Youth work in the european village - Thumbs up?!

Background Youth work (OKJA) is often not noticed by the public. The important functions and resources of the work field are not sufficiently recognized. This topic is extremely widespread, especially in rural areas - youth work is often not noticed or not sufficiently supported. The sponsors met at a specialist conference and started talking about this problem. With a joint project, they wanted to pay special attention to the needs of youth work in rural areas and take a closer look at the current challenges in this special social area. The focus of the project should initially be the exchange and the determination of whether the partner countries are similar in the design of the field of open child and youth work. The central goal was to develop a concept that pursues the goal of stimulating an intensive exchange of expertise and developing concrete strategies for the creation, stabilization and expansion of the OKJA in rural areas. The potential of the OKJA for rural regions should thus be made aware of those responsible for politics at the local, regional and European level and lead to greater recognition and dissemination of the OKJA. Objectives Innovative strategies for the implementation, professionalization and expansion of open child and youth work (OKJA) in rural areas should be developed through the cross-border exchange of expertise. Different materials such as a concept, a film and a multiplayer event should be useful as a further basis for exchange for other specialists. The potential of open child and youth work should be made clear to those responsible at local, regional and European level with the help of the materials created. This is intended to achieve better equipment, recognition and dissemination of open child and youth work. Concrete approaches on how children and young people can be better involved in the design should be developed and tested in a practical way. The focal points of the content were scientifically supported and jointly further developed. A strategy for further sustainable work was worked on. Important topics were: digital media, mobility and the basic design and anchoring of open child and youth work in rural areas. Implementation There were five physical project meetings for professional exchange. In addition, we regularly worked together in online working groups. A specialist event was held at the end of the project. All meetings were enriched by the scientific support with professional input and filled with visits by practitioners and institutions on site with a high proportion of practical work. The work on the intellectual outputs in the form of texts required a detailed examination of current specialist literature and the discussed content from the meetings and was additionally ensured by the participants in individual work. The implementation of the film required close cooperation with the organizations in the three countries that offer open child and youth work. An idea for the films was conceived by the project group and the idea and the film recordings were implemented with a film team. A concept was created in which the basics of open child and youth work were presented and can thus serve as a handout for practitioners. In addition, the most important findings with the central demands on politics were published as a small brochure and presented to a broad specialist public. Achievements Concept development and collection of methodology and best practice from all three countries. Development of requirements for further work and the implementation of better standards. Image films for each country that briefly describe the open children and youth work. A long overall film that shows and explains important functions of the OKJA. A logo that can be used for institutions from rural areas and can thus stand for something in common. Thus, in addition to the concrete outputs from the project, a process of further development of open child and youth work in rural areas was initiated, which should be promoted by everyone and further involve practitioners.