Stakeholders meeting on Training of Trainers 
(19-21 June 2007)

Context

Training of youth trainers at an advanced European level has become a key working area for many structures traditionally involved in youth worker training.
However, the main stakeholders offering training of trainers rarely had a chance to share their experience and to review together the existing offers in Europe, in order to try and see if a coherent training strategy for trainers could possibly be developed at European level. In order to try and address these needs, the Partnership and the SALTO TC RC decided to organise together a stakeholders meeting, which was hosted by the Partnership in the European Youth Centre in Budapest (EYCB) on 19-21 June, 2007.

Participants

The stakeholders meeting gathered 30 participants, which represented the various stakeholders involved in training of trainers in Europe: the Council of Europe; the European Commission; the Partnership; the SALTO Resource Centres; GTZ; the European Youth Forum; the National Agencies; trainers and educational experts.

Meeting Objectives

The meeting had the following objectives, among others: 

• to identify the current offers of trainings of trainers in Europe;
• to assess the existing needs of training of trainers in Europe, from the perspective of the various stakeholders involved;
• to provide the stakeholders with a space for exchanging their motivation and interest to train trainers and to check their interest in developing a coherent strategy to train trainers at European level.

Main outputs & foreseen follow-up

The meeting fully met its initial objectives:

• the current offers of trainings of trainers in Europe were identified in a mapping study, which was discussed during the meeting;
• the various stakeholders had an opportunity to share their visions and ideas regarding the existing needs of training of trainers in Europe;
• the stakeholders also agreed on the need to develop a co-ordinated strategy of training of trainers at European level in the future.

Each of the stakeholders involved should now check internally (with its own statutory bodies) if the creation of a co-ordinated strategy of training of trainers at European level is feasible.
Moreover, taking into account the results of the stakeholders meeting, the Partnership will start to define its own training for trainers’ strategy for the future in a sectorial group meeting (19 September).

Conclusion

All participants appreciated the fact that such a meeting was organised, which was a clear sign that there was scope to do something together in the field of training of trainers, and that the topic was back on the political agenda.
The meeting also sent a positive signal to the Council of Europe and the European Commission, which should consider the development of a common European strategy to train trainers in their future work plans, if possible. This could also encourage other stakeholders to act in the same direction.
In any case, any future developments should be based on participative approaches, in order to increase the sense of ownership of the different stakeholders and guarantee that suitable resources will be available to put a European strategy into practise.

Further reference:

• Report of the stakeholders meeting*
• Updated “mapping study on European-level training of trainers”