6 Country Reports on Youth Work - Jugendpolitik in Europa

voluntary organisations and to send them a questionnaire within the given time frame of this
project. Even though it is easier to get in contact with public organisations conducting youth
work, it is doubtful that they would have been able to answer all of the questions. In many
cases they do not have more data available than what has already been published on public
databases. Therefore information has been gathered both from existing statistics and from
employees within the local administration.
Findings:
It has been difficult to find the exact number of activities. Besides the information given on
the Nettungen websites there is little existing information. When information is available, like
in Oslo, different sources often have different figures. Lack of information could mean that
the numbers of youth activities are underestimated. This especially true in the case of
Porsgrunn, where very little information was found. It is very unlikely that the number of youth
work is as low as the table shows. Another major difficulty is the problem of separating youth
work from activities directed at children. Most public and voluntary organisations involved in
youth work also work with children. This problem is smaller in the municipalities that
participated in Nettungen, as there is information on the website about what age groups the
different activities are intended for. In Oslo this is a major problem, as we know little more
than the number and name of the voluntary organisations receiving financial support. This
could mean that the estimate of youth work activities estimated in Oslo is too high, as it
contains both youth and child work.
The tables show that public organisations focus on activities for young people with problems
and on open youth work and youth clubs. Voluntary organisations focus on sports, cultural
activities, youth groups and associations. The borderline between public and voluntary
organisations is not always obvious. Sometimes voluntary organisations carry out work on
behalf of public organisations such as child welfare services.
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