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This summer, a particularly cool group is also active in the Tartu Youth Work Camp – an international youth work camp group. This group brings together young people from Estonia, Spain, Italy, and France for two weeks, working and spending their free time together. The goal of the Tartu Youth Work Camp is to offer school-aged youth aged 13-19 the opportunity to spend their summer holidays constructively, gaining their first work experience in a supportive and safe environment. The youth work camp group's tasks include several activities. For example, they collectively tidy up the Anne Youth Center and the Annelinn area – raking and collecting trash. Trash lying in green areas in the city center, parks along the Emajõgi River, and along roads is also collected by the youth to make the urban space cleaner and more pleasant. In addition to collecting trash, the youth help Tartu…

On Monday, a public discussion was held, during which the authors of the projects that had passed the first round of evaluation by the expert committee had to briefly explain why their idea was important to the community. This was followed by an evaluation to determine which ideas would proceed to the public vote in October. The evaluation was based on the following criteria: the number of people who would benefit from the idea, its impact on the urban environment, originality (i.e., a novel approach), community cooperation, and the promotion of active lifestyles. The evaluators were the authors of the ideas and experts from various fields. From Monday's discussion, where the participating ideas belonged to the theme group "Parks, sports, and leisure," 12 ideas advanced, including the Anne Youth Center Leisure Park. A total of 25 ideas will advance to the public vote in the fall. This year, 67 ideas were submitted to the participatory budget.

Knowledge Day is a back-to-school celebration held on September 1st in the city centre, where various hobby clubs are introduced to young people alongside entertainment. Each year, nearly 3000 students of various ages, from elementary school children to high school graduates, participate in the event. Various hobby schools and associations from Tartu are present with interactive workshops, with music and dance school performances taking place both in front of and on the stage, and the day concludes with a concert by Liis Lemsalu. This lively event is a tradition with which Tartu celebrates the start of the school year. The event location is once again planned to be the square next to Tartu Kaubamaja, Küüni Street, and if necessary, Keskpark. If the state imposes additional restrictions due to the spread of the virus, all activities will be spread out across the city. Providers of hobby education are asked to fill out a form. As always,…

In cooperation with international partners, the Tartu Youth Work Centre has developed a questionnaire within the framework of the Erasmus+ project “Digital Tools for Youth Work” (“Digivahendid noorsootöö tarvis”). Our innovation project is currently in the mapping phase. In this regard, we kindly ask youth workers to take 15-20 minutes of their time to answer the questionnaire, thereby contributing to the development of digital tools supporting future youth work. In addition to our centre, the participating partners in the project include Europejska Fundacja Rozwoju Człowieka (Poland), Armavir Development Center (Armenia), and Robotikos mokykla (Lithuania). We invite you to actively respond to support the development of digitalization in the youth sector! The questionnaire can be found here: https://lingid.ee/Pf0Da and is open until July 12th. Thank you for your help!

Tartu Youth work camp, Tallinn Student Camp, and Pärnumaa Student Camp, in cooperation with the Government Office's 30th Anniversary of the Restoration of Independence Committee and the Education and Youth Board, are jointly celebrating the 30th anniversary of the restoration of independence of the Republic of Estonia this summer and will carry out activities dedicated to this important date during the 2021 camp summer. In this regard, the Tartu Youth work camp is looking for photos from participants of youth camps during Estonia's independence period (1987-1991), along with an explanation of what is happening in the picture. We will feature the photos on our social media, and current camp participants can re-enact the pictures. If you have a particularly exciting story to tell, please send it to us as well. If you or your parents have interesting photos or stories from participating in the youth work camp during the re-independence period, please send them to maarja.enumae@raad.tartu.ee. Photo source: Foundation's…

On June 17 at 3 PM, the opening ceremony of the Tartu Youth Work Camp will take place in the courtyard of the Anne Youth Center, marking the start of this year's camp summer. The opening ceremony, as the name suggests, will begin with a bang, executed by the Tartu Defense League in the form of a mock battle. Mayor Urmas Klaas will deliver welcoming remarks. Afterwards, participants will get to know their future groupmates better through games, and a camp tree, which this year is a rowan, will be planted in the courtyard of the Anne Youth Center. In addition, a traditional procession will take place. Together, they will move to Town Hall Square, where future campers will take the camp oath and together sing the legendary camp song "Maasika Klaarika" (Strawberry Klaarika). The first shifts will start work on June 28, but most of the work will be done in July. The Tartu Youth Work Camp summer will conclude with…

Starting in June, youth centers will once again be able to hold indoor activities. In addition, activities will continue on a larger scale in the courtyards of youth centers and in street work, and in July, an outdoor youth center will open on Autovabaduse puiestee. From June to the end of August, youth centers will be open at the following times: Ilmatsalu Youth Center: Mon-Thu 13-19, Fri 13-20 Lille Youth Center: Mon-Thu 13-19, Fri 14-21 Anne Youth Center: Mon-Thu 13-19, Fri 14-21 During the summer, our youth centers will also host many exciting summer activities. For example, there are wilderness survival days (registration until June 11), a summer solstice party on June 11, a joint celebration of Midsummer Day, and many other events and outings. In addition to the aforementioned locations, the open-air youth center is open from July 9 to August 8 in the youth area of Autovabaduse puistee every day from 2:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Applications for this year's Tartu Youth Work Camp have closed, but there are still open spots in some out-of-town berry picking groups, which are intended for young people aged 16-19 from Tartu. While the number of applicants for youth work camp groups for 13-15-year-olds was, similar to previous years, higher than expected, the number of applicants for out-of-town groups remained modest this year. Therefore, the Tartu Youth Work Camp is looking for young people aged 16-19 who would like to work in the strawberry picking groups taking place from June 27 - July 7 and July 7 - July 18. All interested individuals should send their contact information to maarja.enumae@raad.tartu.ee. As the number of spots is limited, only the quickest applicants will be admitted to the groups. In addition to working, the youth work camp also emphasizes acquiring new knowledge and experiences, filling leisure time, and naturally, making new acquaintances...

Starting today, May 25, you can participate in an adventure game organized as a pre-event for Tartu Children's Day, which will begin next to Tartu Kaubamaja. The game consists of three different tracks, each with five points. You can participate in the game individually, as a family, or as a class. There are two ways to play the adventure game: on your mobile phone or on paper. To play on your mobile phone, you need to download the Actionbound app, find the QR code on the Children's Day advertising poster, and scan it to open the game. The paper version can be obtained from the Tartu Youth Center during their opening hours (for more information, visit www.tntk.ee). It is also possible to download and print the paper version yourself. The game can be played from May 25 to May 31. All participants...