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1. Political Commitment to Evidence-Based Youth Policy

2. Cooperation between policy-making and research

3. National Statistics and available data sources

4. Budgetary Allocations supporting research in the youth field

Political Commitment to Evidence-Based Youth Policy

Youth policy in the German-speaking Community seeks to be evidence and knowledge based. Knowledge of youth workers and practitioners are included in the strategy plans via their direct participation and especially in the concepts for the delivery of the youth policy.

With the development of an interative statistics portal in 2010 the statistical work in the German-speaking Community has been systematised. Data on population, education, employment, culture and other areas are collected and made available. Pure statistical data is one source of evidence for policy-making, and a second key source is research.

In the past few years various studies have been conducted in the German-speaking Community to provide information on a range of topics. These have included drugs and addiction, social problems, media, violence and poverty. The German-speaking Community also participated in international research like the PISA study of achievement in formal education.

For the establishment of an evidence-based policy development it is not sufficient to react on more or less random research issues. To guarantee the proactive making of evidence youth-policy, strategies for evidence production have to be included in the policy. Therefore, a regular youth report –in combination with the five-year evaluation of the operational youth policy concepts – should improve the quality of youth policy development and implementation for the next five years. The first Youth Report (Erster Jugendbericht) was published in late 2018. The second Youth Report (Zweiter Jugendbericht) was published in late 2023. 

An evidence-based youth policy requires the development and definition of multidisciplinary indicators on well-being and on the future prospects of the young people. The youth policy needs specific research that collects, coordinates, systematically records and evaluates the data about young people.

Strategic Plan on Youth

The Strategic Plan on Youth (Jugendstrategieplan) is based on the analysis of the current life situation of the young people in the German-speaking Community. The Second Strategic Plan on Youth was originally planned to cover the period 2016-2020, it has however been prolonged for 2 years, so effectively the covered period is 2016-2022. Currently, the third Strategic Plan on Youth is being carried out covering the period from 2023-2027. The quality of the analysis on which it is based is important for the credibility of the strategy. For drawing up the current Strategic Plan a very detailed analysis has been conducted. Before measures can be planned in a second stage, the topics of the Strategic Plan on Youth must be defined. The choice of topics builds on knowledge of the youth sector and young people themselves. Specifically this means that the needs of the young people are determined by means of data from the youth sector and corresponding measures drafted. 

The Strategic Plan on Youth is made up of thematic priorities and a corresponding action plan. The 2018 Youth Report and the 2019 social space analyses, which provide a comprehensive of the situation of young people in East Belgium as well as numerous other studies, reports and data were included in the selection of the thematic priorities of the current Strategic Plan on Youth. In addition, the results of the annual effectiveness dialogues with the youth organisations and the results of the monitoring committees in open youth work, mobile youth work and the youth information centres were taken into account. The Council of German-speaking Youth ((Rat der Deutschsprachigen Jugend, RDJ) was also consulted in the preparation of the thematic priorities.

As of 1 January 2023, the Third Strategic Plan on Youth entered into force. The thematic priorities of the Third Strategic Plan on Youth are:
•    Civic participation;
•    Digitalisation;
•    Emotions and Self-Awareness;
•    Sustainable Development of East Belgium as Living Area
 

The action plan, which accompanies the Strategic Plan on Youth, contains measures for implementing the thematic priorities as well as the goals for the next five years. Projects that contribute to the realisation of the action plan can be financially supported by the German-speaking Community.

The entire process of the Strategic Plan on Youth is accompanied by a steering group. The steering group is made up of representatives from the relevant department of the ministry, the cabinets and the youth organisations receiving funding. There are also two places in the steering group for representatives of the Council of the German-speaking Youth (Rat der Deutschsprachigen Jugend, RDJ). The task of the steering group is to draw up the priorities and measures for the Strategic Plan on Youth and then monitor their implementation. To this end, the steering group meets at least once a year to evaluate the progress of implementation and make any necessary adjustments.

Social space analyses

“The purpose of the social space analysis is to better develop and control the provision as well as to organise the Open Youth Work.” (Spatscheck, Christian: Theory and method discussion)

The social space analyses form an important element for the analysis of the life situation of young people from the German-speaking Community. The Decree of 6 December 2011 on the Promotion of Youth Work (Dekret vom 06. Dezember 2011 zur Förderung der Jugendarbeit) states that a social space analyses needs to be carried out by the Open Youth Work Agencies to serve as a basis for the annual programme. 

The social space of each local authority is to be opened up by means of available information and data. The places and spaces of young people – their qualities, significances and functions – are investigated and the lives of specific target groups, individual in-crowds and cliques (e.g. foreign girls, younger teenagers etc.) examined. This is just a snapshot of the lives of the young people in the German-speaking Community that has no claim to completeness.

The social space analyses are carried out by specialists from youth work itself. In their observer role they develop a style of enquiry that meets their expectations and aims. This may change, become more precise or be completely reformulated in the course of the analyses and interpretation of the results. Together with the use of statistical material on the population structure and other relevant data of the respective social space, in an analysis of their lives, “small-scale” field study methods are used or even activities of the youth work itself that can be made usable. Key actors are questioned such as community leaders, young people, associations or schools.

In this way the social space analysis ensures not only better provision for the target group but also supports the youth workers in acquiring comprehensive knowledge about the social space investigated. In concrete terms this means that using this knowledge youth workers can develop focuses and recommendations for action for the youth work in their local authority that is adapted to the local circumstances and corresponds to the lives of the young people.

National Statistics and available data sources

As the German-speaking Community neither represents a statistical unit nor has universities or other research centres, national and international cooperation and networking is of great importance. Initiatives on participatory youth research have started up in the last few years and young people, experts in youth work and youth policy are working more closely together to build up methodical and sustainable reporting about youth in the German-speaking Community. Furthermore, the reporting of the youth structure has also been correspondingly restructured so that in the meantime a raft of specific approaches for the development of youth reporting is present.

Budgetary Allocations supporting research in the youth field