let`s join hands

Transcription

let`s join hands

Methodological material of the project LOGI-N “Let’s Join Hands”
Local Guidance Networks to Support Young People
in Counties and Local Governments
Methodological Material
LET’S JOIN
HANDS
Riga, 2014
1
Local Guidance Networks to Support Young People
in Counties and Local Governments
Methodological Material
LET’S JOIN
HANDS
Riga, 2014
1
Publication was prepared by:
Vita Žunda, Baltic Bright Training and Consulting Centre
Mārīte Kravale-Pauliņa, Dr. Paed., Daugavpils University, Baltic Bright Training and Consulting Centre
Vivita Ponciusa, Baltic Bright Training and Consulting Centre
Astra Aukšmuksta, National Centre for Education
Antra Sprudzāne, Gulbene Library
Liene Dembovska, Gulbene County Council
Krista Liepkāja, Ape County Council
Gunta Ļule, Ape County Council
Valda Tubina, Saldus Children’s and Youth Centre
EU project LOGI-N „Local Guidance Networks:
Promoting Stakeholder Cooperation for Youth Guidance at Community Level”
Project No: 535908-LLP-2012-1-LV-KA1-KA1ECETA2
This Project was funded by the European Commission. This publication reflects the views of the authors only. The
European Commission cannot be held responsible for any use of the information contained therein.
© LOGI-N Project partners
Publisher: „Baltic Bright” Ltd
ISBN 978-9934-8460-3-8
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Content
Address by the Head of National Centre for Education..............................................................................4
Introduction.............................................................................................................................................................5
1. Youth policy in the European Union.............................................................................................................6
2. Youth work in Latvia
2.1. Youth policy framework..........................................................................................................................7
2.2. Youth work in local governments.......................................................................................................10
2.3 Hobby education to support young people.....................................................................................13
3. LOGI-N project methodology: multilateral cooperation at local level.............................................17
4. Youth support mechanisms in Ape, Gulbene and Saldus counties
4.1. Youth guidance networks in Ape county...........................................................................................19
4.2. Youth guidance networks in Gulbene county................................................................................. 23
4.3. Youth guidance networks in Saldus County.................................................................................... 30
4.4 Youth guidance networks in local governments: a summary........................................................33
5. How to build and activate a guidance network: experience of regional and local seminars
in Ape, Gulbene and Saldus counties
5.1. LOGI-N regional and local seminars in Gulbene County............................................................... 36
5.2. Experience of regional and local seminars: LOGI-N seminar in Ape County............................ 40
5.3. LOGI-N seminars in Saldus County...................................................................................................45
6. Validation of non-formal and informal learning in Latvia: opportunities for young people......47
Literary sources....................................................................................................................................................53
Abstract of the methodological material...................................................................................................... 54
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National Centre for Education implements youth policy in cooperation with schools, hobby education centres and local governments. The idea for the implementation of Lifelong Learning Programme Project LOGI-N „Guidance network for youth guidance at community level” appeared thanks
to the centre’s long-term experience in the field of hobby education. Children and young people acquire the necessary knowledge, skills and attitudes not only during the lessons of particular subjects
but also at different educational events at schools and in various activities of hobby education.
Hobby education has a long tradition in Latvia, and its role has been increasing each year.
Thousands of children and young people both in rural and urban areas take part in different fields
of hobby education. Participation in the activities and events is not only a good way to spend their
free time but it develops and improves the skills of young people; builds character and promotes
lifelong learning. Hobby education has a vital role in personal development of young people, in
acquisition of the first professional skills and in career choices. We can be pleased that the hobby
education in Latvia was praised as an example of good practice in the European Council Report
„On the youth policy in Latvia” (2008).
A lot of recommendations and guidelines have been developed both at the European Union
and national level to provide support to institutions involved in youth work. The aim of the project
LOGI-N was to promote cooperation at the local community level supporting young people to continue their education and to enter the labour market thereby reducing social exclusion. We hope
that the project achievements and the experience gained will be a good incentive for the Project
partners to continue the started work and will motivate other institutions of local governments and
youth policy makers to look for the best solutions in youth work.
I would like to thank the Project LOGI-N partners: Ape County Council, „Baltic Bright” Training
and Consulting Centre, Gulbene Library, Saldus Children and Youth Centre for their responsiveness and the work contributed to reach the Project objectives.
Guntis Vasiļevskis
Head of National Centre for Education
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INTRODUCTION
Youth as a social group has always been a target group of the career guidance system. The
socio-economic situation of the recent years in Europe and in Latvia with high youth unemployment, a large number of early school leavers and lack of skills in the labour market, has made
young people a priority target group for economic, employment, labour market and social policies.
This is reflected in the EU and Latvian youth policy which supports cross-sectoral approach and
is defined as „a purposeful set of activities in all areas of public policy” and which at the same time
raises new challenges for integrated lifelong guidance system within which youth support mechanisms are formed.
Real youth work most often happens in the places where young people live, learn and gain their
first work experience, that is, in local communities. How is the guidance system for young people
organized in local communities and what kind of the support system do we want to develop? Is
it the responsibility of just a youth specialist and/or local education authorities? Does the local
development and entrepreneurship strategy and local employment policy go hand in hand with
the local youth policy? Is the local career counsellor well informed about development plans of the
local government and resources offered by entrepreneurs? What is the role of children and youth
centres or hobby education centres within this context?
These issues were the focus of the project LOGI-N. The idea of the Project LOGI-N is based
on the assumption that an effective mechanism to support young people is a network of several
stakeholders. The stakeholders include institutions of local governments (the council, education
institutions, hobby education institutions, libraries, culture institutions, etc.), entrepreneurs and
employers, non-governmental organisations, youth organisations and private people. It is likely
that in many local governments these cooperation networks exist informally and without awareness, or their potential for the cooperation is undefined and fully untapped. In order to have effective multi-party cooperatione, someone should take the coordinating role.
LOGI-N Project partners from three counties of Latvia: Ape County Council, Gulbene Library
and Saldus Children and Youth Centre, tried to identify and activate the multilateral networks in
their counties. These are local governments with a different number of population and resources,
with different backgrounds and experience in youth work. Methodological material of the Project
LOGI-N covers the varied experiences of these local governments in creating support mechanisms
and youth guidance networks.
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1. Youth policy in the European Union
The legal basis for youth policy at the EU level is the Rome Treaty signed on 25 March 1957 establishing the European Community, which includes a section „Social Policy, Education, Vocational
Training and Youth”, which Latvia complies with by joining the European Union. According to the
section XI of the Treaty establishing the European Community, no directives or regulations are
issued in the EU youth policy but the action of the member states for fulfilling the EU common
objectives is fully respected. Therefore legislation in the field of youth that is adopted at EU level is
of recommending nature, and on the basis of the legislation, each country must strive to achieve
the best results for improving conditions for young people at national level.
The EU Treaty (Maastricht Treaty), which entered into force in 1993, included youth as a new
policy area. Its activities are directed to „help to develop youth exchange”.
You can find an explanation on the site www.jaunatneslietas.lv, which says that the youth policy
is a set of targeted actions in all areas of national policy that promote full and comprehensive development of young people, their integration in the society and the improvement of their quality of life.
In 2005 the European Council adopted the European Pact for Youth which serves as a tool for
achieving the Lisbon goals. The Pact focuses on three areas: 1) employment, 2) integration and 3)
social advancement.
The Lisbon Treaty entered into force on 1st December 2009. Article 165 of the Section XII
„Education, Vocational Training, Youth and Sport” of the Lisbon Treaty determines that there is a
need to promote the participation of young people in democratic life in Europe. The Youth Work
working group of the EU Council, in which Latvia is represented by the Ministry of Education and
Science, develops the EU Council documents. In order to address specific topical aspects of youth
policy the European Commission organises expert working groups.
„An EU Strategy for Youth – Investing and Empowering. A renewed open method of coordination to address youth challenges and opportunities” adopted by the European Commission in
2009, when explaining the EU point of view concerning young people envisages eight fields of action with specific tasks for each of them:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
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education;
employment;
creativity and entrepreneurship;
health and sports;
participation;
social inclusion;
voluntary work;
youth and the world.
The strategy justifies the need for a new system, setting the foundation principles for such a
system and it mentions cross-sectoral approach as the first principle.
In 2010 the European Commission approved the report „Europe 2020. A strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth”, which indicates the growth plans for the next decade. In the changing
world, the EU should become a smart, sustainable and inclusive economy. These three complementary priorities will be useful for the EU and its member states on their way to a high level of employment, productivity and social cohesion. “Europe 2020” strategy emphasizes the role of developing
and implementing policies that help all young people to acquire skills and knowledge required for
participation in the knowledge-based economy and social life. The priorities set by “Europe 2020”
„Smart growth” and „Inclusive growth” directly affect the youth policy issues – reducing youth unemployment, promoting youth social protection and social inclusion and NEET (young people not in
education and not in employment) inclusion. „Europe 2020” flagship initiative „Youth on the Move”
is a comprehensive, European youth oriented framework that shows the course of action in the field
of education and employment. The initiative aims at improving young people’s education and their
correspondence to the requirements of the labour market in order to meet the general objective
set out by the EU in the field of employment - 75 % of the employed at their active age of 20 to 64.
It could reduce the high unemployment and increase employment among young people, adapting
education and curriculum to their needs and encouraging them to take an advantage of the grants
offered by the European Union for studies or training in another country and inviting the European
Union member states to take measures for facilitating to start working life after studies.
2. Youth work in Latvia
2.1. Youth policy framework
In Latvia overall youth policy direction and specific objectives for youth work are determined
mainly in three policy papers: Youth Law, Youth Policy Guidelines for 2009 – 2018 and Youth Policy
State Programme for years 2009 – 2013.
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Youth Law. The most important national document that sets youth policy in Latvia is the Youth
Law, which came into force on 1st January 2009. The Youth Law was passed with the aim of improving the quality of life for young people at the age of 13 to 25 by promoting their initiatives, participation in decision-making and social life and supporting youth work. The Youth Law defines the
people involved in implementing youth policy (see Diagram 1) and their competence in the field
of this policy, youth participation in youth policy development and implementation and the basic
principles for allocating funding for youth initiatives, participation in decision making and social life
as well as for youth work.
Saeima (Parliament)
Cabinet of Ministers
The Ministry of Education
and Science and its
subordinate institutions
Youth Advisory
Sector Ministries and
their subordinate
institutions
Youth organisations
and youth initiative
groups
Institutions of Local
governments
Council
Youth
NGO, trade unions,
employer
organisations, religious
organisations, doing
youth work and youth
researchers
Enterprises
Diagram 1. Parties involved in implementation of youth policy (the website of the Ministry of Education and Science)
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In 2008 three Regulations of the Cabinet of Ministers were developed in accordance with the
Youth Law:
1) 2) 3)
„Regulation of Youth Advisory Council” – The Youth Advisory Council was established
with the aim to ensure the coordination of youth policy;
„Regulation of procedures for granting of financing from the State budget, which is
provided for promotion of young people initiatives and participation in decisionmaking and social life, as well as for youth work”;
„Regulation of Youth affairs specialist training”.
The Advisory Committee for Youth organisations was established with the order No 400 of 23
September 2009 by the Ministry of Education and Science. The Advisory Committee for youth
organisations is composed of 12 representatives delegated by youth organisations thus providing
an exchange of views between youth organisations.
