On 23 February in Brussels, Europe Goes Local welcomed Zurab Samadalashvili from Austria’s Agency for Education and Internationalisation for a job-shadowing day focused on strengthening cross-national learning in youth work.
Zurab visited Brussels to gain deeper insight into key Flemish initiatives: the LandInSight tool and lobbying for Youth Work, both developed by JINT – the Flemish National Agency. Zurab also met with Bataljong, the umbrella organisation supporting municipalities in developing strong local policies for children and young people. Their expertise in connecting local authorities, youth councils, and practitioners offered a valuable perspective on how structured support can empower local youth work.
The next step included a brief description of the tools from JINT and Bataljong that were shown during the day. First LandInSight developed by JINT – this tool puts internationalisation on your organisation’s radar. It helps organisations explore how international activities and cooperation can strengthen your organisation. The second tool is Aanstekers from Bataljong. This is a web tool where all young people can add ideas for their local council. You can also view all the ideas submitted by others. The last one is Debattle from Bataljong. Debattle is a project focused on the 2024 municipal elections, tailored to young people and youth councils in particular. Debattle informs, facilitates and activates youth councils so that they can increase their influence and ensure their voice is heard in the new policy plans.
During the day, we exchanged experiences on how youth work is organised in Flanders and Austria. Zurab presented his pilot project- the Local EGL Trio Model. The visit created a space for reflection, mutual learning, and new ideas. We learned a lot about each other’s work, and we look forward to exploring future opportunities to connect our practices and strengthen local youth work across Europe.
—
This article was written by Hanne Bogaert, an intern of JINT vzw and Europe Goes Local. Hanne is currently completing her Master’s degree in EU Studies at the University of Ghent. She was present during the job shadowing, followed along and got to know Zurab and his project, the LandInSight tool from JINT and Bataljong and their projects and tools.