011 was notably marked by the opening of the Programme to Croatia and Switzerland.

The Commission adopted its report on the interim evaluation of the Programme implementation over the period 2007-2009 and started developing measures to take into account the recommendations of this evaluation in view of an improved implementation, management and user-friendliness of YiA.

Notably based on the recommendations of the interim evaluation report and on the opinions and suggestions gathered through various consultations with different groups of stakeholders, the European Commission submitted in November 2011 its proposal for a new Programme, Erasmus for All, for the period 2014-2020, which includes the activities currently supported by YiA and capitalizes on the experience and analysis of the implementation of this Programme since 2007.

Youth in Action benefitted from a global allocation of more than160MioEUR in 2011, of which more than 156MioEUR were allocated for projects and were fully used; this represents the highest available budget since the launch of European programmes in the field of youth, enabling the number of projects and participants supported to further increase: in total, more than9600 projects were granted, which involvedclose to194000participants.

2.Political context

The implementation of Youth in Action in 2011 can be assessed against the wider context of the implementation of the EU Youth policy, notably framed by the renewed framework adopted at the end of 2009. Based on the Communication from the Commission An EU Strategy for Youth (2010-2018): Investing and Empowering,this global policy framework has two overall objectives: create more and equal opportunities for all young people in education and the labour market; promote the active citizenship, social inclusion and solidarity of all young people.

Under Hungarian Presidency, the Council further implemented the Trio Presidency (Spain, Belgium, Hungary) priority on youth employment and focused on encouraging participation as the priority for the semester. The Council adopted a Resolution to conclude the first cycle of Structured Dialogue with young people on youth employment in May 2011, together with a Resolution on encouraging new and effective forms of participation of all young people in democratic life in Europe. Under Polish Presidency, a new Trio Presidency (Poland, Denmark, Cyprus) and Structured Dialogue cycle started, which focused on youth participation. Poland thereby specifically focussed on engaging with youth from other parts of the world, notably from Eastern Europe and Caucasus countries. Under Polish Presidency, Council Conclusions were adopted on Eastern dimensionof youth participation and mobility.

The Structured Dialogue was conducted through national consultations and discussions at EU Youth Conferences, organised in Budapest and Warsaw. The Commission, together with national experts, took concrete steps to improve the evidence base for youth policy, notably through the development of a dashboard of youth indicators.

In 2011, an expert group met regularly to follow up on the recommendation from 2008 on the mobility of young volunteers.

The Europe 2020 Strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth includes flagship initiatives that specifically address young people:

• To promote employability of young people, Youth on the Move calls for "extend[ing] and broaden[ing] learning opportunities for young people as a whole, including supporting the acquisition of skills through non-formal educational activities" and "expanding career and life-enhancing learning opportunities for young people with fewer opportunities and/or at risk of social exclusion", insisting on the importance of learning mobility. This flagship initiative includes a proposal for a Youth on the Move Card, which the Commission started to prepare in 2011, including through an online consultation.
• Another flagship initiative, the Agenda for new skills and jobs, aims at equipping young people with the right skills for employment, emphasizing the necessity to boost geographical mobility, encouraging adaptability and entrepreneurship and promoting non-formal learning. In this context, the Commission launched an online consultation and an impact assessment in view of proposing a Council Recommendation on the identification, recording and validation of competences gained outside of formal education and training. An Expert Group on recognition of youth work and non-formal education met to develop a more coordinated approach at European level, in the context of the preparation by the Commission of its Draft Recommendation on this topic.
• The European platform against poverty and social exclusion, another Europe 2020 flagship initiative, emphasises the "…need to step up the broader range of policies supporting young people as agreed in the European Youth Strategy 2010-2018".

The European Disability Strategy 2010-2020 fosters full economic and social participation of people with disabilities.

2011 was the European Year of Volunteering aimed at encouraging and supporting efforts at all levels to create the conditions for civil society conducive to volunteering and to increase the visibility of voluntary activities in the EU.

Further to societal and political challenges both in the East and South of the European Union, the Commission issued in 2011 - together with the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy - the Communication "ANew response to a Changing Neighbourhood", proposing a strategy to forge stronger links between the EU and the 16Neighbourhood countries at the Southern and Eastern borders of the European Union. Priorities are to support the partners in building democracy, achieving a more inclusive economic development and developing consistent strategies for several policy fields such as mobility and migration. The Strategy puts a specific focus on strengthening the Eastern Partnership.

Following the decision taken at the EU-China Summit in Nanjing in 2009, 2011 had been declared EU-China Year of Youth. This initiative aimed at further promoting and deepening partnerships and people-to-people contacts between Europe and China.

In response to increasing youth unemployment rates, the European Commission adopted in December 2011 the Youth Opportunities Initiative, calling for an increase in the budget available in support of youth employment under the European Social Fund. It also announced further measures in support to young mobile workers, trainees and entrepreneurs, including the intention for the European Voluntary Service to provide at least 10000volunteering opportunities as from 2012.

