• Digital engagement: It must extend into the digital world, where fostering connections to democracy is essential (e.g., DigitAL and DIYW ROAD, DARE network ). • Resilience in crisis: It must also adapt to extreme circumstances, such as war, by providing trauma-sensitive support (e.g., Зірки . Stars. Les Étoiles., Ukraine/Council of Europe ). These examples demonstrate that youth work is steadily evolving to keep pace with the diverse needs of young people and a changing world. Matj až Gruden encouraged the participants to continue this work and focus on the needs and problems of young people. In Grudens words, not trusting democracy has often emotional rather than rational reasons. It is the consequence of real problems, which politics fail to address. Youth work must take this seriously in helping youth to identify their problems, express their fears and find solutions. This resonated with the participants, several of whom expressed the wish to “let every young person participate”, “show instruments to bring ideas and needs on the political agenda”, or address “hurdles for young people to participate in meetings and events”. The need for strategies to deal with anti-democratic narratives described above must consider the ambition of youth workers to be as inclusive as possible. Also, different strategic focuses are needed for diverse youth work approaches. Advocacy work may require a different communication strategy than trauma-sensitive work with individuals, a citizenship education course may require more detailed discussions of the concept of democracy than a festival. The conference showed that a wide variety of strategies already exist and enabled participants to learn from each other. The Politicisation of Youth Work Throughout these discussions, one question loomed large—and it will continue to occupy youth work far beyond the conference : how political can and should youth work be? One aspect of the topic is the perceived lack of political thinking among youth. Participants from different countries shared similar paradoxical experiences with solidarity: young people were often ready to help and volunteer in reaction to extraordinary circumstances. Apparently, such solidarity only occasionally translated into political consciousness and action. While participants expressed a desire for a more politically engaged youth, their vision for the role of youth work was still taking shape. Probably, this is related to another aspect of the topic, which concerns youth work at the organisational level. Several participants shared that the CSOs they represent understand themselves traditionally as non-partisan and non-political organisations. This view is challenged when social engagement and advocacy for topics like human rights and youth participation becomes politicised. Participants discussed the importance of taking a political stance but also acknowledged the challenges in determining a suitable approach. A promising way of dealing with this challenge was shared by the German Sports Youth presenting their project “Sport with Courage”: as a federal umbrella organization, they developed guidelines for their local member organisations, providing a variety of instruments to react to the challenging circumstances
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