Written by Nik Paddison
Our cooperation is called Growing Youth Work. That is the core of what we try to achieve, making youth work stronger and flourishing by a community process connected to the European Youth Work Agenda. One of the ways we do this is through Youth Work Talks.
(Elke Führer, Policy Advisor European Youth Policy and Youth Work, National Agency in Germany)
This Youth Work Talks webinar was held on 23 June 2026 as a part of a webinar series in 2026, organised by the strategic cooperation of the network of National Agencies of the EU youth programmes titled “Growing Youth Work”. The focus of the series is to pick a hot topic that concerns youth work and the future development of youth work and provide a space for fruitful and honest conversation. This Youth Work Talks webinar explores what kind of funding youth work really needs to thrive, not just survive. It was opened by Elke Führer, the coordinator of “Growing Youth Work” and facilitated by Snezana Baclija-Knoch with technical support from Domagoj Moric. The core of the webinar was a debate with three guest speakers who shared dilemmas and solutions on the topic of funding of youth work in Europe.
Marcin Gołębiowski
Deputy Mayor of Starachowice, Poland. Responsible for social affairs, education, culture, sport, and youth policy
As a policy maker I can see that it is very important to know how to create special budgets dedicated to youth work.
Magdalena Gnyp-Ścigócka
Deputy-Director of the Civic Participation Office, City of Lublin - European Youth Capital 2023, Poland
One of the tasks my office is responsible for is the network of our youth spaces, we currently have ten of them.
Georg Pirker
Representative of DARE Network; Democracy and Human Rights Education in Europe, and AdB, the Association of German Educational Organisations
I have responsibilities for European cooperation, mobility programmes, and policy and advocacy towards youth work.
What does the funding picture look like at the local, national, and European level?
European funding for local youth work
Georg pointed out that while locally based youth work funding should be the responsibility of the local level, in reality, many youth organisations first go to the European funding for mobility projects and use the money to supplement their local youth work. This reveals a lack of local and national funding for youth work across most countries in Europe.
Money attracts money
Magdalena shared that even before Lublin became the European Youth Capital 2023, they had managed to access some funds from the Norwegian Grants, which supported them in gaining an alliance with the Lublin IKEA, which in turn encouraged the Municipality to become an ally and allowed them to open the first of their Youth Spaces. She also shared that being a Youth Capital has meant being able to influence and develop youth and youth work policy as well as making access to some funding easier.
Finding the hidden sources
Marcin shared that according to the Polish legislation, financing youth related activities by municipalities is not mandatory, so without explicit knowledge of policy and law it is very difficult to get funds for youth activities. However, there is money available, for example, at the local level there is a local tax linked to alcohol sales. These taxes should be used for community based work, including youth work, the problem is that not many people know this money source exists or even how to access it.
Funding creating administration over youth work
Georg provided an example of funding from Germany, the Federal Child and Youth Welfare Plan, which provides substantial finances - though it is never enough. Unfortunately, the expected outcomes and administrative burden from this financial assistance are much bigger than the funding given. This brings into question the sustainability of such funding. If the youth workers main responsibility is to care for the steady flow of money into the organisation, when do they get to do youth work?
When you hear “youth work has enough funding to survive, not enough to thrive and not enough to refuse”, how do you respond?
Building the recognition of young people
Magdalena explained that during the Youth Capital in Lublin they were able to become an influence in youth policy. Since then, they have been able to bring together the youth NGOs, the young people, and the municipality, creating a sense of community between them. With having better understanding between them and having the same goals more things are happening now for young people in Lublin. The young people are becoming more and more recognised as a valuable part of the city and recognised that they are needed. As a result of all of this, for the first time, there is now an open call for funding for youth organisations.
Similarly, Georg shared that in Germany a lot of municipalities struggle to know how to provide a local development path which also offers young people a future within the community. Many young people leave the smaller municipalities to find work or a different kind of life. Georg expressed how young people need to be seen as more than the “problems”, they need to be recognised for what they bring and the different views they have. There is a need among youth workers when lobbying to remind the politicians and municipality of this value of young people, especially when seeking to secure long-term funding.
Put youth work in every development plan
Another issue is how to create a long-term financing system, especially at the local level in mid-sized or small municipalities. One approach proposed by Marcin is to ensure that youth work is a part of numerous strategic documents. He explained that in Starachowice, they included youth work not only in the local youth development plan (where it is legally required to be), but also in the educational development plan, local housing policy, a municipal programme for solving social problems, and a municipal programme for tackling alcohol and drug addiction. Each of these development plans has its own funding stream and if youth work is in the development plan, it is eligible for applying for some of that money.
What would be your advice to youth workers where there is not such a strong commitment from the local authorities for funding youth work?
Be creative
Marcin was passionate that we need to be providing services dedicated to young people. Youth policy is not only about creating a youth centre, it should also be about providing housing and creating community development strategies – with the young people – so that they are part of creating a future together. He went on to say that in his belief, funds dedicated to youth activities are an investment for any community. He pushed that youth workers need to speak with mayors and municipalities, to get them thinking of the young people as members of society, that they have their needs and expectations – and to remind the politicians that many of the young people are also voters.
European Youth Capital as a resource
Although not many cities have had this opportunity, but Magdalena shared that the Youth Capital was a wake-up call for Lublin regarding young people. The Youth Capital gave the city a lot of energy and created a youth spirit. One of the results is that Lublin is now part of an international project called Youth Space Link, which comes under an EU initiative URBACT.
She expressed that youth work and youth workers need to be equal partners with the municipality. She recognised that the money is never enough, but in Lublin, they encourage the youth organisations to find other sources of funding. They work with them and train them to find money from these different sources, so they are not dependent on the municipality of Lublin.
Lobby existing funding streams
In Germany, there is at national level, the Children and Youth Welfare Plan, which is a legal obligation for the state to financially support youth work, youth organisations, and youth work development at national level. Georg shared that in the recent elections different youth or youth related organisations that work at national level, campaigned about this instrument highlighting how it is underfunded. The campaign was successful enough that it took the attention of the ministerial level who said they would support the campaign.
Once the coalition between the Conservatives and the Social Democrats was formed, they agreed that the youth sector needed more funding. The federal budget was increased by 7 %. Although the distribution of the additional money does not satisfy all organisations, the joint campaign created attention, pressure, and a success for the funding of youth work.
Food for YOUR reflections!
The webinar provided space for the participants to reflect on the challenges as well as solutions regarding funding. The guest speakers came up with four dilemmas. There was space for an initial response from the participants, but in essence the dilemmas were left as something for all of us to reflect on.
- Marcin: A youth budget that has to be argued for every year is not a youth budget, it's a favour.
- Marcin: Youth work that depends on political goodwill instead of legal mandates is one election away from disappearing.
- Magdalena: Multi-year funding is a step in the right direction, but it still doesn't cover what young people actually need.
- Georg: Funding systems don't defund youth work, they just gradually fund it into becoming something else.
The webinar equipped the participants with many dilemmas but also successful examples and creative approaches. Among the conclusions one insight got a lot of resonance: engaging and lobbying for a better funding and recognition of youth work needs to be embraced by youth workers as one part of their work while practicing youth work needs to stay at its core.
