Anu Gretschel

I work as a senior researcher in the Finnish Youth Research Network. My specialized interest is in the relationship between society, municipalities, and young people. This entails research projects related to youth participation, their impact creating possibilities, democracy, evaluation of youth work as well as developing public services through negotiations between young people, professionals, and decision-makers. At the beginning of 2022, some research projects have ended, and new ones have started.

During 2018-2021 a project called Taking the multifaceted evaluation tool into use developed for open youth work was funded by the Regional State Administrative Agency for Southwestern Finland. It was realised in co-operation with municipalities, non-governmental organisations and parishes mainly from the Southwestern Region of Finland but also with two non-governmental organisations offering web-based youth work services nation-wide. The evaluation cycle consists of four different focal points such as the utilisation rate of the service, young people’s satisfaction with the service and equality mapping. As a whole, the idea is to produce a thicker knowledge base for decision-makers and those planning youth work services about how to direct resources and if there is enough of them.  The evaluation process is being carried out in South-Western part of Finland by the regional youth work coordinators. Meanwhile, this same tool has started to be put into use in the city of Tampere with the help of resources funded by Kanuuna, which is one of the centres of expertise for youth work nominated by the Ministry of Education and Culture.

There was also another co-operation with Kanuuna — the co-producing of the Young people getting independent  -database for youth workers and other bodies working with young people. The methods and knowledge sources mentioned in the database were selected because they were designed so that young people were seen as actors in their changing life situations, not as objects. The idea of the databased was to also report on how to discuss the positive aspects of becoming independent, and not only be problem-based. Beside English, the database is published also in Finnish and Swedish.

Good practices related to Democracy and Human Rights Education in early education, schools and educational institutions over the last five years were also collected during 2021. The project produced a collection of stories about good practices in democracy and human rights education, which can now be accessed in Finnish, sign language, Swedish and Northern Sámi on the webpage of the Finnish National Agency of Education. The project was realised in co-operation with the National Youth Council Allianssi and Koordinaatti, which has a role in three different centres of expertise for youth work. The project was contracted by the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Education and Culture.

The responsibility of writing and updating Youth Wiki chapters on Finland has given continuity to my working processes for several years now. Youth Wiki is Europe's online encyclopedia for national youth policies that are rooted in EU Youth Strategy. Nowadays, the database includes 33 European countries and ten different thematic chapters for each. Youth Wiki is funded by EU Erasmus+, and nationally by the Ministry of Education and Culture.

In 2021-2022 the Finnish Youth Research Network fulfils the research module of the Finnish National Youth Council Allianssi’s Evaluation and monitoring of the activities of youth organisations in the Nordics - what can be learned from the Nordic countries? -project. The research module is comprised of a literature review and interview-based survey for finding out information about the methods, tools and operating methods used in different Nordic countries to assist in the evaluation and quality monitoring of non-governmental youth organisation activities, especially concerning the effectiveness monitoring of activities.

Most of 2022 and early 2023 will be allocated to a project entitled Situation picture and instruments of monitoring – Democracy and human rights education, participation rights and equality at field of education. The research questions of the study concerns issues on intended learning outcomes, involvement, participation rights and evaluation of actualisation of equality. Purpose is to examine how well and how equally intended learning outcomes of democracy and human rights education comes true in Finland. Also, the study investigates fulfillment of involvement and participation rights of children, pupils, and students. The study operates at all levels of education practice from early childhood education to teacher education. It is realised in co-operation with Jyväskylä University and Haaga-Helia University of applied sciences. The research project is funded by the Government’s analysis, assessment and research activities.

Recent publications in English:

1. Gretschel, Anu & Korhonen, Antti (2019) What the European co-operation teach us about the nature of tools used in evaluation of (open) international youth work. International Journal of Open Youth Work, Issue 3, 83-92.

2. Cooper, Sue & Gretschel, Anu (2018) Evaluating youth work in its contexts. Teoksessa Pam Alldred, Fin Cullen, Kathy Edwards and Dana Fusco (toim.) SAGE Handbook of Youth Work Practice. Lontoo: Sage, 608–622.

Researcher profile in Finnish

Profile in Researchgate

Profile in Academia.Edu

Publications in English

Gretschel, Anu & Korhonen, Antti (2019) What the European co-operation teach us about the nature of tools used in evaluation of (open) international youth work. International Journal of Open Youth Work, Issue 3, 83-92.

