Lasse Siurala Director of Youth City of Helsinki ”Youth Work – forward, backward or away?” 11 march 2010 Tallinn ”Economic crises and youth work - Effects and survival strategies

Dr. Lasse Siurala, Director of Youth, City of Helsinki Curriculum vitae FORMAL EDUCATION: -Phd Sociology docent NON-FORMAL LEARNING: -First President of Finnish Karate Federation, Assistant General Secretary of European Karate Federation, Finnish Champion 1974 OCCUPATIONAL CAREER: - Researcher, Acting Associate Professor of Economic Sociology at the Helsinki School of Economics Director of Youth, City of Helsinki , Director of youth, Council of Europe, Strasbourg, France Visiting Professor, University of Minnesota, Spring OTHER: - Married: two sons, one daughter

Outline of observations: the effects of economic crises on youth the effects of economic crises on the funding of youth work how to justify funds for youth work (during recession)? how is a youth service responding to cuts?

The effects of economic crises on youth Both public debate and some experts have maintained that youth unemployment (1) demoralizes young people’s attitudes at work, (2) makes them passive and socially isolated and (3) creates a lost generation. However, empirical research showed that despite unemployed young people value work, remain socially active - both in organizations and during their leisure, maintain their relations to their friends and their use of alcohol decreases rather than increases. The fear that the entire generation would be demoralized, or even lost, was empirically wrong.

”Young people are finding strategies to cope with the downturn but more help is needed.” “Weathering the Recession” British Youth Council report January 2010 Young people are remaining surprisingly resilient in dealing with the recession, in spite of mounting debt, lack of money for leisure and fears over career prospects. Just under two-thirds said they are still managing to save regularly. A similar proportion of the 12- to 25-year-olds surveyed have an ideal career in mind and three-quarters said they are happy with their current situation, such as a job or course. But young people are finding it increasingly hard to remain this optimistic.

Observations: Young people are more resistant to negative effects of economic crises and unemployment than people tend to think. The negative thing is that we cannot argue for more funds because unemployment quickly destroys youth. On the other hand, the results show that during recession young people need youth workers and the social networks created by youth work to keep the optimism and to hang on the motivation to find education, training and work.

Käppyrä 1 Helsinki City Youth Department annual budget, gross national product and unemployment rate

How to justify funds for youth work (during recession)? (1) Youth work as a complementary partner. (2) The expertise of youth work in dealing with problems of youth (3) The needs based argument (4)Youth work is about learning (5) The proven efficiency and quality argument (6) The economic rationale (7) The value based or youth rights argument

How is a youth service responding to cuts? Strategies to cut down expenses and make the ends meet A Counterattack - The Vantaa approach Using the cheese-slicer – applicable to minor cuts Facing substantial cuts: -Making priorities (Clarifying the key services and future strategies) -Reducing square meters -Saving from staff expenses Other measures: -Improving productivity, budget follow-up and evaluation -Developing services in the net -Joint use of facilities -Partnerships, external funds

The Management Challenge Kaisu Haapala, Director of Youth, City of Oulu, promote capacity to question existing practices encourage staff to make changes active orientation to develop services changing the scope of thinking from narrow to broad prespectives provide opportunities and resources to renovation improve the organizational capacity to face change resistance dialogue, support and co-operative spirit raise the ability to tolerate insecurity and stress cater for the responsibility on the welfare of the staff in change processes the directors are very much alone – they should also look after their own welfare.

”Economic crisis and youth work – forward, backward and away?” YOU ARE HERE ECONOMIC CRISIS FORWARD AWAY BACKWARD -Crystallized strategy -Adaptability -Innovative services -Committed staff -From isolation to new strategic alliances -Collapse of youth work Ethos -Fundamentalism -Hidebound services -Brain drain -Loosing influence in the City -Assimilation into social work -Merge with school

THE SPEARHEAD PROGRAMS Creating a safe and healthy growing environment –developing local cross-administrative services –providing services at the net (Netari.fi, IRC –gallery) –offering everybody a low threshold hobby/activity –intensive early prevention measures (youth, social and health workers) Supporting and empowering parents –Multi-administrative support for (all) parents Promoting participation and social trust –offering leisure activities and support for 9-12 year-olds –developing an instrument for interactive participation of young people for those providing services for young people –promoting local youth parliaments –youth work at the school Guaranteeing education and integration in labour market –reducing school-dropout