3.Programme implementation

As in previous years, the five permanent Actions of the Programme were implemented according to the criteria laid down in the Programme Guide issued by the Commission. Except for the European Voluntary Service (see section 3.2 hereunder), this tool remained largely unchanged compared to 2010, in order to ensure stability and consolidation of the instruments of YiA.

Further to the recommendations of the interim evaluation of the Programme, the Commission, together with the National Agencies,reflected on new implementation measures aimed at making the Programme more effective and user-friendly. In this context, a pilot phase for electronic forms for all Actions but EVS was carried out in 2011 and reflections and consultations on simplified funding rules continued, also aimed at reducing the error rate affecting the Programme. As a result, some implementing modalities were decided upon, which entered into force in 2012.

Programme priorities

Beside the permanent priorities of the Programme, the following annual priorities were identified for 2011, including some priorities carried over from 2010 in order to achieve more sustainable results:

• projects aimed at raising awareness of the value and importance of volunteering as a form of active engagement and as a tool to develop new skills in the context of the European Year of Volunteering 2011;
• projects aimed at promoting young people's commitment towards a more inclusive growth, notably: (i) projects tackling the issues of youth unemployment and/or aimed at stimulating unemployed young people's mobility and active participation in society; (ii) projects addressing the issue of poverty and marginalisation and encouraging young people's awareness and commitment to tackle these issues for a more inclusive society – with a special emphasis on the inclusion of young migrants, disabled young people and Roma youth;
• projects stimulating young people's spirit of initiative, creativity and entrepreneurship, in particular through youth initiatives;
• projects aimed at raising young people's awareness and mobilization around global environmental challenges and climate change as a means to encourage young people and youth workers' commitment to a more sustainable growth.

Special attention was devoted under the Actions open to cooperation with Partner Countries to projects aimed at encouraging dialogue, cooperation and exchanges in the field of youth between Europe and China as a means to contribute to the EU-China Year of Youth 2011.

Priority "European Year of Volunteering" – an example

The project “Volunteer with us, we can do it together!” had a strong focus on social inclusion. It was carried out by the Silesian Diaconia in seven cities in the Czech Republic and involved 12 volunteers from Germany, France, Sweden, Palestine and Ukraine for a period of 10 to 12 months. The volunteers supported nine different hosting organisations in their work with disabled children and adults, street children, socially excluded people, Roma people and seniors. This experience helped the young people with various cultural, ethnic, religious and social backgrounds to grow personally as well as to acquire work experience abroad. The Silesian Diaconia runs 54facilities which provide various social services and it has been involving international volunteers in their work since 2005.

Priority "Youth unemployment" – an example

In a German youth exchange born during the event Bridges to Work in Antwerp, 55young people from Germany, Spain, France, Ireland, Hungary, Austria, Poland, Slovenia, Sweden, the United Kingdom,Iceland and Croatia met in the context of a conference aimed at looking at their competences and at developing entrepreneurial ideas. With the support of businessmen, they elaborated business plans related to the ideas elaborated together. The exchange also included a "selling presentation" of the projects elaborated and a meeting with local politicians, employers and youth workers.

Priority "Poverty and marginalisation" – an example

The Swedish project "We are stronger together: Our right to social inclusion" involved 50young people with intellectual disabilities from Germany, Greece, Spain, Latvia, Sweden and the United Kingdom.During a six-day-meeting, disabled young people debated with Swedish politicians, disability policy delegates and representatives from employment services about their situation and needs. In workshops, dramas, and round tables, they expressed the desire to have more opportunities and to develop better skills which can help them live independently and participate actively in society as equal citizens. The participating organisations also strengthened their collaboration by exchanging good practices.

Priority "Entrepreneurship" – an example

Pupils at a secondary school in Luxembourg decided to update the school magazine they had been producing, so that it took advantage of the opportunities of the Internet age. They developed an "app" which not only carries the customary magazine articles, but also provides up-to-date information about the school - such as news about what's going on, which teachers are absent, or the day's menu in the school canteen. It also provides photographs of events organized by the school. The entire project was created and managed by the group of young people themselves during their free time. They organised themselves into working groups on issues relating to technical development, content and management. They carried out the technical development of the app, including the IT programming (they attended training courses in IT during weekends, and visited a TV studio in Cologne), they designed the content, and they planned and controlled the budget. To launch the app, they presented it in the school. They also promoted it beyond: they developed a logo, wrote press releases and contacted local media. By late 2012 the app had been downloaded by 900 people.

Priority "Global challenges" – an example

The organisation "Young Friends of the Earth Norway" involved 180 participants in debates and activities related to climate change issues as well as oil and gas policies which were held in Trondheim, Bergen and Oslo from September 2011 to February 2012. Through open meetings and events, young people conveyed the message that the climate crisis demands tough measures towards the biggest polluters in Norway and the world, and that youth can be an important part of the political pressure needed to achieve this. The highlight of the project was “The global day of climate action”, a big event in Oslo on 12th of December 2011. "Young friends of the Earth Norway" were cooperating with three other youth organisations.

