6 Country Reports on Youth Work - Jugendpolitik in Europa
6 Country Reports on Youth Work - Jugendpolitik in Europa
6 Country Reports on Youth Work - Jugendpolitik in Europa
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Many youth work activities are carried out by youngsters themselves or with their help.<br />
Accord<strong>in</strong>g to the Est<strong>on</strong>ian n<strong>on</strong>-profit associati<strong>on</strong>s register, there are approximately 150 youth<br />
associati<strong>on</strong>s and a dozen youth workers' associati<strong>on</strong>s <strong>in</strong> Est<strong>on</strong>ia. <strong>Youth</strong> associati<strong>on</strong>s are<br />
engaged <strong>in</strong> <strong>on</strong>e or several fields of youth work, depend<strong>in</strong>g <strong>on</strong> the decisi<strong>on</strong>s of their members,<br />
because the objectives and activities of youth associati<strong>on</strong>s are established by jo<strong>in</strong>t decisi<strong>on</strong>s<br />
of members. <strong>Youth</strong> associati<strong>on</strong>s may operate a separate office, a youth work agency (e.g. a<br />
youth centre, youth camp, etc.) or a youth club.<br />
In recent years grow<strong>in</strong>g attenti<strong>on</strong> has been paid to developments at local level, for <strong>in</strong>stance<br />
structures and programmes to support youth participati<strong>on</strong> and open youth centres. Several<br />
Est<strong>on</strong>ian traditi<strong>on</strong>al forms of youth work such as youth summer camps and hobby educati<strong>on</strong><br />
schools (c<strong>on</strong>centrat<strong>in</strong>g <strong>on</strong> music, art, dance etc.) are currently undergo<strong>in</strong>g a renewal process<br />
<strong>in</strong> order to better fulfill the chang<strong>in</strong>g needs of young people.<br />
6.3 Germany<br />
<strong>Youth</strong> work <strong>in</strong> Germany is widely understood as a sector of n<strong>on</strong>-formal educati<strong>on</strong> and<br />
support focussed <strong>on</strong> aut<strong>on</strong>omy, participati<strong>on</strong> and <strong>in</strong>tegrati<strong>on</strong>. Political resp<strong>on</strong>sibility for this<br />
lies primarily with the local authorities. Resp<strong>on</strong>sibility is assumed by larger political entities<br />
(state or federal government) <strong>on</strong>ly when the work extends bey<strong>on</strong>d local or state level 20 . <strong>Youth</strong><br />
work at local level reflects different values and a wide range of c<strong>on</strong>tent, methods and forms<br />
of work. There is thus no uniform type of local youth work. Rather, this pluralism is the result<br />
of the vary<strong>in</strong>g needs of young people <strong>in</strong> <strong>in</strong>dividual places. Suitable services are offered by<br />
voluntary youth associati<strong>on</strong>s or welfare and religious associati<strong>on</strong>s. However, the public youth<br />
welfare departments also offer services <strong>in</strong> the field of leisure activities for young people and<br />
run youth centres for young people.<br />
The ma<strong>in</strong> focuses of youth work <strong>in</strong>clude various aspects dist<strong>in</strong>guished by their <strong>in</strong>dividual<br />
services 21 . These are <strong>in</strong> particular:<br />
20<br />
21<br />
� Out-of-school youth educati<strong>on</strong> supplement<strong>in</strong>g the family, school and labour market<br />
with: general educati<strong>on</strong>, political educati<strong>on</strong>, social educati<strong>on</strong>, cultural educati<strong>on</strong> and<br />
natural history, ecological and technical educati<strong>on</strong><br />
� <strong>Youth</strong> work <strong>in</strong> sports, play and social life<br />
� <strong>Youth</strong> work related to the labour market, school and the family<br />
� Internati<strong>on</strong>al youth work<br />
� Children and youth recreati<strong>on</strong> and<br />
� <strong>Youth</strong> counsell<strong>in</strong>g<br />
� Job <strong>in</strong>serti<strong>on</strong> related tra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g, support and counsell<strong>in</strong>g<br />
Münder 2006<br />
Thole 2000<br />
33