Riin, the head of Lille youth center and coordinator of mobile youth work, describes herself as coming from a classic background – a country child from Jõgeva, for whom work is no stranger. Even as a child, she knew that her calling and passion were connected to children and youngsters – at the time, dreaming of becoming a teacher.
After high school, she went to Tallinn Pedagogical University, where she studied geoecology and marine biology, along with pedagogy. She reached her dream job: a school teacher, but only stayed for a year, feeling it wasn't her true calling. Life led her instead to Alam-Pedja, where she became an environmental education specialist for the Jõgeva-Tartu region of the Environmental Board. There, in cooperation with the Jõgeva Defence League's Youth work camp, she also created the Kirna study center, for example.
“Young people have always been a part of my life,” Riin laughs. Her daily work involved providing nature education through non-formal learning: delivering educational programs to children and young people that introduce nature and wilderness survival, and leading hikes. At the same time, she was also a group leader for the Jõgeva Youth work camp's Home Daughters and Young Eagles in the Puurmani group. “So, in the end, I had no other choice but to officially move into the field of youth work,” she laughs.
A step into youth work
Riin has been the director of the Jõgeva municipality youth center – when the municipalities merged, the centers were placed under a common umbrella, and she had the opportunity to be part of the process of creating, developing, and managing it process. She does not like dry work. "In youth work, it is the young people who provide the input," which is why Riin spent her evenings in youth clubs among young people. She points out that, as Jõgeva is such a small town compared to Tartu, it was easier to create and coordinate networks.
Riinul has two children. Before the birth of her second child, the family moved and Jõgeva became too far away. When she moved to Tartu, she took a break from youth work and tried her hand at entrepreneurship instead. She also wanted to educate herself on mental health issues. She has also worked at the Tartu Entrepreneurship Village, where she taught young people about entrepreneurship and conducted various programs, workshops, and camps for schoolchildren to give them an idea of the everyday life of an entrepreneur.
According to Riinu herself, there is an interesting story behind her arrival at the Tartu Youth Work Center. She initially applied for a part-time position because she also devotes her time to therapies that support mental health. At that time, Riinu was not selected for the position.
One morning, some time later, Riin woke up and felt that something had changed
and she wanted to go to work. "What the heck, I opened my CV center and there it was – Tartu Youth Work Center is looking for a full-time manager for Lille Youth Center!" recalls Riin.
This time, Riin was chosen. She recalls that when Margit, the director of the center, told her about coordinating mobile youth work, she was overcome with powerful emotions. "I feel that this is a place where I can contribute my knowledge and presence in such a way that I can shine internally, while also inspiring others around me."
Lille youth centre and team
Riin, the director of the Lille Youth Center, describes the Lille team as close-knit: "We respect each other and are supportive." The team, which values humor, , the team also has its own backbone. They all have their own niche: mobile youth work, sex education, digital youth work, and environmental education with a hiking theme are all covered.
They are currently waiting for another full-time youth worker to join their team. "We are looking for a strong team player with depth. It will be exciting to see what field of expertise they bring to our team!" Riin says excitedly.
She sees that their team expands the worldview of young people through their own efforts, deeply integrating their niches into the center's work. She is pleased that the involvement of young people in initiative-
processes and activities taking place in the youth room is constantly growing, and they are consciously bringing this more and more into focus.
Core values in youth work and life
Acceptance, permission, and courage are important values for Riinu in youth work. She greatly appreciates young people's courage to do things completely differently than her generation and admires their courage to express themselves and speak up about their opinions.
It is important to her that every young person dares to be themselves and believes that it is possible to awaken and bring out the true potential in everyone, as long as you support people in their strengths and empower them. "I don't want to be a world improver, but a space creator," she says. A creator of space where young people can find themselves and realize that they have absolutely everything they need. "They just need to awaken the courage and clarity about their own nature so that they can create the values in this world that they are here for."
Additionally, Riin values honesty – if you do something, be brave enough to admit it, and if things go wrong, apologize when necessary. She appreciates being listened to, noticed, and supported when needed. She also believes that giving constructive criticism is a progressive and unifying skill. Riin believes that everything we do in life, we always do for ourselves. “All people in our lives are our Teachers, with a capital T, so that we can shake off the constraints holding us back from our inner world and live even more boldly to create, open up, and live more authentically.“
If you feel that you could be the next youth worker at Lille Youth Center, find more information here: https://tntk.tartu.ee/uncategorized/tartu-noorsootoo-keskus-otsib-noorsootoo-spetsialisti/. To apply, please submit your CV and a cover letter
on the topic “Why do you think the role of a youth worker is important in a young person's life, and how do you, as a youth worker, support young people?” by January 19, 2026 to carolin.koiv@tartu.ee.
