9th -19th September 2012,Redondela

Youth in Action in figuresDuration: 2007-2013Budget: 885 million euros for seven yearsGeographic reach: EU Member States, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Turkey, the EU neighbours (Eastern Europe and Caucasus, the Mediterranean region, South-East Europe) and other partner countries in the worldAge brackets: 15-28 (in some cases 13-30)

Aim 1• To promote young people’s active citizenship

in general and their European citizenship in particular

AIM 2

• To develop solidarity and promote tolerance among young people, in particular in order to foster social cohesion in the European Union;

AIM 3

• foster mutual understanding between young people in different countries;

AIM 4

• To contribute to developing the quality of support systems for youth activities and the capabilities of civil society organizations in the youth field;

AIM 5

• To promote European cooperation in the youth field.

THE PROGRAM IS STRUCTURED AROUND 5 ACTIONS:

• Action 1 - Youth for EuropeEncourages young people's active citizenship, participation and creativity through youth exchanges, youth initiatives and youth democracy projects.• Action 2 - European Voluntary ServiceHelps young people to develop their sense of solidarity by participating, either individually or in group, in non-profit, unpaid voluntary activities abroad.• Action 3 - Youth in the WorldPromotes partnerships and exchanges among young people and youth organisations across the world.• Action 4 - Youth Support SystemsIncludes various measures to support youth workers and youth organisations and improve the quality of their activities.• Action 5 - Support for European Co-operation in the Youth fieldSupports youth policy co-operation at European level, in particular by facilitating dialogue between young people and policy makers.

What is Youthpass?

• Youthpass is part of the European Commission’s strategy to foster the recognition of non-formal learning. As a tool to visualise and to validate learning outcomes gained in “Youth in Action” projects, it puts policy into practice and practice into policy:

• Creating their Youthpass Certificate together with a support person, participants of “Youth in Action” projects have the possibility to describe what they have done in their project and which competences they have acquired. Thus, Youthpass supports the reflection upon the personal non-formal learning process.

• Documenting the added value of a “Youth in Action” project, Youthpass visualises and supports active European citizenship of young people and youth workers.

• Being a Europe-wide validation instrument for non-formal learning in the youth field, Youthpass contributes to strengthening the social recognition of youth work.

• Making visible and validating key competences through a certificate, Youthpass finally aims at supporting the employability of young people and youth workers.