This conference, the 3^rd Commonwealth Conference on Youth Work with the theme: “Crosscurrents: Steering a Course for Youth Work Profession in the Commonwealth and Europe” was organized by the Commonwealth Secretariat, London in partnership with the Malta youth agency, Agenzija Zghazagh and the Commonwealth Alliance of Youth Workers’ Association (CAYWA) in Malta from 6 to 8 November 2018.

 During the conference, the theme with its four topics were the focus of the 3-day conference:

• Developing and implementing policy strategies;
• Professionalization, education and training;
• Ethics and young people’s welfare;
• Emerging issues and innovative responses.

The context of the conference was on “recent policy initiatives and developments in youth work field in both the Commonwealth and Europe to provide an opportunity to discuss and consider together salient feature of youth work and how it can best be promoted as a professional practice that supports the educatin and development of young people worldwide”.

During the conference, prominent international keynote speakers shared their work, ideas, and studies on youth work. They were Sharlene Swartz, Executive Director, Education and Skills Development Human Sciences Research Council of South Africa on “Young People, navigational capacities and the role of youth work”; Tomi Kiilakoski, Senior Researcher, Finnish Youth Research Network on “Communities of practice and practice architectures”; Robyn Broadbent of the Commonwealth Alliance of Youth Workers’ Association on “The Voice of the Youth Worker and the Role of Youth Work Associations”; and, Dana Fusco, City University of New York, USA on “Professionalisation”.

There were also parallel Workshop sessions on the four themes that were facilitated by Layne Robinson and Miriam Teuma on “Developing and Implementing Policy Strategies”, Robyn Broadbent and Jane Melvin on “Professionalisation, Education and Training”, Tim Corney on “Ethics and Young People’s Welfare”, and Tamara Methebula and Jason Zammit on “Emerging Trends”.

From IPSAS-UPM, our Research Fellow, Dr. Lee Kwan Meng attended the conference at the invitation of Commonwealth Secretariat. He has been involved with them for many years due to his long-term involvement in youth work and its professionalization. His interest there is on the sub-theme of “Professionalization, education, and training”. The photos posted here are of his institutional visit to the University of Malta, where the delegates were briefed on the university’s Bachelor’s and Master’s degree programme on Youth and Community Studies. These programmes are under their Faculty of Social Well-being and are recognized by the Commonwealth Secretariat.  

The Conference ended on 8 November 2018 with responses on the cross current workshops, Moving in the 5^th Space, the Way Forward, Closing Remarks and Conclusion. 

Date of Input: 21/11/2018 | Updated: 21/11/2018 | nm_aini