Cooper, Sue & Gretschel, Anu (2018a) Evaluating youth work in its contexts. Teoksessa Pam Alldred, Fin Cullen, Kathy Edwards and Dana Fusco (toim.) SAGE Handbook of Youth Work Practice. Lontoo: Sage, 608–622.

Juha Nieminen & Anu Gretschel (2018b) The "Social" in Youth Work: Snapshots of Finnish Youth Work Policy and History. Teoksessa Howard Williamson, Tanya Basarab & Filip Cousseé (eds.) The History of Youth Work in Europe. Youth Work and Social Work. Connections, Disconnections and Reconnections – the Social Dimension of Youth Work, in History and Today. Volume 6. Youth Knowledge #23. . Council of Europe and European Commission, 95-107. https://pjp-eu.coe.int/en/web/youth-partnership/the-history-of-youth-work-volume-6

Gretschel, Anu (2017a) From Groups to a Network – Using the Speech Act Theory in the Development of CSYP Measures in Local Level in Finland. Teoksessa Magda Nico & Marti Taru & Dunja Potočnik & Andrei Salikau (eds.) Needles in haystacks. Finding a way forward for cross-sectoral youth policy. Partnership between the European Commission and the Council of Europe in the Field of Youth. Bruessel: Council of Europe Publishing, 119–127.  https://pjp-eu.coe.int/en/web/youth-partnership/needles-in-haystacks

Anu Gretschel (Ed.) & Tina Cupar & Merle Linno & Tomi Kiilakoski & Noora Hästbacka & Antti Korhonen (2017) Studying the impact of international youth work – Towards developing an evaluation tool for youth centres. Helsinki: Finnish Youth Centres Association. Suomen nuorisokeskusyhdistyksen julkaisuja, 1/2017. Finnish Youth Research Society/Finnish Youth Research Network, Internet Publications 113. 

Older ones 

Kiilakoski, Tomi & Gretschel, Anu (2014) Challenging Structured Participation Opportunities. In Perspectives on Youth: European Youth Partnership Series under the topic “2020 – what do YOU see.” Partnership between the European Commission and the Council of Europe in the field of youth. http://pjp-eu.coe.int/documents/1017981/7110731/Kiilakoski-Gretschel.pdf/32f2bbd6-5eef-480f-9ba8-d5e27d2efb57

Gretschel, Anu & Kiilakoski, Tomi & Laine, Sofia & Levamo, Tiina-Maria & Mäntylä, Niina & Raisio, Harri (2013) Report on New Ways of Youth Participation, Spesifically in Local and Regional Levels. In co-operation with The Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe and Partnership between the European Commission and the Council of Europe in the field of youth or Finnish Youth Research Network. Helsinki: Nuorisotutkimusverkosto/-seura. http://www.nuorisotutkimusseura.fi/julkaisuja/youthparticipation_goodpractices.pdf (Available also in Russian).

Feldmann-Wojtachnia, Eva & Gretschel, Anu & Helmisaari, Vappu & Kiilakoski, Tomi & Matthies, Aila-Leena & Meinhold-Henschel, Sigrid & Roth, Roland & Tasanko, Pia (2010) Youth participation in Finland and Germany. Status analysis and data based recommendations. Finnish Youth Research Network, Bertelsmann Stiftung und Forschungsgruppe Jugend & Europa am CAP, Ludwig-Maximili­ans-Universität München. http://www.nuorisotutkimusseura.fi/julkaisut/verkkojulkaisut (Available also in Russian)

Laine, Sofia & Gretschel, Anu (2009) Whose arena the EU youth policy is? Young participants’ involvement and influence in EU youth policy from their own points of view: Case of EU Presidency Youth Event in Hyvinkää, Finland. Young 17 (2), 191–215. Republished in Lynne Chisholm & Siyka Kovacheva & Maurizio Merico (eds.): European Youth Studies – Integrating research, policy and practice. Triangles Series, M.A. EYS Consortium, Innsbruck, 179-193. http://www.youthstudies.eu/files/maeys_reader_2012.pdf Republished in (2016) Tommi Hoikkala & Meri Karjalainen (eds.) Finnish Youth Research Anthology 1999-2014.