Youth Policy Guidelines for 2009–2018. The Ministry for Children, Family and Integration
Affairs has developed Youth Policy Guidelines for 2009 – 2018, which is a long-term policy planning document for the next 10 years aiming at implementation and coordination of a coherent
youth policy, identifying priority course of action and policy outcomes and creating a vision for the
development in relation to the quality of life of young people and youth policy.
According to the Youth policy guidelines for 2009 – 2018 the priority areas for youth are the
following:
• opportunities for international cooperation in the field of youth;
• youth participation in decision-making;
• youth voluntary work;
• youth and children camps;
• youth health;
• youth sport;
• aspects of education and mobility programmes;
• youth employment;
• legal aspects and youth behaviour;
• youth social protection.
The National Youth Policy Programme for 2009-2013 was developed based on the Youth
Policy Guidelines for 2009 – 2018 (hereinafter Guidelines). The Programme defined the performance indicators for the policy implementation, which were expected to be achieved by 2013. To
assess the efficiency of youth policy and results, the Ministry of Education and Science developed
„Youth policy implementation index” in 2012 and made the first pilot study. Youth policy imple9
mentation index is a multi-dimensional index which enables assessment of the implementation of
youth policy in its various thematic aspects: education and training, participation, voluntary work,
creativity and culture, employment and entrepreneurship, health and well-being, social inclusion
and youth and the world. The developed index enables assessment of the opportunities for youth
in various fields as well as youth practice and/or readiness to use their opportunities.
Measures set in the Guidelines for the Development of Education for 2014 – 2020 are
binding for the youth policy goals that provide for improvement of the quality of life of young people
by promoting their initiatives, participation in decision-making and social life, by supporting youth
work and ensuring a smoother transition from the child into adult status. The support for youth
employment including encouraging inclusion of young unemployed people (also the disabled) into
labour market by improving their basic skills, the opportunities for young people to practice in
the workplace and the development of quality work placements are emphasized within the youth
policy implementation underlining the link with the education system. At the same time the participation of young people, development of voluntary work, promotion of mobility and involvement
in physical activities and sports are supported.
An essential resource for implementation of youth policy is the „information portal for and
about young people” www.jaunatneslietas.lv, maintained by the Department of Sports and Youth
of the Ministry of Education and Science. It is meant for those who organise youth work and for
young people themselves. The portal provides information on the policy framework, action plans
and programmes at national and local level and also the information about the activities of youth
organisations and possibilities to get involved in various youth projects.
Other strategic documents, for example, Sustainable Development Strategy of Latvia until
2030, are also vital for the youth policy in Latvia. There are four areas in this document that form
the basis for the future of the society in Latvia: creativity, tolerance, cooperation and participation.
Promotion of youth employment, quality education for young people and access to non-formal
education activities, youth participation and involvement, promotion of healthy lifestyles and social
inclusion are mentioned within the priority „Human Securitability” of the National Development
Plan of Latvia for 2014 – 2020.
2.2. Youth work in local governments
Youth work at local level is coordinated and implemented mainly by the administration of the local
government and its institutions, territorial units of government bodies, youth organisations, youth
initiative groups and other associations and foundations working with young people (see Diagram 3).
A wide range of local government responsibilities with regard to youth policy sector is indicated
in Youth Law (1 January 2009). For example the Law states that „a local government, in executing
the functions thereof, work with youth taking into consideration basic principles of youth policy
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and development planning documents of the national youth policy. The local government plans
work with young people working out local government youth policy development documents. The
local government provides the institutional framework for youth work” (Paragraph 1, Section 5).
These functions of the local government show that the youth work should be organised in a
purposeful way. To achieve this, it is important to understand priorities, needs and opportunities
of each local government.
National Youth Policy and sectoral policy (education, employment, etc.)
MANAGEMENT OF THE LOCAL
GOVERNMENT
• municipal strategy for the area of youth
policy and for youth work;
• municipal budget for youth work;
• municipal institutional system to ensure
youth work and coordination of the youth
work
INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK
FOR YOUTH WORK
A specialist on youth affairs
People involved in youth work
Services and activities for
young people
Information, counselling, assistance,
opportunities, activities, support
for young people provided by
local governments (including their
territorial units), youth organisations
and other NGOs.
Young
people
Youth NGOs and
youth initiative
groups, pupil and
student
councils
Institutions providing useful leisure
time activities for young people
Youth centres
Children and
youth centres
Youth health
and education
centres
Day care
centres
Rooms for
young people in
housing estates
Other
institutions
Advisory Committees on youth
affairs
Municipal youth councils
Education institutions
Other municipal institutions working
with young people, e.g. police, social
service, etc.
Diagram 3. Structure of youth work. Youth policy of local governments (the website of the Ministry of Education and Science)
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The Law defines that „the local government by establishing an institutional framework for youth
work, is entitled to (Article 2, Section 5):
1) determine the local institution responsible for youth work;
2) employ a specialist on youth affairs - a person who plans, coordinates and carries out youth work;
3) establish an Advisory committee on youth affairs that promotes planning and implementation of
municipal work with young people and participation of young people in decision-making;
4) establish a youth centre, which aims at encouraging initiatives of local young people, their participation in decision-making and in public life;
5) establish a youth council that promotes cooperation of local young people, exchange of their experience and initiative in youth work;
6) provide a different procedure for youth work.
The Education Law defines a broad area of competence for local governments including the
responsibility to ensure career education for children and young people (Section 17).
The above mentioned list of activities indicates that youth work is a political choice of each local
government. It is important for each local government to identify their resources and capabilities
so that in case of a crisis or problems they could respond quickly and efficiently in coordinating
successful inter-institutional cooperation and collaboration with young people. Cooperation provides for establishing of social links and networks between different social agents, strengthens
confidence and creates the social capital. Cooperation starts with understanding of current issues,
their relationship with different areas and their interaction.
Based on the data of the Ministry of Education and Science by the beginning of 2013, the youth
strategy was developed in about 30 local governments, 44 local governments had started working
out the strategy, but 27 local governments had not started the work yet. To support the youth work
in local governments the Ministry of Education and Science has developed recommendations and
guidelines, such as Guidelines for the information to be included in the Youth Centre Regulation,
Guidelines for establishing Youth information centres, Guidelines for establishing municipal youth
centres, Guidelines for the information to be included in the regulation of the Municipal Advisory
committee on youth affairs and the European portfolio for youth leaders and youth specialists.
Methodical recommendations „General indices for assessment of youth work in local governments” were developed in 2008. The local government can use them to assess the current situation in youth work, to identify the areas in youth work to be implemented, those areas that need to
be improved and to perfect implementation of purposeful youth work. From 25 to 26 October, 2010
the Latvian Youth Policy Forum 2010 „Investments of Local Governments in Youth. Challenges
in Youth Work” took place. More than 100 recommendations in six thematic sections for policy
implementation at local level were developed within this Forum.
A resolution on development of youth policy at national, regional and local levels was adopted
at the Latvian Youth Policy Forum „Guide Latvia” on 7-8 November, 2013.
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2.3. Hobby education to support young people
Changes in the society have created new challenges in education in order to develop a creative
personality at an early stage and to promote skills and competences of each individual. Hobby
education promotes development of a creative and innovative personality and implementation of
individual educational needs. Latvia can be proud of its achievements in developing, maintaining
and improving hobby education traditions and it can share its experience with other European
countries. Our children and young people have access to a variety of hobby education forms – in
music, dance, visual and applied arts, in environmental education, technological innovation, research and other types of activities.
Hobby education in Latvia is a component of non-formal education and its target audience is
children and young people in the age group of 3 to 25 who participate in hobby education programmes under the guidance of a teacher. Non-formal education for young people, in its turn, is
implemented in youth organisations, youth interest groups and youth multi-functional centres
in which practical work and activities are organised on daily basis: workshops, courses, conferences, various camps, organisation of events, writing projects and their implementation, local and
international exchange of experience, voluntary work and other forms of work. An offer in hobby
education for young people is very diverse:
– cultural education (art of dance: folk dance and contemporary dance, music: choir art, solo singing, singing
in an ensemble, playing a musical instrument, playing in an orchestra, visual and plastic art, stage speech
and drama art, traditional culture: folklore);
– technological creativity (car modelling, plane modelling, ship modelling, electronics, video, photography,
Lego, computer graphics and programming, etc.);
– environmental education ‘mazpulki’ (young farmers), guides, ecology, floristic, environmental and local history researchers, etc.);
– youth initiative programmes (pupils’ councils, youth clubs and interest groups, scouts, young guards, etc.);
– hobby education programmes in sports (sports dance, sports and board games, track and field athletics
and gymnastics, martial sports, orienteering, tourism, badminton, etc.);
– journalism, school of aesthetics, style, foreign languages, creative writing, first aid, and traffic rules, etc.
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Young people are provided with varied support at institutions of hobby education:
• useful leisure time activities;
• acquisition of new knowledge, skills and abilities; improving skills and abilities acquired in
formal education;
• development of a versatile personality, development of talents and abilities, formation of character;
• socialising (new, supportive environment, communication and cooperation with peers, reducing social exclusion, tolerance towards the different, observing rules of conduct, etc.);
• acquisition of professional skills and work skills, getting acquainted with basics of different
professions, career education and planning;
• understanding of the life-long learning;
• opportunities for developing creativity, initiative, social activities and civic participation, etc.
A hobby education institution is one of the youth support network organisations in the local
government; it is a basic place for youth gathering, for getting to know their needs and problems,
for coordinating their activities and for taking preventive action. It is typical that in a part of hobby
education institutions, youth clubs, initiative groups and leisure rooms function as separate units
(for example Saldus Children and Youth centre, Talsi Children and Youth centre, Liepāja Children
and Youth centre, Madona Children and Youth centre and others). A teacher or an employee of a
hobby education institution can become a person whom they trust and look up to, and a counsellor because the environment in hobby education institutions is usually more informal, more open,
more psychologically favourable and friendlier than in a formal education institution. Hobby edu14
cation teachers have a greater possibility to find an individual approach to their students. Many of
these institutions have a social educator, a career counsellor or any other support staff who may
provide youth with necessary information and advice in a timely manner.
Activities and succession in hobby education
The task of schools
– to develop the
student’s personality
The prestige
of the school
Children’s attraction to the
school with useful activities
in their leisure time
Children and young
people access to hobby
education
General education
institutions
Hobby education
institutions - children
and youth centres
Academic year 2011/2012
Increase of the
role of hobby
education
Teacher
professionalism Public demand
Funding – „money
follows the
student”
Popularity of hobby education programmes
(according to the number of students)
Cultural
programmes
Sports
programmes
Other
programmes
Academic year 2012/2013
216 307 pupils
206 440 pupils
130 320 pupils were involved in hobby education
groups in 830 schools
129 578 pupils were involved in hobby education
groups in 814 schools
55 480 pupils took part in 48 hobby education
institutions
57 577 pupils took part in 50 hobby education
institutions
Photo: Infographics from a LV Portal
Long-standing
traditions
Participation in hobby education can be a possibility not to drop out of the educational process
for those young people who are at risk of leaving school and not continuing their education. Hobby
education may seem captivating for them as the students take part in it on a voluntary basis, in
accordance with their interests, and they can acquire practical life skills and social skills under
the guidance of professional teachers in creative and relaxed atmosphere (with no frames which
are imposed on formal education). Thus, it is possible to attract also those young people who are
uncertain and unsure of themselves and who are not very active socially.
