A greater understanding and knowledge of youth is of paramount importance for policy making in the youth field – in order to meet the needs and expectations of young people, policies should be based on comprehensive knowledge and well-researched understanding of young people's situation, needs and expectations. A knowledge-based approach to policy development is particularly imperative in the context of rapidly evolving realities and permanently fluctuating circumstances of younger generations in Europe. Unquestionably, youth research plays a vital role in generating knowledge and understanding in aid of youth policy development.

 

In the Council of Europe, a need for youth research was first formally identified in 1967, when the Parliamentary Assembly adopted a directive calling for the study of youth problems in Europe. In 1992, the Committee of Ministers underlined the importance of youth research and called for the nomination of national youth research correspondents (Rec(92)7). In 2008, the role of youth research as a principle element of the youth sector's approach to generate knowledge on the situation of young people in Europe and promote evidence-based youth policies was reaffirmed by the Conference of Ministers responsible for Youth in the frame of its Declaration on the Future of the Council of Europe Youth Policy – Agenda 2020, and the Committee of Ministers in its Resolution 2008 (23) on the youth policy of the Council of Europe. The Council of Europe activities are based on three main objectives:

 

·   to encourage co-operation in the field of youth research,

·   to promote dialogue between researchers, policy-makers and professionals,

·   to publicise and disseminate results of research activities.

 

The 2008 publication Supporting young people in Europe (Volume 2) is one recent example of the generated understanding and knowledge of youth. Further publications can be found and ordered online.

 

In the European Union, knowledge and a greater understanding of youth grew to become an enduring priority with the Commission's White Paper A new Impetus for European Youth in 2001, when it was made one of four priorities to which the Open Method of Coordination is applied. Within this framework, the Council of Youth Ministers agreed upon the following common objectives in 2004 :

The 2007 Eurobarometer survey Young Europeans is one recent example of the generated understanding and knowledge of youth. Abstracts and results of further studies are searchable online.

 

In 2003, both institutions – the Council of Europe and the European Union – agreed to enhance their co-operation in view of developing a common and better knowledge basis in the youth field through networking and collecting research knowledge in order to inform both European youth policy and educational practice.

 

In the framework of this agreement, the Youth Partnership co-ordinates a network of researchers, organises research seminars on specific topics usually followed by research publications, and oversees the implementation of the European Knowledge Centre for Youth Policy, which facilitates the availability and visibility of knowledge on youth across Europe. 

The 2007 Study on the Socio-economic Scope of Youth Work in Europe is one recent example of the generated understanding and knowledge of youth.