6 Country Reports on Youth Work - Jugendpolitik in Europa

11 Interview findings
To be able to deepen and discuss in a qualitative way the circumstances of the given
databases in the different European countries, we conducted interviews with stakeholders of
youth work. The findings are first of all presented for the individual countries and then
summarised.
11.1 Austria
The interviewed stakeholders in Austria were
� one person involved in open youth work in the 15 th district of Vienna,
� one person involved in open youth work in the 17 th district of Vienna,
� one person who is a youth worker and project manager for an association focussing
on socio-cultural work and mobile youth work in the 15 th and 22 nd districts of Vienna,
� the head of the municipal youth department in Dornbirn, Vorarlberg, and
� the person in charge of pedagogical issues in the Viennese association of youth
centres.
Most of the interviewees argue that lack of networking and lack of public interest are the
main reasons for the rather fragmentary and meagre availability of data on youth work in
Austria. It is difficult to get comparable national data because of the different situations of
youth work in the different regions or states. Furthermore, terms used in youth work often do
not have a nation-wide definition. Another reason for the rather poor coverage of data on
youth work in Austria is lack of interest on the part of the sponsors. There is hardly any
initiative taken to improve the availability of data. According to some experts, extensive
mandatory records are kept on any group wishing to receive subsidies, but this data is not
used for any other purpose. Another reason given by the interviewees is that youth work
does not have a sufficiently intensive lobby, especially in the media. There is not much public
knowledge about youth work in general. The reason for this is partly the work itself: in open
youth work it is difficult to quantify success. On the other hand, experts tend to see
improvement in the legitimation of youth work in Austria over the last decade. At regional
level standards have been introduced and accepted, but on a nation-wide level there is too
little networking and standards are quite far from being assimilated.
11.2 Estonia
Interviewees in Estonia were contacted through local youth work coordinators. In total, five
youth workers took part in the survey (three females and two males); most of them work in
local open youth centres. In one case – in a small rural town – due to the lack of staff and to
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