Hobby education institutions are founded by local governments, and they cooperate with education institutions and other institutions, with non-governmental organisations concerned with
youth issues, such as a municipal specialist on youth affairs, the orphan’s court, social services,
police, medical personnel, a subsidiary of the State Employment agency and other institutions
within their administrative territory and often also in neighbouring local governments.
Hobby education institution cooperates successfully with parents through informing and educating them about the offer of hobby education and benefits for the young people. Family relationships have also been strengthened as brothers and sisters attend hobby groups, and their parents
attend the events organised by the institution.
Cooperation of all the parties concerned to support young people makes it possible identify
jointly problem issues and situations and deal with them efficiently and in a timely manner. To
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make youth work fruitful it is necessary to raise the awareness among the municipal council (deputies) and among the local society of the needs of young people and interest in supporting them,
that is, readiness to listen to their ideas and opinions, to involve them in decision-making and to
promote creation of supportive environment for young people (adequate premises and facilities,
material and technical resources, financial support, etc.). Using local resources (natural, cultural
and historical, economic and environmental, human, financial and others) it is possible to contribute in creative and meaningful way to youth initiatives and their local patriotism thus reducing the
number of those who leave their county / town / country.
Activity of the youth themselves, their activity, motivation, responsibility, initiative, the ability to
unite and organize, to participate and use the offer made by the local government, region, state and international mobility programmes is not the least important aspect in creation of the support network.
And a hobby education institution can do a lot to support the youth identity, participation and activity.
National Centre for Education (NCE) coordinates hobby education on national level and provides teachers with necessary methodological support. One of the functions of NCE is to coordinate
the system of hobby education and to implement support measures for students’ personal development and improvement of their abilities and talents. The hobby education institutions being the
most direct partners of NCE, in their turn, carry out methodological and organisational work in local
governments and give suggestions for improvement of the system.
The main objectives of NCE for implementation the above mentioned function are the following:
-planning and organising of national events in hobby education: in cultural education, environmental education and technical innovation (before that the events are held in education
institutions, counties / towns / regions);
-providing for preparation and holding the Song and Dance Festival of Latvian School Youth;
-providing methodological support for the teachers in hobby education for their professional
development (workshops, courses, methodological recommendations, repertoire, counselling, etc.);
-promoting the teachers’ best practises and expertise;
-informing and educating parents and the public about the role of hobby education in the
personal growth of children and young people;
-promoting the cooperation with state and local government institutions, non-governmental
and international organisations.
Hobby education in Latvia is a component of the educational system with long and strong traditions. Its uniqueness and achievements are highly estimated internationally.
If we want to have a status of a mentally and physically strong nation, then we have to take part
in organising leisure activities for children and youth and in development and maintenance of the
system of hobby education jointly: state institutions, local governments, families and the society as a
whole. It is possible to reach each young person and to provide the necessary support for improving
their quality of life in the local community by using the tools of the youth guidance network.
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3. LOGI-N Project methodology:
multilateral cooperation at local level
The idea of the project LOGI-N is based on the assumption that an effective mechanism to support young people is a guidance network of various stakeholders. The stakeholders include local
government institutions (council, education institutions, hobby education institutions, libraries,
cultural institutions, etc.), entrepreneurs and employers, non-governmental organisations, youth
organisations and individuals. It is supposed that guidance networks exist unconsciously in many
local governments or the potential for the cooperation remains unknown and untapped. To make
the multi-party cooperation effective, somebody has to take a coordinating role, has to maintain the
information, has to provide exchange of ideas and has to agree on actions in particular situations.
As there is a manifold hobby education (children and youth centres) network, which is centrally
coordinated by the NCE, there is the possibility that a municipal hobby education institution or
a municipal children and youth centre becomes an informal coordinator of the youth guidance
network. The idea of the role of hobby education institutions on local level relates to the international experience. OECD Handbook „Career Guidance and Public Policy: Bridging the Gap”, 2004
emphasizes that „Career guidance is almost invariably a component of the most successful programmes for out-of-school youth. Such programmes work best when they are located in the community, highly individualised in their approach…” Looking for other specific examples of youth
guidance systems abroad, the authors of LOGI-N Project were inspired by the Danish example:
46 youth support centres located in local governments create the national support system for
youth. This system is described in the publication of the Danish Ministry of Education „Guidance
in Education – a New Guidance System in Denmark” (2004).
The main aim of the LOGI-N Project is to improve lifelong career guidance or accessibility and
quality of youth guidance at the local level by implementing the following tasks:
1) to promote multilateral cooperation to support young people at the local level between
various stakeholders, especially between the municipal hobby education institutions and
other partners;
2) to promote such guidance networks within the context of municipal youth policy and within the context of a lifelong career guidance system;
to promote opportunities for youth guidance that are offered by different partners;
to promote mechanisms for recognition (validation) of non-formal and informal learning
outcomes as opportunities for young people;
3) to improve understanding and knowledge of the people involved in the youth guidance
system about the opportunities of the guidance network and youth support at the local level.
17
The LOGI-N Project was drafted and implemented by five partner organisations: National
Centre for Education, „Baltic Bright” Training and Consultation Centre, Ape County Council,
Gulbene Library and Saldus Children and Youth Centre. The three last partners represented the
guidance networks for youth support in their local governments. These three local governments
identified and described mechanisms for local youth support and organised local and regional
seminars for activating guidance networks.
The following activities took place during LOGI-N project:
1) youth guidance systems at local level were identified and described, potential for cooperation and the used and unused facilities for youth support in each local government were assessed and coordination between the youth policy and youth support and the development
strategy for a local government were evaluated;
2) youth guidance network workshops were held at local and regional level (Ape, Gulbene,
Saldus) in order to activate cooperation between the partners and to promote a variety of
opportunities for young people;
(the experience of these workshops is described in subsequent sections of this material.)
3) the following information materials were prepared and distributed: the LOGI-N Project publication „Let us Join Hands”, the LOGI-N Project e-Newsletter;
4) the national level events: 3 national workshops with national-level partners in youth support
system and the Project LOGI-N closing conference:
- LOGI-N workshop for employees of municipal hobby education centres from all over Latvia;
- LOGI-N workshop for policy makers in presence of the representatives of the Ministry of
Education and Science, State Employment Agency, Ministry of Welfare and other nationallevel institutions;
- LOGI-N workshop for higher education institutions which prepare the future career counsellors and youth workers;
- LOGI-N closing conference for youth support, youth policy and lifelong career support representatives and creators, local government employees, organisers of hobby education, representatives of employment and economic development policy and cooperation partners at
local and national level;
5) methodological material „Let us Join Hands: creating guidance networks for youth support
in counties and local governments” is drafted and published in Latvian and in English.
The LOGI-N Project was carried out with the support of the EU Lifelong Learning Programme
in the period from 1st April 2013 to 31st March 2014.
The head of the local government about LOGI-N project:
When you are inspired by a great goal or by an unusual project, all your thoughts suddenly unfold, your mind knows no boundaries, your consciousness expands in all directions, and you are in
a new, large and a wonderful world.
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We are willing to say exactly these words about the project „Guidance network for youth support in
local community” when the strength, abilities and talents of the young people involved have revived
so that together with non-governmental organisations of the county and local government they could
create youth policy strategy that is focused on leisure activities, formation of a volunteering system,
new project development, information exchange and public awareness, business idea support, cooperation with young people from other counties and countries and support in career choice.
The idea of young people to have a youth worker in the local government, whom they perceive as
an adult ‘mom and dad’, has received support from this year.
Council members have approved of a budget to support business ideas of young people. The website of a local government is a collaborative tool for young people to link with municipal organisations.
This is a starting point for the attainment of our goals.
4. Youth Guidance Network in
Ape, Gulbene and Saldus
counties: models and approaches
4.1. Youth guidance network in Ape County
Astrīda Harju, Chairperson
of Ape County Council
General characteristics of the county
The county was created on 1st July 2009, and it includes the town of Ape, which is the administrative centre of the county, Ape, Gaujiena, Trapene and Vireši parishes. The municipal territory
covers 545 square kilometres; it is the eighth largest county in terms of territory in Vidzeme region. According to statistics of 1st January 2014, there are 4034 inhabitants in Ape County. 17%
of them are young people aged 13 to 25.
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There are two pre-school institutions in the county: in Ape and in Gaujiena; two primary schools
- in Trapene and Vireši, two secondary schools – in Ape and Gaujiena, Gaujiena boarding school attended by children from all over Latvia, Gaujiena music and art school, a learning point of Aluksne
music school and a group of Aluksne sports school. A hundred children attend the pre-school institutions, but the number of pupils in all the education institutions in forms 1 to 12 is 450. Slightly
more than a hundred children have chosen to learn music and art in addition to general education. It should be acknowledged that the number of formal education institutions has decreased.
Unfortunately, Ape vocational school stopped working in 2008. At present the number of general
education institutions has not been reduced although in two of them the number of pupils does
not exceed 50. The operation of the branch of Riga Teacher Training and Educational Management
Academy in Aluksne is a significant support for acquiring higher education. This allows people who
want to study the respective fields to combine their studies, work and living in the current place of
residence. There are neither education support institutions nor youth centres in the county.
26 different types of non-governmental organisations, of which seven are youth organisations
or youth-related organisations, are registered in „Lursoft” database. Youth associations and clubs
have gathered more than a hundred members, who want both to spend their free time in an efficient way and to promote welfare of the community and of their county.
The situation that there are practically no public institutions in Ape County has developed historically.
The dominant form in business is micro enterprises – there are 220 of them. There are also
seven small companies and one medium-sized enterprise. Only six of them are commercial associations. There are mostly farms (73) and 109 self-employed people in the area.
Youth Policy Strategy in Ape County
Since Ape County was created during the administrative territorial reform in 2009, the design
of the county development documents has not been completed yet. At present Ape county development programme for 2014-2020 which incorporates also youth policy issues and measures for
business and career support is being developed.
Career guidance for young people in the county
The local government of the county supports educational, entertaining and active operational
initiatives concerning youth, though this support is periodic, and the quality of the activities is not
always evaluated and the expected goal is not always achieved. More serious work is observed in
the education institutions that offer counselling and organize meetings with representatives of
various professions. The local government provides access to information on career issues. In the
academic year 2013/2014 all education institutions in addition to their programmes offer to learn
the basic business programme and to work in pupils’ enterprises.
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Examples of good practice
Ape county guidance network is based on the successful cooperation with non-governmental
sector. Non-governmental organisations are joining their forces to defend their interests and ensure better satisfaction of needs and interests of the population of Ape County. These organisations operate in those fields; the local government lacks resources for. They offer new ways for
solving problems, ensure a diversity of opinions in the society, express desires and needs of the
inhabitants and protect their interests.
The association „The Acorn” for Ape educational development” functions in Ape secondary
school named after Davis Ozolins. It promotes the uniqueness and development of the school and
family laying the emphasis on the community development and the improvement of the environment. The promotion of the cooperation „a pupil – a teacher – a pupil”, educational work with
parents and improvement of the school facilities is supported.
The associations „Support Club for Ape Development „and „Creative Idea Centre” unite the
most active and innovative-minded inhabitants of the town and they provide a wide range of activities for local people. Bearing in mind that there is no art school in Ape, the „Creative Idea Centre”
organises painting, weaving and floral arrangements classes.
The associations „Hockey Club „Ape”, „Motorcycle Club „Ape” and „Sports Club „Luksti Team”
successfully identify and develop the sports sphere in cooperation with Ape County Council. The
county has renewed the sports infrastructure and diversified a range of sports activities, updated
the sports equipment and improved the athletic skills of young people by acquiring different levels of
funding. The Motorcycle Club „Ape „organises the annual race „Vaidava Cup”. The aim of this race is to
promote motorsport and voluntary work. About 20 young people are involved in organising, managing
and refereeing the race. These young people learn the rules of the race and practice voluntary work.
