Context / background: The project was created against the background of discussions regarding current challenges for rural youth work in the German-speaking area at the Future Forum of Youth Work 2019 in Berlin and exchange meetings that were part of the project "Europe goes local". Since this is an explosive and extensive but at the same time hardly researched topic, the idea for a strategic partnership to support innovations was born to enable a profound discussion on the topic of youth work in rural areas. The applicant organization is the Council of German-Speaking Youth (BELGIUM). Partner organizations are the Landesarbeitsgemeinschaft Offene Kinder- und Jugendarbeit Niedersachsen e. V. (GERMANY) and the Lower Austrian Working Group on Open Youth Work (AUSTRIA). Aims: Thanks to the intensive professional exchange, innovative strategies for the implementation, professionalization and expansion of open child and youth work in rural areas are developed. The potential of open child and youth work should be made aware to political leaders at local, regional and European levels and should lead to greater recognition and dissemination on open child and youth work. Concrete approaches, how young people in rural areas can be better reached and more intensively involved in the design of the municipalities and districts, are evaluated in a practical and scientific manner. Number and profile of participants: The project is coordinated and implemented by a 9-person project team consisting of qualified and experienced employees from the three different country organizations and a scientist. Up to 100 specialists can take part in the virtual meetings. Up to 55 people will be selected for the physical multiplier event. Activities: In order to ensure a high output of innovative ideas and careful project execution, the partners meets several times during the course of the project, physically and via video conferences. 5 project meetings and a multiplier event are planned for the professional exchange. In terms of content, we will discuss the requirements and needs of rural child and youth work and its effects on long-term security as a European concern in the sense of securing democracy. Also, the potential of open child and youth work as a counterbalance to anti-democratic tendencies among young people and as a preventive means against increasing emigration from rural areas. Theses are supported by best practice examples, in which open child and youth work in rural areas is successful as a place for social participation. Project implementation methodology: The meetings of the project team take place in cooperation with scientists who provide impulses for the current state of their research. The transfer of the central ideas into practice is discussed and accompanied in the context of the virtual and physical meetings. The exchange leads to a multiplier event, which is planned as a physical event. A handout on open child and youth work in rural areas will be created as a comprehensive product. In addition, the most important messages are prepared in the form of a 1-3 minute teaser and a 10 minute image clip for decision-makers and the public. Both are distributed over the Internet and are therefore available to a large audience. Results and long-term benefits: • Content-related gain for nationwide networking and professionalization of the field of activity • Strengthening the umbrella structure of the project partners through international exchange • Collection of bases for a coordination office for open child and youth work in rural areas • Learning from one another through best practice and difficulties • Convergence of theory and practice • Knowledge transfer for operative child and youth work in the participating countries • Practical tools to increase the awareness and image of open child and youth work • Improving the cooperation between open child and youth work and the community • Development of attractive solutions and approaches for decision-makers at local and state level • Strategies for the implementation and expansion of open child and youth work in structurally weak regions, as well as for the creation of a legal basis. • Positive impact at local level (emigration) • Increase awareness of Erasmus +
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.
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.