HELSINKI CITY YOUTH SERVICES Objective: Promoting active citizenship and empowerment of youth Stucture: Department of the City Resources:  55 Youth Centres, Youth Information Centre, Cultural Centre, Domestic Animal Farm, The Happi, Theatre, Nature House, House of craft and visual arts, Traffic Education Centre, Youth Centre for Girls Only, indoor skating hall, 21 outdoor skate parks, two camping islands, residential education centre, Virtual Youth Centre, cultural events & contests, etc  School leave activities  300 municipal professional full-time youth workers  Support system for Youth Organisations  Free for a membership card  Budget 29 Me (2010)

“Children and Youth Welfare Plan ” City of Helsinki Partners: Health, Social, Education and Youth sectors in cooperation with the sectors of Sports and Culture Objectives: Creating a safe and healthy growing environment Guaranteeing education and integration in labour market Supporting parents Promoting participation Streamlining principles: Priority to basic services Cultural diversity as richness Combating urban segregation Transforming services in the net

ELEMENTS OF EFFECTIVE YOUTH POLICY “Youth policy is to create conditions for learning, opportunity and experience which ensure and enable young people to develop the knowledge, skills and competences to be actors of democracy and to integrate into society, in particular playing active part in both civil society and the labour market” Lasse Siurala: “A European framework for youth policy”, Council of Europe Publishing, Strasbourg

Elements of a successful strategy: (1) Invest early (2) Combine social and economic goals (3) Co-ordinate investment across policy areas and layers (4) Improve information gathering and dissemination to facilitate decision- making Barrington-Leach, Canoy, Hubert & Lerais: “Investing in youth: an empowerment strategy, 2007

A good welfare of the majority of young people Positive trends The successful youth Negative trends Youth at risk Welfare of children and young people in Finland higher educational level low unemployment ’career missiles’, the media and cultural stars etc the sporty, the cosmopolitans, increase of total abstinence increase of poverty in families, with small children increase of child care clients mistrust in representative democracy health problems: obesity, bad physical condition, insufficient rest, depression, binge drinking, allergies, net-dependency etc.

0-6 yrs7-12 yrs13-18/21 yrs Care Early intervention Basic services General early prevention Beveridgean social policy Neo-liberal risk-policy Nordic Welfare policy ’Positive welfare Policy’ Child care measures, children in custody, psyciatric services, substance use treatment Social work, support services at the school, work with families, targeted youth work, mobile youth work Kindergarten, day care, children’s playgrounds, comprehensive education, health services, youth work, sports and cultural services, libraries etc Safeguarding the welfare of children and young people - A holistic view

Differences of approaches – tentative observations (1) The meaning of being young: A guided passage to adulthood or a phase of its own (adult guidance vs autonomy)? UP2YOUTH, a European research project funded by EU, concludes its policy recommendation: ► Recognise youth a phase of its own ► Secure experimenting ► Focus on young people’s reflexivity and participation ► Do not make target group containers Gisela Konopka: “Our main task is to let young people learn to make decisions on their own and trust them, without expecting that they will always make the right decisions, or the decisions we consider right. We must let them try” in Young Girls: A Portrait of Adolescence. ”...we see adolescence not only as a passage to somewhere but also as an important stage in itself” “Requirements for Healthy Development of Adolescent Youth”, Adolescence vol VIII, number 31, Fall 1973, page 8.

WHY DO WE NEED YOUTH POLICIES? Young people and their problems must be seen as a totality – linking services and actors. Young people tend to drop in between sectors and transition phases – guaranteeing co-ordination and ‘seamless transition’. Co-ordinated activities are more efficient and cost-effective than singular ones. Lacking representation of young people in decision making should be compensated by special measures to see to it that their concerns and expectations are met. Youth Policy Plan as Youth Investment Strategy: Early intervention produces best social return of investments. (See Barrington-Leach, Canoy, Hubert & Lerais: “Investing in youth: an empowerment strategy, 2007)