Youth participation and citizenship education have been widely discussed; however, there is no shared understanding on the best way for young people to acquire citizenship skills, attitudes, and knowledge. Although there is an extensive body of literature on citizenship education at school, other learning environments have received less attention. This article brings together the views of young people and youth policymakers on non-formal and informal citizenship education. The empirical analysis of the paper is based on the material collected in the framework of two large-scale European projects: MYPLACE and CATCH-EyoU. The in-depth, microlevel analysis of the viewpoint of young people is based on interviews conducted in ethnographic case studies. In addition, interviews conducted with Estonian youth policymakers were used as a source of information for the in-depth analysis of the attitudes of policymakers. The analyses draw attention to the differences in understanding between youth and policymakers and the top-down and bottom-up learning environments in youth organisations. The shortcomings of non-formal and informal learning as a form of citizenship education are outlined on the basis of different understandings of the meaning of citizenship.
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