The aim of the project "Youth work in the context of integration" (YRMA) is to bring youth workers and practitioners working in the field of integration closer together and create synergies between these two fields. Policy recommendations to foster this inter-sectoral cooperation have been developed in the course of the project and have now been validated during workshops in the four participating Federal Provinces, namely Vienna, Upper Austria, Vorarlberg and Salzburg.
The validation workshops took place physically in Dornbirn (15 September), Salzburg (16 September) and Linz (5 October) in a Covid-19-compliant manner. The one in Vienna was held digitally on 13 October. In total 80 participants attended all four workshops and provided useful input and first-hand insight into the different needs, challenges and opportunities of each Federal Province and their work in the fields of integration and youth. The ICMPD team presented the main project outputs, namely the draft policy recommendations that have been developed throughout the project period and finally phrased by the project steering Board of Experts early September, followed by vivid discussions.
The Board of Experts serves as an advisory board and steers the project with its expertise. It supports the project team in developing and implementing the project activities and consists of officials from the four participating Federal Provinces as well as stakeholders from different Austrian Ministries and youth/integration organisations on the federal level.
Despite having various regional and professional backgrounds, the participants of the validation workshops underlined the need for an institutionalised platform acting as a facilitator between the sectors of youth work and integration, the room for improvement regarding communication with children, teenagers and their parents, and a better cooperation between school and youth/integration stakeholders. These main findings and other inputs gathered during the discussions will be integrated into the final policy recommendations, which will then be presented on 13 November 2020 at the final project event that will be organised in a digital format.