About RPD

Research and Practice in Dialogue – International Youthwork (RPD) is an international network that promotes the interdisciplinary and cross-sectoral exchange between research and practice in the fields of International Youthwork and Child and Youth Travel since 1989. It is supported and monitored by transfer e.V., a non-profit organization in the field of child and youth welfare based in Cologne, Germany. The activities of RPD are funded by the Federal ministry for Family affairs, Senior citizens, Woman and Youth (BMFSFJ).

The study results, practice research, and pedagogical concepts implemented within this framework provide impulses that significantly impact the contents, concepts, and structures of the respective fields of work.

• support the professional development of International Youthwork and Child and Youth Travel,
• promote the dialogue between participants from research and practice,
• address current and needs-based topics of the fields of work,
• serve as a point of encounter between research and practice: Generating knowledge and possibilities to transferring said knowledge into practice.

During the Strategy Meeting held in September 2021, a strategic document was developed to summarize the positioning and direction of the network.

• the identification and analysis of traits and impacts of the fields of work,
• the involvement of new target groups in the formats of the fields of work by developing innovative concepts and
  
• the development of cross-disciplinary approaches: Collaborations between Youth Work, universities, similar institutions of education, and vocational education.