We’re marking ten years of the Europe Goes Local network project this year, and within your capacity as Chairwoman of the EGL Steering Group and the Director of the hosting NA Jint vzw, how would you summarize the EGL offer in terms of its contribution to strengthening the quality, practice, and recognition of local youth work?
For me, EGL is first and foremost about community. Through a variety of formats such as conferences, project labs, and advisory board capacity building, it brings together local and international actors to meet, exchange, and reflect, which is essential for building confidence and quality in youth work.
It also provides practical tools — like the changemakers kit and Workvivo — that keep the learning alive beyond individual events, making collaboration continuous and accessible.
What I value most is that EGL gives us a shared language. Frameworks like the Youth Work Charter and the European Youth Work Agenda make it easier to connect with local stakeholders, strengthening practice, quality, and recognition of youth work at the municipal level.
Why and how does EGL make a difference for youth work locally?
I see EGL making a real difference because it manages to create this supportive ecosystem, thereby connecting an often-fragmented variety of people, practices, and policies.
Peer learning is key: it brings fresh ideas into municipalities while also validating the work already being done. EGL doesn’t impose a model; it helps local actors find their own way, inspired by others.
At the same time, EGL bridges the European and local levels. It translates European priorities for municipalities, while ensuring that local realities feed back into the European conversation.
How does EGL help local actors connect to Europe, and what value does this bring locally?
EGL helps local actors reach Europe in a tangible way. Through the project labs, municipalities are made aware of the immense potential of the EU Youth Programmes for the development of youth work, while gaining inspiration and the capacity to develop international partnerships and projects that strengthen local youth work.
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Kaat Torfs is Director of the National Agency JINT vzw, the Flemish National Agency for the Erasmus+ Youth and European Solidarity Corps programmes, and Chairwoman of the Europe Goes Local Steering Group. She has a strong passion for international youth work, having spent 13 years in an NGO managing projects on youth empowerment and skills development in Latin America and Africa before joining JINT.