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The association „Ape Youth Club „Rails” represents the youth sector in informal education. It
organises various activities, such as meetings with different athletes, journalists, members of the
European Parliament, entrepreneurs and writers. The association carried out the photo contest
and opened the exhibition of photographs during the Town Festival and created new postcards.
Young people also initiated a bicycle – motorcycle – car parade. Young people are regularly given
the opportunity to participate in a wide variety of projects. Successful cooperation has been established with the youth organisations in Estonia („Noorsooühing Rõuge Noorteklubi”) and in
Lisbon, Portugal („Academo”, „Cronoworld – Projectos de Cidadania”). Several times international youth exchange programmes have been accomplished together with foreign partners within
the programme „Youth in Action”. The Youth Club „Rails” was the initiator for creating the BMX
track in 2012. The aim of the Youth club was to promote useful leisure time and sports activities.
Currently Young people of Ape use the track for their workout regularly; they also maintain and
expand the track themselves as well as implement new projects for improving the track and the
neighbourhood. BMX competitions have taken place in Ape for three years bringing together participants from the nearby counties. 32 young athletes took part in the race in 2013. The youth club
has claimed responsibility for this track and it continues to improve and develop the track and the
environment with the project financing of the Rural Support Service, the Ministry of Education and
Science and the Mortgage Bank.
Other activities and projects
An important source of funding to support and implement youth activities is a variety of national and EU programme projects, such as „Estonia – Latvia – Russia cross-border cooperation programme”, „Estonia – Latvia cross-border cooperation programme”, „Youth in Action”, „LEADER”,
Society Integration Fund, the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Latvia, the
Mortgage Bank, the Netherlands Foundation (Oranje), and others. These projects are carried out
not only by the County Council but also by the non-governmental organisations of the county.
Ape Youth Club „Rails” implemented the project „Level up” within the programme „Youth in
Action” in 2013. The main idea was to create a series of educational activities for young people
in Ape. Youth meetings with well-known people and with people having life and professional experience are held. During discussions young people get ideas for their personal career develop22
ment. Basically the task of non-formal education to create young people’s motivation and desire
to develop their skills and knowledge and to be socially active and purposeful is fulfilled through
methods of non-formal education. The youth personal career development is promoted and the
youth involvement in the development of the rural region is facilitated.
Estonia, Latvia and Russia cross-border cooperation programme project „The use of cultural
heritage and natural resources for the development in the border regions” (Heritage Business)
has been implemented since April 2013. The project is aimed at small and medium enterprises to
use their local cultural heritage, traditions and local resources in various business sectors. Within
the project entrepreneurial studies have been offered both for pupils and teachers of Setomaa,
Pechora and Ape in establishing a cross-border network for schools participating in the programme. Exchange study tours to Estonia and Russia are planned for groups of pupils and teachers to share their experience in planning and implementing of business ideas.
The project „Social rehabilitation measures for inclusion of social risk groups in the society in
Ape County” was implemented from 2011 to 2012. It was work with young people who had behavioural problems and infringement of law and with co-addicted youth. Social rehabilitation was
provided, inclusion in the society was promoted and social skills were improved. The opportunity
to learn practical independent life skills was given and the motivation programmes were created
in order to develop the desire to enter the labour market.
Ape local government implemented the project „Towards cross-border sport communities”
during the period from September 2008 to February 2010. The project partners were Rõuge
municipality (Estonia) and Estonian non-governmental sports organisation „Skystar”. Two sports
camps for young people were organised and experience exchange events for sports specialists
were implemented and a variety of sporting competitions were held both for those for whom
sports is a hobby and for those who go in for sports on a professional level.
4.2. Youth guidance network in Gulbene County
According to the statistics of 1st January 2014 there were 23 952 inhabitants in Gulbene county which includes the town of Gulbene and 13 parishes. 20% of all the inhabitants were young
people at the age of 13 to 25.
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There are nine pre-school education institutions in Gulbene County, three of which are located in the town of Gulbene and six in parishes.
There are 11 elementary education institutions in the county, one of which is a primary school
and one a primary boarding school. There are seven secondary schools, one of which is a county state gymnasium and one is the evening (shift) secondary school. There are two vocational
secondary schools and three vocational-oriented education institutions, namely, Gulbene music
school, Gulbene School of art and children and youth sports schools of Gulbene county. There are
four youth centres in Gulbene County that are funded by the local government. One of the centres is located in the town (Gulbene county youth centre „Base”), but three in parishes (Ranka
youth initiative centre „B.u.M.s.”, Lejasciems youth centre „Pulse”, Staki youth centre „Nest” in
Stradi parish). There is also a branch of College of Law in Gulbene.
There are 19 public libraries in Gulbene County: Gulbene county library and 18 parish libraries.
The legal address of 122 non-governmental organisations that are registered in the „Lursoft”
database is in Gulbene County. About half of these organisations work actively, but others are
not specified as liquidated in the register. There are 17 associations / non-governmental organisations in the county that target young people. There are 26 public institutions and about 60
companies in the county.
Youth policy strategy in Gulbene County
The work at Gulbene county integrated development programme for 2011 to 2017 was started in 2010. Interests and needs of young people are included in the programme. Since no planning documents on youth issues have been developed in Gulbene county (by July 2009 also in
parishes of Gulbene county), the working group put forward the idea of a separate planning document for defining, improving and developing youth work. The youth policy strategy in Gulbene
County is necessary to:
1) develop systematic and planned youth work in cooperation with various organisations
throughout the territory of the county;
2) determine the priorities and objectives of the local government for youth work;
3) justify the need of the financial support for youth work;
4) define clearly the principles of improving the quality of life of young people.
The youth policy strategy for 2011 to 2017 in Gulbene County is the first planning document
on youth issues in the county. It is based on five priority areas: youth participation, awareness,
non-formal education and leisure activities, health, safety and social inclusion, as well as employment.
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The objectives of youth policy strategy in Gulbene County are the following:
• to define the objectives of youth issues and set priorities;
• to establish a framework for systematic planning of resources for youth work;
• to create a support system for youth work in Gulbene County.
Municipal institutions, representatives of youth non-governmental organisations and specialists who do youth work are involved in implementation of the strategy.
Youth policy in Gulbene region is planned and implemented in accordance with the Youth Law
of the Republic of Latvia and Youth policy guidelines for 2009 to 2018 of the Republic of Latvia. It
is developed in correspondence with the Integrated Development programme for 2011 to 2017 in
Gulbene County.
As the youth policy is the cross-sectoral policy, youth centres work very closely with other
involved parties: non-governmental sector (youth organisations and non-governmental organisations that do also youth work), youth informal groups, pupils’ councils and teachers, state and
municipal institutions.
The functions of a youth affairs specialist and those of youth centres (youth workers) are separated in the county.
• Youth affairs specialist is an employee in the County Council who coordinates, liaises with all the parties involved, is responsible for county activities and projects,
advises and supports youth non-governmental organisations and school councils
(a separate budget in the County Council).
• Youth centres in the county work directly with all young people.
The county is large (it has 13 parish administrations and the town administration) therefore in
youth work it does not always manage to cover the whole area when offering activities or any other
kind of support because of the lack of human resources. It is difficult to address youth issues in
parishes if there is not at least one person (not necessarily a youth worker) who is interested in
youth affairs. In 2014 the priority is given to targeted support for youth work especially in those
parish administrations where there are no youth workers, but there are good things started by
young people themselves.
It is important to emphasize that all the decisions made so far on coordination and development of youth work are based on the initiatives of the young people in the particular populated
area (the town and parishes) and on the activities and discussions of youth groups and organisations with the local government. Thus, things are not directed and artificially set ‘top down’ (by
the local government) but they are supported and developed where there is already some activity
among young people themselves – young people justify why they need specific things, activities
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or other kind of support, and then it is not denied. Currently young people are active in Lizums,
Druviena, Tirza and Kalniena, so these are potential places for future youth centres.
Only non-formal education is used for youth work in Gulbene County, which means that no paid
teachers are involved in any of the activities or classes, but everything is mainly based on voluntary
work by young people and their own initiatives. Of course, some activities and event packages are
carried out in cooperation with representatives of other sectors. For example, in October 2013 the
Career Week was very successful, when education institutions, libraries, entrepreneurs and public
institutions of the county cooperated.
1) A network of youth workers and support institutions. A youth centre „Base” was opened in
autumn of 2006. A unified Gulbene county was formed according to the local government administrative territorial reform in 2009. Therefore the youth work was extended beyond the town of
Gulbene. As a result two youth centres: „Pulse” in Lejasciems parish and B.u.M.s. in Ranka parish
were opened in 2009 as a result of the initiative and activities by local young people. As youth
work became more comprehensive and more diverse, the need for a youth affairs specialist as a
separate employee arose in Gulbene County Council. And such an employee started to work on 1st
September 2010. So in 2012 youth leisure centres were created in two parishes - in Staki of Stradi
parish and in Ozolkalns of Belava parish.
2) Cooperation with youth organisations. As youth work is largely based on the initiative of
young people themselves, municipal cooperation with youth organisations is logical. The associations „KAPO” (Kalniena), Youth club „Dems” (Gulbene), „Be active!” (Ranka), „YourWay” (Lizums),
„Time Belt”(Lejasciems), „52 Francs” and „Gene of Gulce” experienced successful cooperation with
the local government in implementation of projects and organisation of various local activities.
The association „Gene of Gulce” can be mentioned as an excellent example of cooperation.
On 24th May 2012 at the meeting the members of Gulbene County Council supported the idea of
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the activists of the youth association „Gene of Gulce” to create a place for young people who are
interested in a variety of extreme sports that could function even during the cold winter months.
The members of the Council agreed to hand over the land and premises at 45A Blaumaņa iela,
Gulbene free of charge for 10 years to the association which has a public benefit status in order to
establish a sports centre.
3) A system of voluntary work. The local government of Gulbene County supports also youth
voluntary work as a form of participation. To motivate young people to be more proactive, a certification system of voluntary work was developed and it has been operating successfully for several
years. The system was developed in cooperation with the youth club „Dems”. A certificate for voluntary work can be obtained for at least 60 hours completed in the public interest. The certificates
are issued both by Gulbene County Council and the youth centre „Base”. At present 10 young
people have obtained the certificate issued by the County Council. 15 young people have obtained the certificate issued by the youth centre „Base”, but 20 young people continue voluntary
work to accumulate the required hours. Young volunteers have been working in Gulbene within the
EU programme „Youth in Action” for several years. The association „The youth club „Dems” and
youth centres have been hosting them since 2007. In summer of 2012 an ambitious European
Volunteering Project „A kilogram of belonging” was implemented by Gulbene County Council in
close cooperation with the youth club „Dems”. In order to involve more institutions of the local government in the EU programme „Youth in Action” within which volunteers operate, they have carried out an accreditation process. A new project on intake of volunteers in the pre-school education institution No.1, Gulbene Culture Centre, Gulbene county library and Tirza elementary school
has been implemented in Gulbene County since September 2013. The project is coordinated by
Gulbene County Council.
