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1. Status in national legislation

There is no legal or regulatory authority for youth work as a profession. Through the Youth Decree of 23 November 2023 (see 10.2 ‘governance’), the Department Culture, Youth and Media stimulates and supports a rich and varied offer of non-commercial socio-cultural activities for young people, mainly through subsidies to organisations at national or regional level.
However, there are training programmes on the one side and there is mobility for youth workers on the other, as will consequently be discussed.

2. Education, training and skills recognition

Looking at higher education, there are no specific educational programmes leading to a qualification as youth worker. However, (applied) colleges in Flanders offer a graduate programme in social-cultural work and the professional bachelor’s in social work, option social-cultural work. At university level, the Master of Social Work and the Master of agogical sciences also provide a relevant basis for working – amongst others – in the field of youth work. 

Training programmes (kadervorming) are all training pathways offered by youth organisations to young people leading to a certificate as an animator, head animator or instructor in youth work. Each pathway consists of a theoretical component and a supervised internship. At the end of a pathway, young people acquire specific competences as described in the competence profiles. When a young person successfully completes the entire pathway, they receive a certificate confirming that they possess the competences required for the role of animator, head animator or instructor in youth work.

Thus, youth associations can offer a training programme to people in order to obtain a certificate as an animator, head animator or instructor in youth work. This training has been radically changed since October 2015. Before then, organisations had a lot of freedom in setting up their courses. With the new Flemish Decree on Framework Training Trajectories in 2014, all the regulations were harmonised which lessened the freedom of the individual organisations. The Decree of the Flemish Government of May 9, 2014 on framework training programs regulates the competencies and competency profiles of animator, head animator and instructor, and lays down the conditions and rules with which the training programs, application and recognition must comply. Each program consists of a theoretical part of minimum 50 and maximum 55 hours and a supervised internship of 50 hours. The specific requirements for supervision depend on the programs themselves. The age and competency requirements for the participants are also different for each program. The following organisations may organise recognised training programmes leading to a certificate as (head) animator or instructor:

• recognised nationally organised youth associations;
• recognised cultural-educational associations;
• recognised information and participation organisations;
• organisations with a specific mandate, such as De Ambrassade, VVJ, JINT, the Children’s Rights Knowledge Centre and the Children’s Rights Coalition;
• professionalised youth work organisations for children and young people in socially vulnerable situations;
• supra-local youth work organisations for children and young people with disabilities.

3. Mobility of youth workers

Through the EU’s Erasmus+ programme ‘Mobility of youth workers’, organisations and youth workers can be strengthened by setting up exchanges with youth workers—both professionals and volunteers—from different countries. Through study visits, workshops, seminars, courses or training sessions, youth workers can meet other youth workers from across Europe who can inspire them with new methods and insights. In this way, youth workers can enrich your local practice. By sharing their experiences within their own organisation after the exchange, they create a strong and lasting impact on youth work in Flanders.

Besides, since 2009, the Bel'J program has given young people between the ages of 12 and 30 and youth workers the opportunity to meet young people and/or youth workers from the other Belgian Communities. The three Belgian Ministers of Youth are convinced that these contacts should be encouraged. They therefore support this joint program with opportunities for leisure activities. One of the possibilities within this programme relates to mobility of youth workers to learn from each other, e.g. during job shadowing or training for youth work organisations. Approved projects receive a financial contribution to cover expenses. In each Community, an agency has been appointed to implement the programme. For Flanders, this agency is JINT (see also 10.2 ‘governance’).