Public Policy and International Cooperation

SAHWA Background Paper, nº. 5
This Background Paper on “Public Policy and International Cooperation” aims to briefly draw the background on how public policy is related to youth in general and how international cooperation schemes affect youth in the Mediterranean region within the overall research objectives of the SAHWA project. Accordingly, the paper is structured in two major parts: Conceptual Framework/State of the Art; and Research Design. In the first part the conceptual framework is drawn from four different but complementary aspects. The first aspect is intended to set the perspectives on the relationship between public policy and youth depending on the literatures of public policy analysis and youth policy. Secondly, the development and priorities of the international cooperation schemes at the European level, and those in relation to the Mediterranean Partner Countries are briefly summarised, and the approach to youth within the specific policy instruments are discussed. Third aspect relates to the place of youth in the public/social/youth policy schemes at the domestic level in the five SAHWA research countries.
The first part of the paper concludes with a discussion on the main trends, main links and main conclusions relevant to the research. The second part of the paper is allocated to research design in a way to set the research questions, elaborate on the research methods and reiterate the deliverables to be produced as a result of the research.