4) Youth website and other channels of information. In 2008 a separate website for young
people www.labisbabis.lv was created in Gulbene County which became a website for the young
people of the whole Gulbene County in 2009. It publishes information on the youth facilities and
activities in the county as well as the opportunities in Latvia and on international level. The website
publishes reports on the events to provide feedback to young people and to generate interest
to get more actively involved in various processes. The site also contains a lot of informative and
practical information, such as links to other useful resources for young people. Information about
various current events as well as contact information of all the youth workers and active youth organisations can be found on the site. A separate section is devoted to voluntary work which is one
of the most useful leisure activities. There are publicly available materials on organising voluntary
work in the section (agreement, interpretative material of working hours, a sample certificate).
The information is updated and shared through social networks. The website has its own
„Twitter” account which is actively used. Youth Club „Base” and Youth information centre „B.u.M.s.”
also use „Twitter”. The Youth centre „Pulse” has its own Facebook page, but the Youth Centre
„Base” maintains its page on www.draugiem.lv.
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A separate page has been devoted to youth issues in the official municipal newspaper
„Gulbenes Novada Ziņas” (Gulbene County News) for several years. The newspaper is published
once a month, and it is delivered to the inhabitants free of charge. A youth worker has been preparing this page in collaboration with youth centres and youth groups since 2010, but before it was in
charge of the Youth centre „Base”.
5) A competition of business ideas. In 2013 for the first time the Council announced the project tender „Support for young people to start a business”, within which two young people could
obtain municipal funding of up to 2000.00 lats to start a particular business. According to the
opinion of the assessment commission the maximum sum of 2000.00 lats was awarded to one
idea, but another idea was awarded 1500.00 lats. It is planned that the budget for this competition
could be increased in the future.
6) A competition for youth initiatives in the county. In autumn of 2012 the tender for youth
initiatives which was supported and financed by Gulbene County Council was announced for the
first time. Within this tender the young people could obtain the sum of up to 100.00 lats for implementing their ideas. Eight initiative ideas were implemented in a number of parishes in 2012. In
2013 the funding was awarded to nine initiatives which were implemented during the period from
May to September. In the competition of 2014 six initiatives will be implemented. It is planned to
organise such a competition once a year in the future.
7) „Summer days for children”. This a youth-driven initiative supported by the Youth Centre
„Base” that has been implemented for several years during the three summer months – one week
each month. It means that the local young people, volunteers, organise activities for children during the summer period (as a day camp). Thus the beneficiaries are both the parents who do not
have a place where to leave their children and the young people themselves who learn a variety of
skills – organisational skills, time management, creativity and others.
8) Traditional events. The aim of the award ceremony „The Rebound of the Year” is to provide inhabitants with the information about the events in the county, its people and their feelings
from the perspective of young people. The event was held for the ninth time in 2014. The event
is the idea of the youth association which recently has been held by Gulbene County Council in
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cooperation with youth centres. Every year the quality and the content of the event have been
improved, for example, separate regulations for evaluating the nominees and for awarding were
developed this year to ensure the maximum equality for all the young people nominated by the
youth of parishes. In surveys the young people bring forward the candidates in six nominations:
„The Event of the Year”, „The Organisation of the Year”, „The Failure of the Year”, „The Hope of the
Year”, „The Person of the Year” and „The Youth of the Year”. The youth workers decide about the
extra prize „The Big Contribution” which is awarded to a vey special person who has supported
youth activities outside their direct job responsibilities. The ceremony takes place each year complying with a certain dress code and stage design, for example, there were ceremonies in the style
of the 80-ies, Hollywood stars, the 30-ies, black and white, Barbie and Ken style and ethno style.
• Youth day. It has been held for several years during the town festival on the last Friday of July
– each year in different colours and themes. There was a sports day, a talent competition, the
hip-hop style activities and a topic of green lifestyle. The motto for last year event was „The
habitual places, things and people in a different light” which culminated with a concert where
young people performed together with celebrities.
• Improvisation theatre. An improvisation theatre cafe has been taking place in the Youth centre „Base” for several years. On the first Saturday of each month young people gather to
spend time together and to have fun. Part of young people improvise on the stage applying
specific techniques of improvisation theatre but other 80-100 young people not only watch
but get involved in defining the acted situations. The Youth centre „Base” has published the
improvisation theatre guide which describes various methods of improvisation.
• Europe Day. It is celebrated each year in cooperation of Gulbene County Council and the
Youth centre „Base”. A task connected with a topical issue in Europe is given to young people during the preparation stage for the event. In the conclusion of the event the best young
people are awarded.
9) Projects. As the municipal budget is limited, a variety of national and EU programme projects have been an important source of funding for implementing and supporting youth activities
since 2005, for example, „Youth in Action”, „LEADER”, the Society Integration Fund, the Ministry
of Education and Science of the Republic of Latvia, the Mortgage Bank, etc. These projects are
implemented by both the County Council and all the youth centres and youth associations take
part in some of them. For example, in the summer of 2012, the County Council and the Youth
Centre „Dems” implemented the project of voluntary work „A kilogram of belonging”. Long-term
foreign volunteers are regularly hosted in the Youth centres „Base”, „Pulse” and „B.u.M.s.” within
the volunteer programme „Youth in Action”. There have been a number of international youth exchange projects. In 2012 during the implementation of Swiss-Latvian cooperation programme
project which had also municipal co-financing, Gulbene County Youth centre „Base” was opened
as a multifunctional centre. Two large youth democracy projects were implemented and study
visits and workshops were organized.
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4.3. Youth guidance network in Saldus County
Saldus County consists of 16 territorial units - 15 parishes and the town of Saldus, but the local
government has established 13 parish authorities. The area of the county occupies 1683.3 square
kilometres. On the 1st of January 2014 there were 27,239 inhabitants in Saldus County, of which
about 14% were young people.
There are the following education institutions in the county:
1) 10 pre-school education institutions (including one private pre-school education institution and one special pre-school education institution). There are 14 pre-school education
groups at other education institutions;
2) 18 general education institutions (including five secondary schools, one evening secondary school, one special elementary boarding school and one primary school);
3) one vocational secondary school;
4) two hobby education institutions;
5) four vocationally-oriented education institutions.
There are also 175 non-governmental organisations with their legal address in Saldus and
Broceni counties.
In Saldus County there are:
• almost 2000 registered companies;
• key sectors of agriculture, forest industry and manufacturing;
• the largest companies (by turnover):
1) „Ziko” Ltd (fuel sales); 2) „Hoppekids” Ltd (production of wooden toys); 3) „66 North Baltic”
Ltd (clothes manufacturing); 4) „Transportbetons MB” Ltd (production of concrete); 5) „Saldus
gaļas kombināts” Ltd (Saldus Meat Processing) (food processing).
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Youth policy strategy in Saldus County
Youth policy in Saldus County is planned and implemented in accordance with the Youth Law
of the Republic of Latvia and the Youth policy guidelines for 2009 – 2018 of the Republic of Latvia.
Saldus County does not have specifically designed youth policy strategies but the main objectives of
the youth policy strategy are defined in the development strategy for 2010 – 2015 of Saldus County:
1. Institutional framework for implementing youth work;
2. Increase in young people’s awareness;
3. Youth participation in public life and youth organisations and youth initiative groups;
4. Youth employment;
5. Useful leisure time activities for young people;
6. Support for young people and social protection;
7. Public order and safety, healthy lifestyle.
Local government institutions (schools, culture houses, etc.) and experts, non-governmental
youth organisations and professionals doing youth work are involved in implementation of the
strategy. Saldus Children and youth centre coordinates the youth work in Saldus County. Youth
recreation and initiative centre that has a youth worker, a career counsellor, and youth employment counsellors also take part in youth work.
The main functions of the Youth recreation and initiative centre „Shed” are coordination of the
youth work in the county, cooperation and support to youth NGOs and pupils’ councils, support
and organisation of leisure time activities, support and management of youth projects and informing and educating of youth.
The Career Centre within Saldus Children and Youth Centre has been functioning since 1999. The
Centre ensures that the learners acquire basic knowledge and skills needed for self-research and
career study, and it promotes the responsible decision making. The Career Centre is responsible for:
1. creating an interest in young people about the opportunities offered by career education, getting acquainted with the diversity of the labour world;
2. providing the opportunities for learning self-assessment methods to explore themselves, to find out their decision taking abilities and skills for setting the aim;
3. promoting the cooperation and communication skills;
4. cooperating with parents, teachers, companies and other interested parties.
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The Career Centre cooperates with young people, teachers, parents, school career counsellors
and companies to deal with career issues successfully.
1. Coordinators of youth work in parishes. There is a youth work coordinator in each parish
of the county who works in partnership with a youth worker jointly providing young people with
information, training and involvement in socio-economic processes and in public life of the county.
Each year a certain sum of money is allocated to youth activities in the parish budget so that young
people can play an active role in the life of the parish. A youth coordinator of each parish together
with young people decides how to spend that money.
2. Youth recreation and initiative centre „Shed”. It is located in the centre of Saldus, it is
easy to find and it is open to various youth initiatives. The Centre can boast of its beautiful, wellequipped premises and nice staff. Three youth organisations operate there: Saldus Youth Council
„I and We”, Photo Club „I do” and the unit of Latvian Mazpulki (Young Farmers) „Barn”. Any young
person who is willing to take part in various activities or take the initiative to organise various events
is welcome to the Centre. Young people who are not so active and young people from low-income
families also attend the Centre as all the activities there are free of charge. The young people of the
Centre take an active part in both local and international projects.
3. A support foundation for youth projects in the county. There is a support system for youth
organisations and youth initiative groups in the form of a support foundation for youth projects.
Youth organisations and youth informal groups have the opportunity to participate in the project
tender and obtain funding up to 250.00 lats for implementation of their ideas. 12 ideas were implemented in 2012, but in 2013 eight ideas were implemented during the period from June to
September. Each year by the completion of all the projects, the project participants meet at the
final forum where they present their projects and set priorities for the projects of the following year.
4. Project activities. Every year the young people of the county have the opportunity to participate in various projects.
The project „Academy of Young Leaders” (supported by the project foundation of Saldus county local government) was implemented in 2012 with the aim to teach presentation skills, public
speech, and creative thinking and communication skills for young people of Saldus County.
The project „Climb! Come! Go!” (supported by CEMEX Opportunity fund) with the aim to encourage young people in their career planning based on good examples was also successfully
carried out. Four meetings were organised within the project: „Success Story” with school graduates of Saldus County who work successfully in their professional field and a two day workshop on
career planning and finding one’s way in life.
32
The project „P.U.L.L. Music” (supported by the EU programme „Youth in Action”) was the youth
exchange project in which the participants from Poland, Liechtenstein, Great Britain and Latvia
established international bands. Each group composed and recorded one song and prepared a
20-minute programme for the closing concert.
Youth training for participants of Arab countries - Tunisia, Jordan and Morocco was provided within the project supported by Anna Lindh Foundation „Multipliers of non-formal learning”.
There was also the opportunity to participate in and to manage intercultural learning classes.
Representatives of all the schools of Saldus county and youth coordinators from parishes were
informed about the opportunity to invite guests to their classes. During these intercultural classes at schools the participants had the opportunity to find out where exactly Tunisia, Jordan and
Morocco are, what languages are spoken there, what the nature, culture and food is like and what
the things are that native people boast of. Children and young people were taught the Arabic language, dance, counting to 10; the children were involved in various activities and games. All the
schools and youth centres were glad of the opportunity to get acquainted with representatives of
such a different culture and to get involved in discussion which not only expands the horizon of
each participant but also contributes to the ability of speaking and understanding English.
