Smart Youth Work in Ilmatsalu

April 28, 2020

Due to the special circumstances, Tartu (county) youth centers moved online to
The centers are closed, and signs have been put up everywhere to direct people home and avoid public gatherings. So where are youth workers doing their jobs? The short answer is: online. Youth work continues even during the emergency, and for this purpose, there is Discordserver.

Youth workers always do their work where young people are. The concept of smart youth work might seem situational, but in reality, it's nothing new. The aforementioned e-youth work "is not a standalone activity or method, but rather, it enables young people and youth workers to create innovative solutions based on existing experiences, by seeking new connections and using new tools," as stated on the website of the Estonian Youth Work Centre.

Education and entertainment

The smart activities organized by Ilmatsalu Youth Center in April included both education and entertainment. On April 16, we talked about the importance of recycling. Jaanika Palm, the director of the youth center, compiled responsible and environmentally conscious information and provided instructions on how to make a cloth bag using designed images and video graphics. A reusable cloth bag is the preferred option for shopping. This is not just the opinion of a few hipsters, but also of waste management companies such as Ragn-Sells. On April 17, we talked about healthy eating. With the help of interactive graphics, our foreign volunteer Ana Dvalashvili taught more than thirty young people a little bit more about nutrition. The topic was not the brainchild of the youth worker, but an idea that the young people themselves had come up with the week before the event. Involving young people, asking them for ideas, and then implementing them together is one of the basic principles of youth work. On April 22, youth worker Rando-Kristen Kangro showed young people the Järvselja primeval forest as part of a virtual trip. This activity took place on YouTubeand Instagram STORY, where participants could see a 360-year-old king pine, view spruce trees over 40 meters tall, and see with their own eyes the tallest oak tree in Estonia (34.2 meters). The trip was fun and engaging, improving the digital skills of young people and increasing their awareness of their native nature. Hopefully, this virtual trip will inspire participants to visit Järvselja in the future.

From behind the screen into nature

The principle of smart youth work is certainly not to permanently confine young people to computers or other smart devices. Recognizing how much time young people spend in virtual environments and, due to the special situation, even attending school and training via screens, we strive to encourage young people to constantly move and notice something near their home that would normally go unnoticed. For example, a virtual hike was accompanied by the hashtag #hoiantervist and a call to photograph oneself in nature in their home area. Photos from as many as five young people were received.

In parallel with the above, activities to improve cultural competence took place during the Easter holidays (according to both the Western and Eastern church calendars). At the beginning of April, we announced a competition for a slogan for the youth center. We received seven ideas, and the winning idea was Martin Lillevere's "nature youth center." His slogan captures both the unique characteristics of the location and the focus of Ilmatsalu's youth work, which is nature.

There are three channels through which you can contact us and stay updated on our activities. These include the "Tähtvere" group on Facebook, the @ilmatsalunoortekeskus channel on Instagram, and a Discord server, the link to which can be found on the youth center's Instagram profile. Discord is a user-friendly, browser-based program. Like all social media, this platform also has its own rules to ensure cybersecurity. In addition to the platform's rules, the youth center also has its own house rules, both of which are mandatory reading for everyone joining our server. See you (with nature) at the youth center!

Rando-Kristen Kangro
Youth work specialist at Ilmatsalu Youth Centre

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