Status in national legislation

There is no competence description for youth workers, apart from the formal qualifications required when working as a Parish Coordinator for Youth Work in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, for which a Bachelor’s degree in Christian youth work is needed. Youth work providers such as municipalities and non-governmental youth associations are free to hire any worker whose professionalism seems to be suitable for the corresponding work. Some employers have also systematically used young people as interviewers during the recruiting process. Additionally, if an employee is going to work longer than three months, they must obtain a criminal records extract for working with children.

Professional ethics guidelines for youth work have also been published. The guidelines were published by NUOLI (an expert organisation in the sports and youth sector) and the Finnish National Youth Council and Youth Sector (FYCS) in 2020.
 

Education, training and skills recognition

The first youth work courses took place in the 1940s, and Finland has developed an educational system for youth work that spans all levels of the educational system. Moreover, the Finnish youth work education model allows for many different routes into the field. For some, it is initially through formal education. For others, the route is less clear and may involve studying another subject or learning about youth work through non-formal education and direct work experience. (See Tomi Kiilakoski’s study ‘Youth Work Education in Finland’, published by the Finnish Youth Research Society.)

After nine years of compulsory basic education, there is the possibility to choose either a general upper secondary education or a vocational education. When choosing a vocational qualification, one of the areas of work is 'Vocational Qualification in Education and Guidance', which includes three areas of competence, one of which is 'Youth Work and Community Education'. The National Agency for Education provides more information about the qualification requirements (in Finnish) on its website Kasvatus- ja ohjausalan tutkintojen perusteet. Prior learning is recognised through competency demonstrations completed in authentic working life situations (see Act on Vocational Education and Training (531/2017), Laki ammatillisesta koulutuksesta, in Finnish). There are currently over twenty institutions providing vocational education in youth work.

Finnish higher education is comprised of universities and universities of applied sciences. A bachelor’s degree in Humanities entitled “Community Educator” is offered at three universities of applied sciences namely in the Humak University of Applied Sciences (HUMAK), the South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Sciences (XAMK) and the Centria University of Applied Sciences. The Deacon University of Applied Sciences (DIAK) offers a bachelor’s degree programme in social services called “Christian Youth Work”. Aside from degree programmes, one can choose to study open university courses of applied sciences, which enables students to study only the content they wish to study. Such courses are available at HUMAK and XAMK.

The University of Tampere offers Bachelor’s, Master’s and Doctoral Degrees in social sciences in line of study of Youth Work and Youth Research. It is also possible to specialize in youth research as part of doctoral studies. The themes of the social inclusion of young people are an integral part of all these studies. Though Tampere is the only university offering degree level education in the field, there are other university courses that pertain to youth research and youth work in Finland. The Finnish University Network for Youth Studies (YUNET) is advancing the availability of those courses at universities all over the country.

State-supported organisations provide training for continuous professional development. For example, the Finnish National Youth Council and Youth Sector (FYCS) provides training on themes such as democracy education and measures to combat violence. The complete training and event calendar (in Finnish) can be found on FYCS’s website.

As Kiilakoski mentions in his study ‘Youth Work Education in Finland’, it is impossible to create a complete picture of the scope of non-formal youth work learning opportunities such as seminars and courses in Finland, because it is estimated that there are hundreds of them. Kiilakoski names four examples: Youth work centres of expertise, youth associations and their umbrella organisation Finnish National Youth Council and Youth Sector, Regional State Administrative Agencies (the Finnish Supervisory Agency from January 2026 onwards), municipalities (see Glossary), and the former Centre of Expertise for Municipal Youth Work ‘Cannon’. (See more about the new Youth Work Centres of Expertise in YouthWiki/Finland 1.4 Youth Policy Decision making).
 

Mobility of youth workers

As mentioned in the previous chapter, there are hundreds of seminars and networking events available each year for youth workers at the regional and national levels. A youth worker’s employer can be a municipality, a non-governmental organisation, or a parish, and is responsible for offering youth workers the opportunity to participate in these events. Nowadays, many opportunities are also available online. 

Regarding international mobility, the Finnish National Agency for Education provides information on the Erasmus+ mobility programme for youth workers and offers assistance during the application process. It also offers training to youth workers, manages the selection of projects, supports and monitors implementation, and provides information on the results of the programme in accordance with the Commission’s guidelines (see also YouthWiki/Finland 6.5 Cross-border learning mobility).

The Agency’s website states that the objectives of the mobility programmes include:

•    Encouraging participants to reflect on European topics and values.
•    Developing youth workers’ understanding and skills regarding diversity.
•    Promoting the use of innovative methods, such as digital ones, in youth work.