Blog

Starting in March, the Lille Youth Centre's Healthy Lifestyles Club will focus on a specific theme each month. So, it was decided with the young people that the club's theme in March would be sleep, in April human relationships, and in May stress. However, this does not mean that if young people are very interested in some other topic during that month, it will be completely ignored. Addressing topics of interest to young people remains one of our core values, and fortunately, the youth centre's schedule is flexible enough to accommodate them. The Lille Youth Centre's Healthy Lifestyles Club is now also available as an event on Facebook, where you can get all the month's information. However, there are still exciting things happening at Lille Youth Centre related to health -...

This week, the President of the Republic Kersti Kaljulaid is visiting organizations and companies in Tartu and Tartu County and also familiarized herself with the Lille Youth Center of the Tartu Youth Work Center. The management of the Tartu Youth Work Center gave the guests an overview of youth work in Tartu: past achievements, future directions and goals, and the specifics of youth work in the city of Tartu compared to other municipalities. Challenges in the field were also discussed. Karl Kraus, who won the title of Tartu's Young Achiever of the Year in 2019, and youth center activist Liisa Veddel introduced the activities and opportunities offered at the Lille Youth Center, talked about why they visit the youth center, and dreamed about what could be even better. The President also participated in the youth center's activities herself and played the WildEst board game with a young person. In a joint discussion with the President, the young people received from the head of state…

Overview of the sports event held in Ilmatsalu by Rando-Kristen Kangro, youth work specialist at Ilmatsalu Youth Center. On February 26, another sports event, "M1N1 Multi-Event," was held at Ilmatsalu Youth Center. As the name suggests, this is not a competition for professional athletes. However, this small initiative has brought excitement to the lives of young people in Ilmatsalu and encouraged them to be active. The concept of the "M1N1 multi-event" is simple: the competition should offer fun and a sense of achievement to boys and girls of all ages. The aim of the M1N1 multi-event is to develop communication between different young people, improve their physical activity, and develop their technical skills, physical dexterity, and overall abilities. For each competition, approximately three to five different areas are selected that could fulfill the stated objectives. All of the above can also be said about this competition, when...

Kristina Kraani, youth work specialist at Anne Youth Centre, looks back at the completion of the Anne Youth Centre kitchen mural.    One somewhat grey morning, an artist named Arte Seifo entered Anne Youth Centre, bringing not only a box of ideas but also several different acrylic paints, brushes, and a large compass to draw lively circles on the wall. The mission was to have a colorful mandala on the kitchen wall by the end of the evening. We, the youth workers, eagerly began preparations so that the initial arrangements would be made before the youth arrived, as creating a mural takes a considerable amount of time. We also decided to film the entire process to get our first TikTok video for our page. During the painting, the youth learned various techniques for applying paint to the wall and systematically drawing lines of appropriate thickness…

Since February, the Anne Youth Centre of the Tartu Youth Work Centre has been accessible and user-friendly for young people with mobility impairments. Last year, the Tartu Youth Work Centre began implementing a program of innovative youth work models to prevent social exclusion among young people. The aim of the innovation program is to better consider the needs of different user groups and to integrate teenagers with visual, hearing, and mobility impairments in Tartu into the youth centre's activities. As part of the innovation program, with the help of the City of Tartu, a ramp and room adaptations have been completed at the Anne Youth Centre, making the building and its premises user-friendly for young people with mobility impairments. A recently completed study, "Participation of Young People with Visual, Hearing, or Mobility Impairments in Youth Work in Tartu," provides input for developing an action plan that would increase participation opportunities for young people with disabilities in youth work. Young people belonging to the target group and those working with young people are also involved in the development of the action plan…

The aim of the radio program, broadcast in cooperation between Tartu Youth Work Center and Ring FM, is primarily to serve as a voice for Tartu youth information. Noorteaken is broadcast every Friday at 11:00 a.m. on Ring FM radio. The Tartu Youth Work Center launched its radio program last year in cooperation with the radio channel RingFM to better engage young people. Previous positive cooperation with RingFM, which broadcasts in Tartu County and southern Estonia, culminated in a joint decision to launch a radio program aimed specifically at young people aged 7-26. Each Noorteakna program features at least two guests who talk about the activities and projects of the Tartu Youth Work Center and other current topics of interest to young people. Read more: https://tartu.postimees.ee/6898390/tartu-noorsootoo-keskusel-on-oma-raadiosaade-noorteaken The activities are funded by the European...

Kaide-Liis Suurväli, director of the Anne Youth Center, looks back on the visit to Andre Juustufarm. On the last Tuesday of January, January 28, we visited Andre Juustufarm in Tartu County with the young people. Upon arriving and getting off the bus, the young people's first reaction was a little hesitant, while the youth workers looked at each other with the thought: "Finally, some fresh air!" We started our tour in the cheese processing rooms, where we learned that Andre Juustufarm produces several tons of cheese per year, which requires even more milk. One cheese wheel weighs 12 kg, for example. The second stop on our tour was the cowshed. We got to pet the cows, of which there were about 400 in the barn. The youngest calves were one or two days old. We ended the tour at the farm shop, where we got to taste their products, or rather...

On the penultimate day of January, Lille Youth Centre is launching a gratitude challenge, during which youth workers will share on Instagram over 30 days various moments, things, people, and feelings they are grateful for. The goal is to take a moment to notice what is around them, no matter how big or small, and to be grateful even for the occasional quirky things. Sharing all of this on social media might also help others organize their thoughts a bit and discover something that is actually incredibly cool. Do...

Jaanika Palm, director of the Ilmatsalu Youth Center, looks back on the first year of operation of the Ilmatsalu Youth Center as part of the Tartu Youth Work Center. The Ilmatsalu Youth Center has a tradition of organizing various nature study days and field trips. Young people were able to experience extreme situations during survival training days (October) and campfire cooking training days (August). Since it is also important to appreciate the nature of our homeland, our first nature camp/learning days took place in the vicinity of Tartu and on the Ilmatsalu bird trail. We have visited the Ilmatsalu bird trail more than fifteen times during the year as part of various activities and events. In addition to various nature and survival-themed study days and field trips, we learned orienteering, cooking in a pot, knot tying, making various items from recycled materials (e.g., lanterns, hooks), and planting edible plants in the youth garden (e.g.