Budgetary and other global indications

2011 was another year with increased outputs compared to previous years. Globally, the Programme was allocated 160.5MioEUR, of which 156.1MioEUR (97%) of operational appropriations, which were fully committed.

Youth in Action - 2007-2011 - Outturn (in MioEUR)

A positive evolution was notably observed for the following indicators:

• the total number of participants raised from close to 150000 in 2010 to close to 194000 in 2011;

Youth in Action - 2007-2011 - Number of participants (in thousands)

• out of them, the number of youth workers increased from 36000 in 2010 to more than 45000 in 2011, notably due to a quasi doubling of the number of youth workers participating in training and networking activities under sub-Action 3.1;
• in total, while8400 projects were granted in 2010, the Programme supported more than9600 projects in 2011 (14% increase).

Youth in Action - 2007-2011 - Number of projects

NB: when considering the statistics referring to the implementation of the Programme in 2011 and comparing them to those of 2010, one should bear in mind that the participation in the Programme was opened to Croatia and Switzerland since 2011. Besides, the statistics referring to sub-Actions 1.3 and 3.1 include in the numbers of participants, as from 2011, the youth leaders participating in youth exchanges (this was not the case for the previous years).

3.1.Action 1 – Youth for Europe

3.1.1.Youth Exchanges (sub-Action 1.1)

The sub-Action 1.1 in figures:

2007 / 2008 / 2009 / 2010 / 2011
Submitted projects / 2 671 / 2 579 / 2 876 / 3 599 / 3920
Granted projects / 1 277 / 1 323 / 1 335 / 1 573 / 1 715
Success rate in % / 47.8 / 51.3 / 46.4 / 43.7 / 43.8
Committed funds in MioEUR
(commitment rates in%) / 24 125
(96.0) / 25 673
(100.7) / 26 238
(101.6) / 28 432
(102.9) / 30740
(103.3)
Number of participants / 40 304 / 41 609 / 41 373 / 47 232 / 60633

In 2011, the number of submitted projects continued to increase, confirming the interest in this sub-Action, with varying situations between countries. The numerous activities offered by the NAs including those aimed at reaching new target groups (minorities, underrepresented regions…) contributed to this global increase in the number of applications. More than 30% of the participants in Youth Exchanges were young people with fewer opportunities, as a result of important efforts by the NAs both to promote the annual priorities relevant to their participation and to carry out targeted information and support activities (e.g. targeted at unemployed young people, young people living in rural and remote areas). The predominance of multilateral exchanges observed in the previous years remained true: they represented 58% of the projects granted and 61% of the participants concerned.

Many NAs reported an improvement in the quality of the projects submitted, resulting from various support activities they organised, such as info days for newcomers, publications, individual counselling for applicants and for the promoters of rejected projects and transnational trainings.

The staff training for sub-Action1.1 officers, organised in Paris on 21-24 November by the French andBritish NAs in cooperation with the European Commission and the Support for Advanced Learning and Training Opportunities (SALTO)Resource Centre Training and Cooperation, aimed at reflecting on methods for improving the quality of Youth Exchanges, on their impact on the participants, at sharing best practices, getting informed about modifications to be introduced in the management of the sub-Action as of 2012 as well as on the Commission proposal for a Erasmus for All.

Sub-Action1.1 - an example

Based on a previous collaboration, young people from Alkmaar (the Netherlands) invited eight young people and two group leaders from Tata (Hungary) to learn about how Dutch peers run "living room" projects - friendly, approachable and safe places for young people to spend their free time and to develop their social skills. Supported by teen volunteers, the organisers gave workshops in art, sports and games so that the young guests from Hungary could get an idea how to organize cheap but interesting and meaningful activities in their own country. A one-week bilateral youth exchange took place in August 2011. During their first encounter in Hungary, it had become clear that the Hungarian young people could set up such projects in their city, lacking places to meet after school, in cooperation with the local mayor.

3.1.2.Youth Initiatives (sub-Action 1.2)

The sub-Action 1.2 in figures:

2007 / 2008 / 2009 / 2010 / 2011
Submitted projects / 3 014 / 3 504 / 4 529 / 4 986 / 5539
Granted projects / 1 252 / 1 324 / 1 394 / 1 556 / 1714
Success rate in % / 41.5 / 37.8 / 30.8 / 31.2 / 30.9
Committed funds in MioEUR
(commitment rates in%) / 8 087
(87.6) / 9 839
(97.5) / 10 456
(101.5) / 10 040
(101.0) / 11251
(100.3)
Number of participants / 14133 / 13476 / 12 787 / 14 240 / 16057

The positive development of the Youth Initiatives observed in terms of submitted and granted projects and budget spent over the previous years was confirmed in 2011. The disproportion between national and transnational Youth Initiatives was again to be noted in 2011; however the number of transnational Youth Initiatives nearly doubled since 2007 (from 97projects in 2007 to 182 projects in 2011). The Youthpass was introduced in April 2010 for the Youth Initiatives and promoted by the NAs among the participants, enhancing the learning dimension of these projects.