A lot of projects for young people are implemented in Saldus County. The premises of the Youth
recreation an initiative centre „Shed” were expanded with the support of the Latvian-Swiss cooperation project; and the projects with the support of the Society Integration Fund and the Ministry
of Education and Science were implemented.
5. The county prize „The Determined Youngster for the Future”. The aim of the award is
to gather information about the young people in the county who are actively involved in some
field and who are able to arouse interest in others promoting youth initiative responsibility and
local patriotism in Saldus County. Any institution, organisation, group or an individual person can
submit their candidates for the award. Young people who are active in some area, who can involve
their peers, who can arouse interest in others and who have gained recognition are eligible for the
award. The award is presented during the national holiday.
4.4. Models of guidance networks in local communities:
summary
Evaluating the work of the local governments of Ape, Gulbene and Saldus counties, it can be concluded that youth work is carried out irrespective of the territorial location of the local government
and the limited number of human resources. Well targeted work with young people is one of the
quality indicators. Professionals working in each local government acknowledge that cooperation
and development of the guidance network are the main tools for future planning of the activities. The
following model was created by summing up the experience of the three counties (see Picture 1):
33
Ape
Countcyil
Coun
t
Projec ts
s
speciali
h
ut ist
Yo cial
e
p
s
NGOs
„Sliede
s”/
Rails
„Ape D
velopm ee
Supportnt
Club”
hip
reneurs
Entrep ecialist
p
s
on
Educatilist
specia
on
Educati ure
lt
and cu tions
institu
...
es e
ben
Gul a dom
d
a
nov
Ligzda (Youth
Leisure Room at
Staki)
Pulss
(Lejasciems)
34
n s
ma ce
Husour
re
Youth
workers in
parishes
Parish s
council
Youth Init
Centre „Š iatives
ķū
Shed, Gui nis”/
dance
centre
Saldus
Children’s
an
Youth cent d
re
,
reneurs
Entrep eme
rz
u
K
ss
busine r
to
incuba
Saldus
Co
Counc unty
il
SALDUS
COOPERATION
NETWORK
Youth in
ants
consultshes
pari
th
Youisory
l
v
ad unci
co
Com
p
of y etences
workouth
ers
NGOs
B.u.M.S.
(Ranka)
Social serv
Family su ice,
ppor
service t
h
t
u
Yo
Social
service
Youth
Centre
„Base”/Bāze
rs,
Entrepreneu
Valmiera
Business
Incubator
NGOs
Ed
an ucatio
instd sport n
itut s
ions
„Sauja”/
Handfu
l
Youth
Council
Young
farmers „Me and
You”
Informal
youth
groups
State
Employment
Agency
Goal
orientation
Entreprenurs
Informal
Youth
groups
th
You ation
ticip
par
l
rma
Info uth
yo ps
grou
GULB
COOPE ENE
RA
NETWO TION
RK
Self ents at
m ls
ern
gov schoo
S
Emplotate
y
Agen ment
cy
Educati
Sports on and
depa
ment rt-
Participation
OOPAPE CTION
ERA ORK
NETW
yment
Emplo ncy
Age
es
vald
Pār
l
ncia
Fina urces
Reso
Youth
n
participatio
f
n o le
tio op
a
e
v
i
ot g p
M un
yo
Youth
leis
room ure
Ozolka at
lns
Res
pon
sibil
ity
t
men
vern
l go tions
a
c
Lo nstitu
i
State
ion
luat
Eva
The model shows the institutions existing in the counties that carry out youth work or help in
solving different problems. The model visually displays the guidance networks in the local government and also the existing problems that are outlined on the leaves in the model.
Ape County occupies a relatively large area of low population density. A major problem is involvement of young people in joint events of the county. There is no unifying public transport in the county,
so the only way to ensure the participation of young people is the transportation organised and paid
by the local government. Thus there is low youth motivation and participation in different activities.
The local government has limited resources to promote youth activities. Although there are young
people rich in initiatives in the county, the local government would like to see more educated young
people who return back to the county as employers and who are professionals in their field.
The county lacks a professional who would coordinate various youth activities and foster the
cooperation between different organisations. The development of the network could favour the
solution of many unsolved issues without additional resources. More productive exchange of information between the state and municipal institutions, feedback from youth associations and young
people could significantly affect the level of young people’s lives and increase their motivation for
further education and a successful career.
Gulbene County can boast of excellent human resources and the best youth worker of 2012.
But regardless of the size of the county, the local government sees a variety of problems associated with young people. For example, 1) youth motivation and sense of responsibility; 2) lack of
understanding of real life; 3) risk group of young people. The local government of Gulbene county
intends to promote youth participation in the most important events of the county and to develop
youth work in all the parishes although the human resources and their quality, i.e. professional and
competent performance is of great value throughout the labour market.
In Saldus county youth work is assigned more to youth centres, however, working with young
people has revealed the most significant problems, such as, 1) lack of motivation; 2) lack of responsibility and sense of duty; 3) lack of education appropriate to the labour market. Educated and professional youth work specialists could solve many problems. The local government of the county
has actively involved young people in discussion and adoption of a very important document for the
region, i.e., „Sustainable development strategy for 2013 – 2038 for Saldus County”.
Professionals working with young people in the town of Saldus and in Saldus County recognize
the need to improve the support system for youth work and the need for a trustful professional
support network.
Challenges for local governments:
1. How to encourage participation of passive and reserved young people?
2. How to build mutual trust between young people and the government?
3. How to enhance the sense of belonging, the ability of young people to identify
themselves with the local community?
35
5. How to build and activate a guidance network:
experience of regional and local seminars
5.1. LOGI-N regional and local seminars in Gulbene County
On 7th October 2013 a seminar-discussion „The guidance network for young people in the
local community” was held by Gulbene Library in the culture centre. This was the first regional
seminar organised within the project LOGI-N. The seminar started the events of the Career week
in Gulbene County.
The aim of the seminar was to promote youth education, career choices, employment and to
identify institutions for developing youth support system in the county.
Lifelong learning counsellors of Gulbene county, four youth centres of Gulbene county, representatives of the most active associations, personnel of the Orphan’s Court, municipal and private
entrepreneurs in different fields, heads of the departments of Gulbene County Council and representatives of school councils were invited to the seminar. 60 people took part in the seminar.
During the seminar-discussion „The guidance network for young people in the local community”
the participants got to know the statistics of the youth employment in Gulbene County and the existing situation of youth support system. Information on the role of the state and of the local government
in ensuring formal and non-formal education for young people and on the experience of assessment
and recognition of non-formal education in education institutions was provided. Association KAPO of
Kalniena parish in Gulbene County told about the activities of the association and their development
plans in the parish. The participants of the seminar got acquainted with the experience in development
of youth support systems in Ape and Saldus counties, which are also involved in the project LOGI-N.
During the second part of the seminar the participants took part in the discussion on improving
cooperation and promoting youth support in Gulbene County. The adapted „World Cafe” method
was used during the discussion allowing any debate participant to express their point of view on
each issue of the discussion.
36
The discussion took place in seven discussion groups. Each group examined the challenges in
a specific area affecting the career of young people:
•
•
•
•
attraction of young people to regions (two discussion groups);
youth entrepreneurship (two discussion groups);
youth employment (two discussion groups);
educational system (one discussion group).
At the end of the discussion each group had a task to choose the three most urgent challenges
in the particular area.
Summary of the outcomes of the discussions
Area affecting young people’s
career and employment
Attraction of young people to
regions
Main Challenges
(according to the selection of discussion groups)
• Job opportunities in the region
• Leisure time activities
• Existing sense of identity /belonging
Youth entrepreneurship
• Availability of resources and support information for starting a
business
• Lack of competences needed for starting and maintaining a business
• Institutional support (especially that of a local government) for youth
entrepreneurship
Youth employment
• Cooperation between the local government, education institutions
and the labour market (entrepreneurs)
• The need for support programmes for young on issues of a career
choice
• Availability, reliability and sustainability of the labour market forecast
Education system
• Early career education developing each individual’s potential
• Inefficient use of the existing resources
• Uniformity and (non)topicality of the training methods
37
On 28th November 2013 the discussion on the cooperation of local institutions and support to
young people by being active and educating themselves was held by Gulbene Library in the folk
school of Lizums parish. This was a local seminar which was organised within the project LOGI-N.
36 stakeholders: representatives of youth centres and NGOs, young entrepreneurs, students,
members of Gulbene County Council and educational staff took part in the seminar-discussion.
During the first (regional) seminar the participants got acquainted with the experience of other
regions involved in the project LOGI-N in creating a network between the institutions of the local
government to support young people, and they had the opportunity to participate in the discussion on the ways how to improve cooperation and to promote youth support in Gulbene County.
In the first part of the second seminar the young people from Gulbene County who are active in their field shared their experience. They were: a young entrepreneur in timber industry
Ingars Andževs from Galgauska, the head of the culture project „Contemporary Art Parallels” from
Jaungulbene parish Modris Apsītis, an owner of the kebab cafe „KuKebo” from Gulbene Katerina
Ļeontjeva, and a young farmer from Druviena parish Dairis Rutkis. The young people told the seminar participants why they returned to Gulbene County, what is needed to start a business and gave
advice to those who want to start their business.
During the second part of the seminar the participants of the discussion looked for solutions
for youth cooperation and support in Gulbene County. The discussion took place in four discussion groups, each of groups having 5 - 10 participants. Each group dealt with a particular theme
and challenges related to it that were identified in the regional seminar-discussion (on the 7th
October 2013). The task for the groups was to seek specific solutions to the identified challenges.
38
Summary of the outcomes of the discussion
Theme
of the
discussion
Main challenges
(according to the
outcomes of the
discussion on
07/10/2013)
The proposed solutions
Job opportunities in the
region
• The support system of the local government for purchase of
lodging in the rural area (guarantee, loan provision)
• Infrastructure for development of remote work (Intranet,
mobility)
• The benefit system for youth employment:
- Additional points on recruiting
- Support when starting work (flats, scholarship,
material benefits)
- Systematic and adequate funding to educate young
people in entrepreneurship (formal and non-formal
education)
• Summer jobs for young people (in companies, institutions of
the local government)
• Educating employees of the local government (teachers,
employees of other institutions)
Attraction
of young
people to
regions
Leisure time activities
Existence of identity /
sense of belonging
Youth
entrepreneurship
• Unconventional offer – hobby education, non-formal
education, culture and sports
• Voluntary work
• Instructor of skating and floorball
• Technical creativity
• Campaign „Youth, come and vote!”
• Activities in career education based on the local labour
market and business environment
• Schools /community centres develop belonging/ patriotism
Availability of
resources and support
information for starting
a business
• Summarising the critical information for starting a
business and inserting it on the municipal website (in an
understandable language for inhabitants)
Lack of competences
needed for starting and
running a business
• Providing vocational guidance
Institutional support
(especially that of a
local government) to
youth entrepreneurship
• Creating cooperation for support of youth entrepreneurship
between:
- The local government
- The state revenue service
- Business incubators
- Youth centres of Gulbene county
39
Cooperation between
the local government,
education institutions
and the labour market
(entrepreneurs)
Youth
employment
The need for support
programmes for young
people on issues of the
career choice
• Career days, Shadow days (organise more)
• Provide an opportunity to get acquainted with the real
working environment and companies
• Work placement
• Examples of positive work experience on Gulbene • website,
social networks and in local newspapers
Availability, reliability
and sustainability of the
labour market forecast
• The local government together with entrepreneurs
summarise availability, reliability and sustainability of the
labour market forecasts
• Cooperation between the local government, entrepreneurs
and NGOs
• Information available in youth centres, schools, centres of
non-governmental organisations, state employment agency
and the local government
Early career
education
developing each
individual’s
potential
Educational
system
• Identification of work placement
• Courses and training
• Counselling (by a municipal employee)
Inefficient use of the
existing resources
Uniformity and (non)
topicality of training
methods
• Career education – regular, systematic work throughout the
year:
- Development of skills needed for a career during the
learning and education process
- Business education at school
- A Career week as a culmination
• A School as a multifunctional centre
• Strategic support of the local government and projects to
schools to provide the long-term existence of the advanced
schools
• Vocationally-oriented classes
• The teacher should go along with time!
