Youth Network MaMa - The Network of Youth Centers in Slovenia Patricia Čular, directoress Ljubljana, August 22nd 2007

Youth Network MaMa combines and represents organizations that run youth centers or are active in field of youth work in Slovenia Youth Network Mama in the interests of its members: represents common interests; regularly provides information; organizes meetings and stimulates communication and cooperation; offers professional help; enables creative young people to access various events and supports their involvement; concerns itself with educational development of the youth and youth workers.

Youth Centers* * YC status in 2007: 54 organisations (Off. of Youth) 60 organisations recognized by MaMa

What is a Youth Center? Is a legal person, with activities on concluded region of local community either more connected communities, assures space, assures equipment, assures regular work through different activities, assures adequate employed people with suitable experiences, enable open program, assure the organizational structure that enables democratical proccess and coordination of implementation of planned programe.

Youth center & youngsters & free time Free time = Time for rest and relaxation, Amusement and recreation, entertainment, Social and personal fulfilment. By youngsters opinion free time is = Time spent as I like/ by my own wish. Youth center is a space that offers to a young person quality spending of his/her free time, shaped by his/her own wish.

Youth Center = People + Social Atmosphere + Space Where youngsters are included as individuals for oriented/ non-oriented spending of their free time and where a young person is treated fully. Youth center & youngsters & free time

Target group Individuals: –Basic target group 15. – 29. years; –Pre-school and primary school population; –Others; Non formal group of youngsters (groups without legal formal status); Formal groups of youngsters either with programs that involves youngsters (Societies, Associations,...).

1 – To enable space for youngsters to associate, for their creative work and own promotion, for information, access to equipment and different services,... 2 – Informational and counselling service; 3 – Non formal education; 4 – Internationa youth work & Youngsters mobility; 5 – Voluntary youth work; 6 – Active citizenship; 7 – Research work. What does the Youth Center offer?

1 – To enable space for youngsters to associate, for their creative work and own promotion, for information, access to equipment and different services,... Club; Info point with collected informational material and free access to internet; Space for personal counselling; Place for differente performances; Place for exhibitions; Computer room; Place for practice for different musical groups, studio; Multimedia space for vide & film production; Multi purpose place for different gatherings, lectures, workshops,...; Youth Centers Program

Gathering, organizing and forwarding of quality information to youngsters; Reestablishing different ways of information forwarding, adapted to youngsters; Reestablishing of local info points outside of the youth center; Encouraging, reestablishing and co-cordinating of inside informing between youngsters; Implementing of personal informing and counselling on the field and in the youth center; 2 – Informational and counselling service

Education for work in youth organisations: project work, organizational management, fundraising, work with volunteers, work with media,...; Education for support to creative work: different creative workshops; Education for formal knowledge upgrade: language courses, computer..., lead by youngsters; Inovative form of education. 3 – Non formal education

Promotion, support and implementation of programs, that enables youngsters mobility: –Youth Program: preparation, implementation of international exchanges and support projects, EVS, initiatives; –Leonardo – placements for first working experiences; –Bilateral exchanges; 4 – Internationa youth work & Youngsters mobility

Integration of youngsters as volounteers in all activities of youth center; Promotion of volountary work as a value; Education for voluntary work; Exchanges of volounteers. 5 – Voluntary youth work

Programs with wich YC in local environment all the time encourages, supports, implements: Youngsters integrations in social processes; Democratical forms of uniting and operating of youngsters; Active participation of youngsters in all public topics that are involving youngsters on local level; Education for active citizenship; Implementation of civil society actions, connected with youth fields. 6 – Active citizenship

Programs with wich YC is: Promoting research work among youngsters; Rising awareness among youngsters on importaance of research work; Encouraging youngsters to involve in researc work; Developing new methods of research work among youngsters; Promoting possibilities of research work; Shaping suggestions for research work with youngsters; 7 – Research work

Other roles of the Youth Center: Beside all mentioned program some of the YC are also accepting other roles in their local environment: NGO servis center; Performer of Politic for active employment (Program of Public Work, Support program for olonger period unemployed women, Education at work,...); Daily center; Organizer of cultural life; Organizer of all-life learning; Co-ordinator of Local Activity Group (LAS); Offerer and implementer of outside – free activities in formal education; Multimedia center; Entrepreneurship incubator;...

In action Youth Center is... Working at least one year, (8,5 years)* Manages with 150 m 2 space, (397,6 m 2 )* Implements at least 1500 hours of regular worke/year, 4 hours/day each day in year, (3.737,13 hour/year, 10,24 hour/day)* Includes regulary for full working time at least two youth workers besides regular program workers: (2,6 regulary employed, 3,1 included through the program of Public work, 10,7 agreement co-workers, 44,6 volounteers)*. In average one YC included ,9 individuals/ year.* * Results of questionnaire done among participants of the YC gathering in Tolminu, October 2005, (66,6 % of answers).

Money issue Founding sources for Youth Centers work: Voluntary work; Organisations financial incomes (tickets, drinks, rentals, membership fees,...); Local municipality; Different announcements/ calls for proposals (state ministries, foundations, embassies, EU,...).

Vision of the Youth Center Yoth Center is a foundation for implementation of target regulated youth policy in environment, defined and supported with certain legislation and is long term instaled in environment. It is recognized as a binding element between different fields that are dealing with youngsters or are including youngsters.

Thank you for your interest! Mladinska mreža MaMa Kersnikova 4, SI-1000 Ljubljana