6.9 Awareness-raising about non-formal and informal learning and quality youth work
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Information providers / counselling structures
Youth work in Germany is organised at the municipal level. Key information and counselling structures are therefore also found at this level. The youth welfare offices, whose remit also includes youth work, have an important role to play here. Youth centres in the towns and municipalities offer a range of services for young people. Some local authorities also have youth information services that provide information on services and benefits for young people. In southern Germany, the youth information centres have joined together to form a regional network; there is no integrated nationwide system.
In addition to the youth welfare offices as public providers of youth work and youth welfare, independent organisations also play a major role. This includes those involved in youth work through associations. The individual associations and organisations provide information about services on their websites and in social media, thereby raising awareness of the topic’s importance.
At federal level, the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth (BMFSFJ) provides an overview of information portals that contain information, contact points and materials on youth work at European, federal, state and municipal level. The target group for these portals is young people, those around them and professionals.
There are also a large number of portals that focus on specific aspects of youth work. JUGEND für Europa is an example of a website where young people can find out about opportunities for international mobility or volunteering; an overview of the various programmes and further links can also be found at the Federal Employment Agency (Bundesagentur für Arbeit).
For further information, see also the Youth Wiki chapter Raising awareness about youth work.
Awareness raising initiatives
The Youth Strategy of the Federal Government (Jugendstrategie) not only provides information on political issues relevant to young people, it also enables young people to participate in political processes. It identifies nine youth-related fields of activity in which measures are adopted. These include areas such as ‘Participation, engagement and democracy’, ‘Education, work and freedom’ and ‘Europe and the world’. The current coalition agreement also provides for a National Action Plan for Child and Youth Participation (Nationaler Aktionsplan für Kinder- und Jugendbeteiligung), which is a dialogue process involving representatives from politics, academia and civil society, as well as children and young people. The aim is to formulate recommendations for effective child and youth participation by 2025, which will then be submitted to the Cabinet of the Federal Government and the Conference of Ministers of Youth and Family Affairs (Jugend- und Familienministerkonferenz, JFMK) as a recommendation for a resolution. This ensures that the Youth Strategy is further developed in dialogue with the younger generations. Activities in this area also help to raise the profile of youth work and non-formal and informal learning.
The Portal for Child and Youth Welfare (Portal der Kinder- und Jugendhilfe, which has a specific area on child and youth work, is a key component in the information strategy of the federal and state governments. This portal is aimed at professionals and other interested groups. In addition to information about specific fields of activity, current news and projects, the portal also reports on research and political developments in the field.
As a working group made up of nationwide youth associations, state youth councils and various affiliated organisations throughout Germany, the German Federal Youth Council (Deutsche Bundesjugendring, DBJR) is committed to strengthening and representing the interests of youth work. One of the ways it does this is by setting out and publishing a series of positions.
The various umbrella organisations for youth work, including the German Federation for Arts Education and Cultural Learning (Bundesvereinigung Kulturelle Kinder- und Jugendbildung, BKJ) and German Sports Youth (Deutsche Sportjugend, dsj), also ensure that youth work is made visible through their substructures.
IJAB - International Youth Service of the Federal Republic of Germany also contributes to improving the visibility of international youth work through its activities and website.
Finally, the goal of the Juleica image campaign is to make the commitment of volunteers in youth work more visible in politics and society and thus ensure greater participation and appreciation. The Juleica youth leader card is a standardised nationwide ID card for volunteers in youth work.
For further information, see also the Youth Wiki chapter Raising awareness about youth work.