Talking Youth Work podcast continues with new episodes
“Talking Youth Work” is a podcast series that seeks to raise awareness of the innovations and current developments in the field of youth work. New episodes are currently in production and will be published during the spring 2020.
The first episode of 2020 is now available on Podbean, as well as various other services such as Spotify and iTunes. In the episode, youth worker and trainer Jo Clayes talks about his approach to ‘non-formal education’ and how it can help with the difficulties that people have with more formal types of training.
The idea for the podcast was born during the Future Labs project (2017-2019), which sought to increase the quality of international youth work and its ability to address pressing contemporary issues in Europe.
Although the Future Labs project ended in August 2019, the podcast remains in production. Interviews done with experts, researchers, and practitioners continue to disseminate knowledge and support the development of digital youth work, creativity, and self-expression in social inclusion.
A cooperative effort produced by Humak
Talking Youth Work was created by Humak’s Portuguese project partner TeamMais, who originally designed the podcast as a 15-part series, with no intention of producing more episodes. After Future Labs concluded, they expressed a desire to continue making the podcast.
The Finnish project staff then proposed that Humak UAS could produce the series. By doing so, Humak is able to promote discussion about the significant issues concerning youth work in Europe. The endeavor is sponsored by @YouthWork, an international network that incorporates a host of operatives funded by Erasmus+.
The podcast is a continuation of the cooperation and innovations that were created during the Future Labs project. This kind of sustainability is admittedly rather rare in project work, says Future Labs project manager Kari Keuru.
The first four episodes of 2020 have been already been recorded, and a preliminary production plan is in place for the rest.
Well-received and widely disseminated
The podcast has garnered praise for its efforts of promoting youth work innovations. Player FM includes Talking Youth Work as one of the the best podcasts that focus on youth work. The website In Defense of Youth Work also published an article recommending the podcast.
Last year, the podcast had more than 2500 downloads and an average of 180 listeners per episode. There were listeners from several European countries, as well as from many other corners of the world, including Canada and Australia. This indicates that Talking Youth Work is an excellent platform to distribute information about new and interesting projects.
Organizations that want to publicize their projects, know-how, or research on topics related to youth work may partner with the makers of Talking Youth Work by supporting an episode or a season.
