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TOOLBOX

Youth Observatory

What is a YO ?
A Youth Observatory (YO) is a unit of information aimed at grasping the trends, issues
or phenomena that affect the generation of 15-30 years in order to inform media and
decision-makers and influence youth policies.

Why creating a YO?

Strategy and decisions of government - such as educational policy, of course, but also
housing, employment, family policies - have an impact on youth and therefore on the
future.
In many countries, governmental decisions are based on adults' concerns and
expectations firstly. Priority is given to the present and the future is neglected. Young
people are not voting very much, they are not lobbying, their influence is limited. Their
questions and problems, even if they concern the future of society, are often
overlooked.
Speaking of youth is to speak "project of society". A society which does not deal with
the concerns and expectations of young people, which do not engage them in decisions
that affect them, does not prepare its future.
To ensure the development of a country, it is essential to pay attention to the particular
"place" occupied by young people in society, to gather information on their concerns,
expectations, the way they perceive society and their future, the values that drive them,
the challenges they face to participate in the decisions that affect their future and to
find their place in the adult world.
The YO is a space for gathering and processing information - both quantitative and
qualitative - related to youth social phenomena. It aims to make them intelligible to
society so that youth is not seen as a problem but as a resource, a force for
development.

What results are expected?

A YO strives to better understand the conditions of life, resources, characteristics,
expectations of young people in a given area in order to have more influence on the
development of national and regional policies by transmitting this information to media
and decision-makers.
A YO seeks to achieve, in particular, the following results:
1.

Resource materials (articles, statistics, reports, etc.), which directly or indirectly

highlight the problems and concerns of young people and the way society consider
them, are identified and listed.

2. The information collected is analyzed in order to identify new trends and changes.
3. Surveys are conducted to study the feasibility and evaluate the impact of policies
affecting youth.
4. Research and exchange of information between different public and private
institutions active in the field of youth are encouraged and facilitated.
5. The collected and analyzed information is distributed to politicians, local and
national governmental bodies, media, public and private organizations working with
youth, in order to influence policy decisions that affect youth.
6. Training activities and advisory services are offered to young people themselves and
social actors working with young people in areas such as: communication,
leadership, skills for life and youth empowerment, employability, job search, small
business management, gender equality and the rejection of violence based on
gender, etc.

How does a YO work?

Questions
A YO searches concrete answers to questions such as:

Who thinks the youth? who speaks about youth?

What is the youth place in society?

What are youth's characteristics? what are the youth related phenomena?

How is youth experienced?

What are its relationship with other generations?

How is it perceiving itself?

How is it perceived?

What is the function of the young social component? What are their interests? What
is its process of structuring? Should we speak of one "youth" or "several youth".

Working methods
To collect and analyze information, a YO can use different methods:

Monitoring the media (press, radio, television) to record all information about youth.

Compiling statistical data and developing a comprehensive view of existing actions

in favor of youth led by actors and partners in a given territory.

Creating a database of quantitative data (several criteria will be used to identify

needs in terms of housing, employment, or mobility, etc.).

Running surveys (questionnaires, interviews) among youth and people who are in
touch with them (educators, youth workers, teachers, social workers, foremen,
business leaders, religious and political leaders, etc..) on specific subjects such as
young people's access to employment, youth values, youth participation, civic
engagement, independence, voluntary service, etc..

Organizing forums and meetings with various local and national actors of youth
world to implement a synergy which is essential to a dynamic observatory.

Dierent stages
The work can be divided into different stages:

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1.

Collecting existing data and analyses

2. Formulating questions (what issues to be observed? What processes to be seized?)

and objectives
3. Choosing a participatory process such as learning through action
4. Acquiring methods of data collection and content analysis
5. Selecting ways of involving different types of actors
6. Formulating recommendations and implementing actions
7. Monitoring the effects of the process of setting up the youth observatory on:
Public policy
Professional practices
Youth initiatives
Politicians ...
8. Establishing a writing group for the preparation of documents
9. Publishing and disseminating information towards stakeholders and decision-makers
to influence youth policies.

How to create a YO?

The initiative of creating a YO can be taken by various actors:

Some youth observatories have been created by governments or public institutions.

For example, in France, the Institut National de la Jeunesse has created its own
observatory (http://www.injep.fr/IMG/pdf/observatoirejeunesse2.pdf).

Other YO can be created by an association or a group of associations. For example,

still in France, the Association de la Fondation des Etudiants pour la Ville (AFEV)
created the Observatoire de la Jeunesse Solidaire (http://
www.jeunessesolidaire.org/)

Academic researchers interested in youth issues may also be at the origin of a YO.
For example the Observatoire Jeunes et Socit was established at the University of
Quebec (http://www.obsjeunes.qc.ca/)

Creating a YO may involve different stakeholders. In Portugal, for example, the Youth
Observatory is a research program agreed between the Instituto da Portuqus
Juventude (Portuguese Institute for Youth, IPJ) and the Instituto de Cincias Sociais
(Institute of social sciences, ICS) of the University of Lisbon (http://www.coe.int/t/
dg4/youth/Source/Resources/Forum21/Issue_No9/
N9_YR_Portuguese_Scheme_en.pdf)

The important thing is to associate partners - youth organizations, universities, etc.. - In

order to get some recognition from society and government. On the other hand, it
seems preferable to retain autonomy vis--vis public authorities to keep freedom of
research and speaking.
A YO can be created at the national level but also at the local level (region or city) to
analyze youth issues on a more limited area.

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