Written by Nik Paddison
Can you tell us who you are and what you do?
I am Kristiina Pernits. I work at SALTO Training and Cooperation Resource Centre. One of our big working areas is Youthpass and recognition, specifically the recognition of non-formal and informal learning in youth work and youth volunteering within the two EU youth programmes. My role is ‘senior advisor’; I coordinate the work around Youthpass and recognition in our resource centre.
What is validation in the context of youth work?
In SALTO we see validation of non-formal and informal learning as part of the more general concept of the recognition of learning in the context of youth work and volunteering. Validation is a process of confirming that the learning outcomes acquired in one context correspond to the competences relevant in another context. It is important to be aware that the contexts concerned by validation and non-formal and informal learning are actually broader than our work in the youth sector. Validation can also refer to the validation of different formal education achievements as well as other contexts such as, on the job learning, and adult education.
So just to clarify, when we are talking about validation we are referring to the validation of non-formal and informal learning in the context of youth work and youth volunteering, and more specifically in the context of the two Erasmus+ Youth programmes.
Can you tell us about the Study on Validation you have been working on?
The Study was developed in cooperation with four Erasmus+ Youth National Agencies. These were Estonia, France, Germany, and Slovenia. These were the National Agencies that were interested to explore the topic in more depth together with us. The title of the Study is “Validation of Competences Developed in Youth Work and Volunteering”.
For some background context, as SALTO we continue to manage and develop Youthpass and we sometimes get confronted by youth workers and young people with questions such as “what can I do with my Youthpass?” or “Where does it matter?” or “Who can I present it to?”. This was one of the background reasons for us wanting to explore the topic of validation. Youth workers may not perceive it like that, but by supporting young people’s awareness about their learning in youth work or volunteering, they provide an important basis for, and even first steps in the process of validation.
Youth work and volunteering contribute a lot to the competence development of young people. The European level mobility of youth workers also contributes to the competencies of youth workers. The question then is, what kind of competencies are being developed through youth work? Recent European evidence highlights intercultural competencies, teamwork, communication, logical and critical thinking, learning skills, project management, and so on. So it is in this context that that the contribution of youth work to society and societies challenges is highly relevant.
These competencies are very essential for the ever changing current and future societies. Youth work has a strong role in supporting and strengthening democratic societies, and in supporting young people's agency in all of this. Youth work deserves visibility and recognition, and the competences that are relevant also in other concrete contexts deserve validation.
Validation contributes to the recognition of youth work and provides one channel for the learning outcomes acquired in youth work. There is still a lot to do to understand the conceptual connections of validation to youth work, and to elaborate on the cooperation between the youth field and other sectors. So, we asked ourselves, where does youth work, volunteering and more specifically Youthpass fit into the validation picture and how can the work we do with Youthpass better support this.
The Study
For the Study, we explored the relationship between the competencies developed in youth work and volunteering and the validation processes in universities. In each of the countries, researchers were hired specifically for this project. They conducted both a desk-research and interviews with people connected to the topic. There were quite some differences between the countries when describing their situation, the challenges they face and the ways forward open to them.
The Study revealed that some learners feel left alone with the task of first understanding and documenting their learning outcomes. This for example is clearly a place where youth work and youth workers already play a big role and can perhaps even strengthen that role.
The European connection
Even though we were exploring the national context, the perspectives of European youth work and European youth volunteering were always in the background and the outcomes were quite generalisable to the European dimension. The connections to the European level are very clear in the outcomes of the Study, and in the description of each of the national contexts.
The validation processes in all four countries are very clearly linked to the general European concept of validation of non-formal and informal learning. This European concept was outlined in 2012 with the Council Recommendation on validation of non-formal and informal learning. This Recommendation outlines the four stages of validation; the identification of the competencies developed, documentation, assessment of the competencies, and certification of the learning outcomes.
What are the connections between the Agenda/Roadmap and the topic of validation?
The outcomes of the fourth European Youth Work Convention are very strongly connected to the range of topics related to the recognition of youth work. Especially when it comes to structures, funding and cooperation with different sectors.
At SALTO, we strongly agree with what has been expressed in the conclusions of the Convention, that while seeking connections to other sectors, we also have to be clear about what it is that youth work is about, what it can offer, and where the boundaries are. So, in the context of validation, we see that youth work has a lot to offer to society in general and it relates to current broader EU policy processes. Through the validation related reflections and through positioning youth work and its contributions more clearly within the concepts and processes of validation, we contribute to the visibility and therefore recognition of youth work. However, we also need to be realistic and consider, where in the possible target contexts of validation does youth work have most to contribute to, and where we may be setting ourselves unrealistic expectations.
What is the next step regarding the validation of youth work at the European level?
At the European level the discussions will of course continue. Very concretely in November 2026, there will be a symposium on the recognition and validation of European youth volunteering. This symposium will look at youth volunteering specifically rather than the youth work perspective. But the discussion will definitely continue also from the angle of youth work. The German National Agency will implement a conference at the end of October 2026 that looks at the contributions of youth work to the broader EU policy processes – “What’s YOUTH got to do with it? Horizontal European Strategies and their meaning for youth work and youth volunteering”.
Discussions on the recognition and validation of competencies developed in youth work will continue in the work of SALTO Training and Cooperation. We will also put together recommendations to youth work stakeholders based on the outcomes of the Study. We want to see where various youth field stakeholders can potentially play a stronger role in the validation process and where their contributions can fill gaps and strengthen youth work.
The publication will be available soon via https://www.youthpass.eu/en/recognition/validation-project/
