Projects per year
Personal profile
Research interests
Young people, youth work, social inclusion, citizenship, youth justice, Europe
Research interests
Howard Williamson has held academic research grants from the Economic and Social Research Council, various government departments and the European Commission, and practice grants from the National Lottery Charities Board for his ‘cottage project’ in Snowdonia, working with unemployed and excluded young people.
He has managed and conducted research projects for local, national and European organisations. His research work has been predominantly on youth issues, notably concerning youth work and youth training, but it has also addressed juvenile justice and youth crime, drug misuse, special needs housing, inter-agency partnerships, mini-enterprise in schools, local economic development and training for enterprise in Europe.
His primary research interests are around youth policy, citizenship and social exclusion, and the role of youth work in the personal development and social integration of young people.
Since the 1970s, he has conducted over 70 research studies on young people. Relatively recently, this has included: action research with schools around alternative key stage 4 curricula, an evaluation of the Home Office On Track initiative, a formative evaluation of a police-led schools curriculum on drugs, crime and personal safety; and a European funded collaborative research project on youth behaviour in public space (with research institutions in Austria, Estonia and Finland).
He co-ordinated the Council of Europe youth policy reviews of 21 countries between 1997 and 2016, and co-edited the seven-volume History of Youth Work in Europe series.
His most significant research study, however, remains that of the ‘Milltown Boys’, a group of young men he first studied, through participant observation methods, 50 years ago. His first book about them (Five Years, National Youth Bureau 1981) covered their teenage lives. He interviewed them when they were 40 (The Milltown Boys Revisited, Berg 2004) and again when they were 60 (The Milltown Boys at Sixty: The origins and destinations of young men from a poor neighbourhood, Routledge 2021).
He has recently published other books on European youth policy (with Max Fras and Zara Lavchyan: About Time! A reference manual for youth policy from a European perspective, Council of Europe Publishing 2021), the disruption of youth transitions to autonomy on account of the COVID-19 pandemic (with Ewa Krzaklewska, Amy Stapleton and Frank Tillmann: Transitions on Hold? How the Covid-19 pandemic affected young people's transitions to autonomy, Council of Europe and European Commission 2023), and an Advanced Introduction to Youth Studies (with James Côté, Edward Elgar 2022). His most recent publication, launched during Belgium's presidency of the Council of the European Union is Taking Stock - Where are we now? Youth work in contemporary Europe (Flemish Government 2024).
Currently he is working on a manual on youth work strategies across Europe, together with colleagues from Germany, Romania, Malta, Armenia and Hungary.
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
Education/Academic qualification
BSc (Econ)
PhD
External positions
Visiting scholar, University of Ljubljana
30 May 2024 → …
Visiting Professor, Victoria University
2018 → …
Visiting Professor, Allameh Tabataba'i University
2016 → …
Visiting lecturer, University of Rennes
2015 → …
Visiting Professor, Academy of Youth Research, China Youth University of Political Sciences
2014 → …
Visiting Fellow, Institute of Social Research, Zagreb
2013 → …
Affliliate Professor, University of Malta
2010 → …
Visiting Professor, University of Malta
2009 → …
Visiting Professor, Chinese University of Hong Kong
2007 → …
Guest Professor, University of Copenhagen
2001 → 2002
Lecturer in Social Policy and Senior Research Associate, Cardiff University
Visiting Professor, University of Hertfordshire
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Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
Projects
- 2 Finished
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Angles and Standpoints: demystifying the concepts of ‘youth perspective’ and ‘youth mainstreaming’
Williamson, H., Hofmann-van de Poll, F., Kalala, E. & Lonean , I.
1/03/23 → 1/03/25
Project: Research
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Youth Work Strategies Manual
Williamson, H., Hofmann-van de Poll, F., Serban, A., Teuma, M., Lavchyan, Z. & Balogh , J.
1/03/23 → 31/03/25
Project: Research
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Acknowledgement by Howard Williamson
Williamson CVO CBE FRSA FHEA, D. H., Apr 2025, Key Youth Work Curriculum & Competencies Framework. Gothenberg: KeksResearch output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Other chapter contribution › peer-review
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Non-Formal Education and Learning in Europe: The Role of the Council of Europe
Williamson CVO CBE FRSA FHEA, D. H., 2025, Building Europe Through Education, Building Education Through Europe: Actors, Spaces and Pedagogies in a Historical Perspective. Coutaz, R. R. & Paoli, S. (eds.). Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge, p. 168-184 17 p.Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review
Open AccessFile214 Downloads (Pure) -
Social work in Wales: edited by Wulf Livingston, Jo Redcliffe and Abyd Quinn Aziz, Bristol, Policy Press, 2023, 297 pp., £27.99 (all formats), 978-1447367192 (pb), ISBN 978-1447367208 (EPub, Kindle)
Williamson CVO CBE FRSA FHEA, D. H., 8 May 2025, (E-pub ahead of print) In: European Journal of Social Work. 00, 00, 2 p., 2500397.Research output: Contribution to journal › Book/Film/Article review › peer-review
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Youth Research
Williamson CVO CBE FRSA FHEA, D. H., 25 Feb 2025Research output: Non-textual form › Podcast Episode
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Youth Work Strategies Manual: Approaches and methods for inspiring youth work development
Williamson CVO CBE FRSA FHEA, D. H., Hofmann-van de Poll, F., Şerban, A., Lavchyan, Z. & Teuma, M., May 2025, Strasbourg: Council of Europe Publishing. 119 p. (Youth Knowledge ; no. 32)Research output: Book/Report › Book › peer-review
Activities
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EYWA Connect: Youth Work and Youth Policy with Prof. Howard Williamson
Howard Williamson (Speaker)
10 Apr 2025Activity: Participating in or organising an event › Participation in workshop, seminar, course
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Experiential Learning Conference 2025
Howard Williamson (Speaker)
Mar 2025Activity: Participating in or organising an event › Participation in conference
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Experiential Learning Conference 2025
Howard Williamson (Speaker)
Mar 2025Activity: Participating in or organising an event › Participation in conference
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Commentary at a Online Community of Practice (OCOP) Session from the Chinese University of Hong Kong
Howard Williamson (Lecturer)
17 Jan 2025Activity: Other
Press/Media
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Video of events at EFA 24 (European Forum Alpbach 2024)
10/03/25
1 item of Media coverage
Press/Media: Other
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Coverage of the start of the 2022 National Youth Meeting, Bulgaria, with particular focus on Professor Howard Williamson's meeting with Stansilav Vladimirov, Mayor of Pernik Principality, Bulgaria
16/06/22 → 17/06/22
2 items of Media coverage
Press/Media: Other
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Newspaper coverage in Bangkok on the UNICEF Thailand & TPQI Webinar 'Catalyzing Youth Engagement In Thailand'
30/04/22 → 2/05/22
2 Media contributions
Press/Media: Expert Comment
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Howard Williamson TV Interview with CNN Portugal on young people and youth policy in Europe
28/11/21
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Expert Comment
Prizes
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Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE)
Williamson, Howard (Recipient), 2002
Prize: National/international honour
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Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (CVO)
Williamson, Howard (Recipient), 2016
Prize: National/international honour
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Outstanding Contribution to Youth Work Award
Williamson, Howard (Recipient), 28 Jun 2019
Prize: National/international honour