• Development of the teacher’s creativity:
- A technical base
- Two-way communication (a teacher <> a pupil <> a
parent)
5.2. Experience of regional and local seminars: LOGI-N
seminar in Ape County
On 25th October 2013 a seminar-discussion „Cooperation network to support young people
in Ape County” was held in the culture house of Gaujiena parish in Ape County. It brought together
not only the secondary school students, the future developers, but also representatives of state
40
and non-governmental organisations with the aim to find common ideas and to put forward action
plans to improve the present support system for young people. The regional seminar was attended
by 40 participants.
The seminar-discussion was intended to explore young people’s thoughts about what they
need to plan their future and their careers, therefore more than half of the participants were representatives of education institutions and youth organisations. In the first part of the seminar young
people got the information on a wide variety of support options and they acquainted with the experience of other regions, so that during the debate they could agree on the most important support
measures for young people of Ape County.
Representatives of the National Centre for Education spoke about the role of the local government to support young people emphasizing the rights and obligations of the local government as
stated in the legislation.
The representatives of the State Employment Agency Alūksne branch presented the statistics
regarding young people in Ape County. 144 young people are registered as unemployed in Aluksne
branch, of which 16 are from Ape County, and from the perspective of education most unemployed
young people in Ape County are those having secondary vocational education. Representatives of
the State Employment Service introduced a number of employment measures for the unemployed
young people.
The experts from the local government presented information about young people in the county.
The participants had the opportunity to learn about current developments in validation of nonformal and informal education in Latvia.
The representatives of the unit „Ladder” of the youth centre „Home” introduced the participants of the seminar-discussion with youth experience of Gaujiena parish telling the audience
about the activities of the organisation: event organisation, activities related to current issues in
the EU, cooperation with the students’ council at school, the kindergarten „Butterfly”, EU House in
Riga and other units.
The representatives of the Youth centre „Base” spoke about their youth work in Gulbene County.
A youth counsellor-methodologist told the audience that youth workers in Gulbene County coordi-
41
nate and liaise with all the involved parties, take responsibility of the activities and projects in the
county, consult and support youth NGOs and school Students’ Councils. Youth centres work directly
with all the young people, based on three main principles: non-formal education, voluntary work and
youth initiative. Support for young people in the region is mainly implemented through provision of
resources (free premises, equipment), and initiative of the youth in the county and competitions
„Support for young people to start a business”, voluntary work schemes and many other activities.
Non-governmental organisations are very active in Ape County, so in the course of the seminar
an insight was given into opportunities to support young people from the perspective of initiatives
and lessons learned in the Forum of Ape non-governmental organisations. The Forum was organised to promote recognition of non-governmental organisations of Ape County and to enhance
the cooperation with Ape County Council in the field of lifelong learning. The main conclusion is
that the non-governmental organisations of the county are ready to take on non-formal education
of different types and different target audiences, young people included. So NGOs are essential
partners for anybody and for any institution, their potential simply has to be used. In each parish
of Ape County there is a NGO, which focuses on educating inhabitants and ensuring development.
The idea of “ourselves should be active” ran through the whole forum. The people themselves
have to go and show interest, they have to take initiative and the most importantly they have to do
themselves. The need for a youth worker, who would deal only with youth issues and coordinate
the youth work, was emphasized in the presentation.
After the first part of the seminar the participants were divided into several groups with the
aim to take an active part in the discussion. The moderator of the seminar introducing the discussion part said „We always have time for doing but very often we forget to spend time thinking and
speaking. These three activities cannot be fulfilled without interaction, therefore this time I urge
you to pay your attention to the implementation phase of proposals, that is, how the participants
see the implementation of the proposed action, activities and processes.”
In their proposal presentations the young people expressed the desire to have informal support personnel who would work with them. And it would be good if there were several people, and
each would be responsible for a specific sector: sports, culture and other area. „We would like to
have informal support people whom we could trust, who would support us, would give us advice
42
and would help to implement the ideas”, said the representative of the unit „Ladder” of the Youth
club „Home”. The participants themselves acknowledged the need for a person who is not connected with school and who could keep an eye on them; they pointed out that the most suitable
candidate for that would be a youth affairs specialist.
The issue of premises where young people could meet in an informal atmosphere has also been
raised. „A cosy place where we could go and talk. The place which we could call as our own”, said
the young people.
The issue of adequate transport services available was also emphasized, so that young people
regardless of their place of residence in the county could attend different types of leisure activities.
Young people also considered the opportunity of getting to know more about professions in
the county as a very important issue. „We would like to attend different institutions in the county
and for some time to feel the rhythm of a real profession. In addition, our parents also have different professions and it would be useful to know about them on a wider scale”, acknowledged the
participants of the discussion.
The local workshop on 6th December continued the started theme about the youth support system in the county. 56 participants: young people, entrepreneurs, members of the local government,
educators and representatives of NGOs, took part in the workshop in the culture house of Ape.
During the first part of the seminar the participants worked in two sections: the young people
discussed the theme „Youth and Career”. Young people in an exciting way, with practical examples
and plays, obtained information of the knowledge and skills required for a career.
Conclusions:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Youth inactivity and lack of confidence;
Uniformity of interests;
Weak orientation in the information available; inability to use it;
Too high demands to the employer in combination with a low level of competence;
Uncertainty in talks with potential employers;
Lack of communication.
43
Entrepreneurs and representatives of the local government participated in the discussion
„Innovations and Challenges in Business”. The issues „Innovation Economy”, „The nature and forms
of Innovations”, „Concept of Industry „and „Creative Economy and Creative Industries” caused interest and the theme „Promotion of Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Ape county” was discussed.
Conclusions:
• Knowledge and creativity are the driving forces of the development regardless of the
size and location of the local government;
• The main risks to the country and to the county: decrease of the number of population,
the labour market disproportion;
• School teachers should be more creative;
• Attraction of young and creative staff to the education institutions of the county should
be encouraged;
• One should learn to use the European and global business proposals;
• Lack of innovative ideas, inability to think unconventionally;
• One should follow the current events in the industry and the development of technologies in the world;
• Education system in Latvia is not conducive to the training of professional employees;
• It is possible to introduce new and advanced technologies, practices and materials also
in traditional occupations;
• Convergence of the real and digital world – one should learn to use the new reality;
• The use of free niches for new business formation.
The second part of the seminar – discussion „The young – the local government – the entrepreneur. What to do?” All the participants of the seminar took part. Making use of the conclusions
drawn during the first part of the seminar, the participants discussed the development opportunities of the county, cooperation between young people, the local government and entrepreneurs,
the use of the county advantages to support young entrepreneurs and to promote youth careers.
44
Proposals:
1. To include the measures for supporting young people and promoting entrepreneurship using
the proposals expressed during the NGOs forum and the first regional seminar in the development programme of Ape county for 2014 – 2020 which is still in its development stage;
2. To supplement the SWOT analysis of the county with:
- Strengths: a large number of the self-employed people that facilitate the individual creativity and that can contribute to the development of creative industries in the county; youth
patriotism; the industrial park set up with the support of the local government; the rich
natural resources and the diverse cultural heritage;
- Weakness: the low level of business skills (fear, lack of knowledge and information);
- Opportunities: involvement in Shadow days, summer work for young people and voluntary
work, formation of training companies at schools;
- Threats: further merging of counties, disadvantaged state policy for the small counties.
3. To gather information about the resources, opportunities and needs of the county and to
improve the exchange of information.
4. To consider the use of the opportunities of art and music schools to promote interaction between the art, culture, technologies and business in the county.
5.3. LOGI-N seminars in Saldus County
Seminars-discussions „Guidance network to support young people in Saldus County” were held
in the county within the project LOGI-N. One of the seminars was organised as a youth forum on
26th October. It was attended by 178 young people, chairpersons of the local governments, members of the local Council and youth workers. Indra Rassa, the chairperson of the County Council
addressed the young people and encouraged them to participate. She said: „If you are not satisfied
with something, come with your ideas and the desire to implement these ideas. If you yourselves
made efforts and revived the idea it would add weight to it in your own and in the public eye. I wish
you to hope, believe and do to fulfil the planned.” The chairperson of the Council stressed that the
local government is open to young people’s ideas. Young people and the local government can
work together to make the county become more beautiful and nicer for all of us to live in.
After that Valdis Melderis conducted a class on creative communication in social networks. He
talked in an attractive way to young people how and why to write something in social networks.
He urged the audience to examine carefully the records in social networks and use them to build a
positive image of their own, to speak meaningfully and creatively at the same time without losing
reputation in the public eye.
After this class the young people went to the discussion groups. There were ten discussion
groups led by the members of Saldus County Council and area professionals. The most topical
discussion groups were:
45
Discussion topics
Conclusions
Opportunities for young
people in Latvia and in Saldus
county
• Identify what we have
• There is no equality in parishes (gyms) and there is lack of information
• Each person has to do something rather than wait for someone to do it
instead of us
• Job opportunities in the county
Youth entrepreneurship –
the only option for attracting
young people to Saldus
county
• Cooperation of the local government with companies and entrepreneurs
to attract young people to Saldus county
• The support from the local government for young people to start a
business
• to promote the use of the service of the business incubator
Extracurricular educational
opportunities and
development in Saldus county
• Extracurricular education as a guide for future career choices and job
search: contacts and the expanded range of interests
• circulation of information in parishes, which person to address
• What do you want? What could you do? Is it possible?
General education and
vocational education towards
a career choice
• Inefficient use of the existing resources
• Career days at education institutions
• Career education developing each individual’s potential
The started discussion for the development of the youth support system continued also in
the second seminar-discussion which took place in Saldus Children and youth Centre on 28th
November. Teachers, career counsellors, young people and their parents attended the seminar. The
seminar began with the lecture „Me and my career”, which was followed by a thematic discussion.
46
Discussion topics
Conclusions
Youth and the local
government
• Support for young professionals in the local government of the county
• A joint database for young people: summer work, work placement, jobs
• Lack of a positive example (leaders), no rotation in the institutions –loss of
quality
• Sense of belonging to their county
Employment and
entrepreneurship
• Lack of competences needed to start and carry on entrepreneurship
• A need for a professional in entrepreneuring – a bridge to information for young
people to start a business
• A section on employment issues on the youth website
Career – yesterday,
today, and tomorrow?
• Job opportunities in their profession
• Career education – regular and systematic work
• Parental participation in the process of a career choice
References:
^ I was in the working group on the topic whether to choose vocational or general education.
We realised that vocational education has a lot of advantages.
^ The topic of our group was voluntary work and projects in Saldus County. In my opinion,
voluntary work should be developed in the county as it may open up opportunities for students’ work.
^ Now I mostly reside in Jelgava because I do not have work in Saldus County. If I had, then I
would live and work here, I would go in for my hobby – running.
