6 Country Reports on Youth Work - Jugendpolitik in Europa

The various departments involved with youth issues (the National Department for Youth
Policies and Sports, the Labour Ministry, the Ministry for Social Solidarity, the National
Department of Education) are also trying to come up with innovative programmes by looking
for inspiration at what is going on at European level; yet, the impression is that each of them
is acting on its own. There is no common vision of all initiatives that are taking place because
of lack of coordination among all the stakeholders concerned.
All these issues result in the insufficient visibility of all positive developments, which are
much more than it appears. There is a need for a centralised, all-inclusive database that
would give more visibility to all activities broadly linked to youth work.
Another aspect mentioned by most of the interviewees is that youth work is not well defined
and doesn’t draw attention as a specific field. Moreover, its actual definition is very restrictive,
referring mainly to paid work or to activities leading to paid jobs.
A very important aspect that has emerged very strongly as influencing various aspects of
youth work is culture; both at personal and at social level, some cultural aspects affect
innovative thinking and how people take advantage of the opportunities offered by youth
work.
Some respondents underlined that mobility is not yet properly valued among Italian young
people, mainly because of cultural aspects – one of these being the strong link with the
family and the environment. Exchange programmes could be set up by national ministries
from different countries in order to encourage mobility and trans-cultural enrichment. Though
limited in time, these experiences could promote personal growth and development.
It is very important to be linked to European programmes and initiatives; they give a broader
perspective on youth in general, and on work opportunities in particular.
11.7 Netherlands
The experts interviewed in the Netherlands were
� a representative of the National Youth Council,
� a representative of the National Association for Youth Workers,
� a researcher specialised in youth work, who is also a lecturer in youth work,
� a researcher specialised in youth studies, who also used to act as a consultant to the
joint strategy in youth research of the CoE and the EC, and
� a researcher specialised in young people of immigrant descent.
In the interviews, experts most often stressed the low political priority of youth work in the
Netherlands. In contrast, several interviewees pointed out its relevance in cooperation
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