^ I live in the countryside and the topics of the forum are very important to me. I learned new
information about the forestry; it will be useful to me. I am a fan of Valdis Melders and I liked
his lecture very much. I think that he should meet young people from Kurzeme more often.
We should have more such events where young people meet and get to know one another,
and there could be also camps.
^ The local government of the county should think more about how to attract young people so
that after graduation of a university they returned back to their county.
^ There is lack of information what professions are needed for the companies of the county.
6. Validation of non-formal and informal learning
in Latvia: opportunities for young people
To open up all the opportunities for young people to get a job or to continue their education at
a given time, it is essential that a young person can prove and certify the skills, abilities, knowledge
and talent he has at this point. Regulatory enactments of the Republic of Latvia provide for the
possibility to recognize formally knowledge and skills that are acquired in self-education, work and
during life. Currently, formal education institutions work to introduce and use validation mechanisms. Many education institutions offer validation opportunities. Though it should be taken into
consideration that validation means a lot more than the offer of formal education institutions. First,
it is connected with the awareness of people of their skills, their ability to identify and skills and to
record them. This is something young people need to learn, and it imposes responsibilities on the
developers of the youth support network and lifelong guidance system.
Validation of non-formal and informal learning outcomes (skills, knowledge, and competences)
covers a broad range of actions: confirmation of particular skills or abilities at any stage of life, obtaining a professional qualification, certifying acquisition of formal education, or exemption from
formal education programmes if they are acquired independently. A large part of young people do
47
not know about these possibilities or they do not realise the importance of validation of their skills.
This is particularly the case of young people in risk groups: they are unemployed or they have left
school early, they do not study nor work anywhere.
Examples. The above mentioned is illustrated by the following examples.
Example 1. A young person enters a vocational school as a first year student in the field in
which he has worked for several years and now he has decided to get formal education. At present,
when there is a fierce competition between education institutions, the school is interested in attracting each student for a longer period of time. This young person is not being informed about
the formal recognition of the knowledge and skills acquired in non-formal and informal education,
of the possibility to obtain qualification based on the work experience, but he is taken into the
vocational school for a full period of studies. The young person drops out of the school during his
third or fourth year of studies, because he gets into a situation when he has to choose between
education and work. The new specialist continues working in his profession which he has acquired
on a high level, but he does not have an appropriate document certifying his qualification. It can
affect the young person’s salary and increase the risk of being made redundant.
Example 2. A young girl goes to secondary school. Her hobby is photography, and she alongside her studies at school attends photography classes at the local children and youth centre.
During her last school year she also obtains a driving licence. She wants to become a journalist
and takes the entrance examinations at the university. But she fails the contest and does not enter
the university. She returns back to her native town and looks for work, but she is unable to get a
job because she does not have any work experience. After discussions with a career counsellor
at the local government the girl gets to know that a local county newspaper is looking for a photo
reporter. The young girl goes to the manager of the photography group and asks him to certify
her skills in photography by a reference or a certificate. Then she prepares a portfolio of her best
photographies and requests a meeting with an editor of the local newspaper. The editor of the
newspaper agrees to hire the young girl for a probation period taking into consideration that her
48
skills in photography were certified by a recognised photographer and the fact that she has a driving licence and can travel around the region.
People who should be able to provide information for young people on the recognition
opportunities:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Career counsellors in local governments, schools and the State Employment Agency (SEA);
Youth affairs specialists and youth workers;
Educators, employees of formal and non-formal education institutions;
Leaders and employees of the youth and children centres;
Organisers of youth voluntary work;
Heads of education institutions, lifelong learning coordinators in the region, etc.;
Human resources professionals in companies and institutions.
The responsibility of the people involved in the youth support system and lifelong career support
system is to be knowledgeable about the issues on recognition of non-formal and informal education, their duty is to keep up with the information on the European, Latvian and regional scale.
What you should know about the system and opportunities of recognition to consult the
young people:
• Understanding of what formal, non-formal and informal education is and what the learning
outcomes are; understanding of how the recognition (validation) of the learning outcomes
can operate in a variety of contexts;
Information can be found in:
- publication „Validation of non-formal and informal learning outcomes in Latvia”
- The EU Council Recommendations on validation of non-formal and informal learning.
• Validation opportunities in elementary education and general education:
Young people, who have not finished elementary education or general education at school, can get it via self-education and then having passed the examinations they can get a
document certifying their education.
Information can be obtained from:
- secondary schools;
- publication „Validation of non-formal and informal learning outcomes in Latvia”
• Validation opportunities for getting a professional qualification:
Professional competence (which can be obtained on the basis of work experience and
self-education) is assessed during the professional qualification examination, which can
49
be taken at the accredited education institutions or examination centres that have received the delegation from the State Service of Education Quality. At present it is possible
to assess and recognize the professional competence in more than 100 qualifications.
Before taking the examination it is possible to get consultation.
- www.ikvd.gov.lv
- vocational education institutions, competence centres of vocational education.
• Validation opportunities in higher education:
Information can be obtained from the specific higher education institutions, which offer
study programmes and training courses of interest to young people.
•
Validation opportunities in international youth projects „Youthpass”.
- www.jaunatne.gov.lv
- www.youthpass.eu
• Validation of any skills or talents acquired in non-formal education and hobby education.
Certificates or any other validation of attending courses or interest clubs. Certificates
having description and assessment of knowledge or skills. Attestation of participation in
competitions, events, conferences, training or experience exchange visits. A lot of nonformal education institutions can assess the skills or knowledge acquired elsewhere and
issue a certificate or an attestation of the knowledge / skill level.
• Validation of youth voluntary work
Youth voluntary work can be performed in Latvia or in many other countries of the world.
Voluntary work may be the first work experience for a young person. A certificate or a
reference could help in the search of paid work.
• Validation of any work experience
After any short-term work it is advised to ask a reference to the employer or a client.
• Building a portfolio of lifelong knowledge, skills and experience.
A person collects documents certifying their skills, knowledge and experience (references, certificates of appreciation, diplomas, certificates, attestations, etc.) starting from
their childhood or school years, and he/she continues to do that throughout their lives.
The portfolio can include evidence of specific skills, such as publications in the press or
video materials, etc.
Parents, teachers and career counsellors should encourage young people to do so.
50
• The use of the recognition tools developed by the EU:
„Europass”, ECVET, ECTS etc.
These tools open the options to validate the acquired skills and knowledge not only in their
own country but all over Europe (in other European countries).
- www.europass.lv
- the specific education institution about the opportunities to use ECVET or ECTS
(European system of credit allocation and transfer in vocational and higher education).
How to promote the development and use of the recognition system in the county
• Teachers working in hobby education, youth and children centres have the opportunity to
teach young people to be aware of their skills and to record them.
It is essential that the leaders and organisers of clubs, courses, classes and events do not
forget to issue the documents (certificates, certificates of appreciation, etc.). The leaders
of hobby education have to make it the regular practice and policy of their institutions;
• In most cases the certificates reflecting the number of attended hours not the acquired
51
skills or knowledge are issued on finishing non-formal education courses. The leaders
of non-formal education and courses should think how to reflect the knowledge and
skills acquired by the course participants in the certificates;
• Information about validation opportunities has to be included in career counselling and
vocational guidance meant for young people;
• To promote and publish information about validation opportunities wherever the information is provided to assist young people, for example, together with information on
job opportunities, education opportunities, etc.;
• To publish this information and offer it to young people the participants of the youth
support system themselves (youth affair professionals, career counsellors, leaders of
hobby education and youth centres) have to collect such information regularly, to prepare handouts and to show interest in examples of good practice.
So far, a lot of work in the development of the recognition system has been done through EU
project funding. CredNet project (www.crednetmanager.eu) is developing a framework for establishing a common framework for the assessment and recognition of those management skills that
are acquired through work and in self-education. The project will result in a self-assessment tool
and content of e-learning environment which might be used by young people with management
experience and skills acquired in non-formal settings, for example in community and voluntary
work. Val-Net project gave a significant contribution to promoting and describing the recognition
system of non-formal and informal learning in Latvia. As a result of it an informal cooperation network for sharing information on recognition matters has been formed and international contacts
have been established.
The NGO „Val-Net: a co-operation network for recognition of non-formal and informal education” was established in 2013. Its aims are to promote development of the validation system
and exchange of the examples of best practices in the field of recognition in Latvia and Europe.
Extensive information about the validation policy and practice in Europe and Latvia can be found
on the website www.valnetlatvija.eu
52
Literary Sources:
• Publications of ELGPN (The European Lifelong Guidance Policy Network):
http://viaa.gov.lv/lat/karjeras_atbalsts/emkapt_sadala/emkapt_publikacijas/
• Garjāne I., Žubule L., Gudakovska N. Re, kur formula? Rokasgrāmata jauniešu līdzdalības
veicināšanai, 2012
• Participation ladder
http://www.jaunatne.gov.lv/sites/default/files/web/Jaunatne_darbiba/Info_materiali/
Brosuras/2012/41152_jaunatne_paraleles_web.pdf
• Methods in non-formal education: Materials prepared by the „Agency of International
Programmes for Youth” (2009) http://www.izglitiba-kultura.lv/system/application/uploads/
file/metodiskie_materiali/neformalas_izglitibas_metodes.pdf
• Career support services for young people offered by the State Employment Agency http://
eprasmes.lv/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Inese-Markevica.pdf
• Validation of non-formal and informal learning outcomes in Latvia. The issue by Val-Net
project, Riga, 2013
http://www.valnetlatvija.eu/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/ValNet-e-gramata2.pdf
• The European Union Council Recommendations on validation of non-formal and informal
learning
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:C:2012:398:0001:0005:LV:PDF
• Guidance in Education – a New Guidance System in Denmark, Danish Ministry of Education,
2004.
• OECD Handbook „Career Guidance and Public Policy: Bridging the Gap”, OECD, 2004.
• the website of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Latvia:
http://izm.izm.gov.lv/nozares-politika/jaunatne.html
• The website of the Agency of International Programmes for Youth: http://jaunatne.gov.lv/
• the website of the State Service of Education Quality:
http://ikvd.gov.lv/arpus-formala-izglitiba/
• Portal www.jaunatneslietas.lv
• Home page www.valnetlatvija.eu
• the website of the State Education Development Agency:
http://viaa.gov.lv/lat/karjeras_atbalsts/info_tiklu_sadalas/
• the website of the National Centre for Education: http://visc.gov.lv/intizglitiba/info.shtml
53
Abstract of the methodological material „Let’s Join Hands”
Methodological material „Let us join our hands” was developed within the project LOGI-N. The
aim of the material is to show that the youth guidance system is made as an informal guidance
network of many parties, in which the state and local government institutions, education institutions, non-governmental organisations, entrepreneurs and employers, youth organisations and
individuals are involved.
The material describes youth work in Ape, Gulbene and Saldus counties, shares best practices
of youth guidance networks and stakeholder cooperation examples for youth support. It also gives
an overview of youth policy Europe and in Latvia and information about validation of non-formal
and informal learning in Latvia.
The material is intended for youth specialists, youth employment coordinators, youth workers,
representatives of the guidance system, municipal representatives, politicians and anyone who
cares about the young people’s quality of life in local governments. The title „Let’s Join Hands!” is
an invitation to share information and look for joint solutions, and to offer opportunities to young
people who are in search of their way. Methodological material will be printed in English and in
Latvian and it will be distributed in Latvia and the EU and electronically on the websites of the
project LOGI-N partners.
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let`s join hands

Transcription

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