Inspirational Study Visit - Services for youth in NEET situation in Finland

This study visit will give the participants an overview of different services for NEETs (young people not in employment, education, or training), including services of municipal youth work and different NGOs in Finland. Visits will work as inspiration for participants to develop their own services and practices and build an international network. The study visit takes place in the city of Tampere, Finland.

Aims and objectives:

The first aim of the study visit is to get familiar with good practices in how to work with NEET-youngsters. During the visit participants will get an overall picture how the services are organized and what kind of methods are used in everyday work with NEETs. Both municipality and NGO based services are being showcased during the study visit, some focusing more on outreach youthwork, some on coaching/mentoring and individual or group support activities. Places to visit are for example City of Tampere Youth Services (municipal services), Vamos (NGO) and Siltavalmennus (NGO).

Another aim of this study visit is peer sharing. Participants are also invited to share their work, practices, and methods related to work with NEET.  This gives participants opportunity to learn from each other and an arena to present their own practices.

Third aim is to encourage participants to create and build partnerships and learn how European Youth Programmes can be used in youth work.  The goal is to recognize potential tools from European Youth Programmes (Erasmus+ and European Solidarity Corps) and even find suitable partners for future projects.

Participants:

This study visit is targeted for representatives from NGOs and municipalities that offer services for NEET youngsters. This study visit benefits the most those who work directly with this target group or who oversee development of services for NEETs. Participants should be interested in creating projects under European Youth Programmes (Erasmus+ and/or European Solidarity Corps), but there is no need to have previous experience from them.  It is possible (but not obligatory) to apply with a co-worker from the same organization. Working language is English, so at least one person from the same organization needs to be fluent in English.

This study visit is coordinated by the NEET strand of Strategic Partnership for Inclusion and therefore we will give priority for participants who are coming from countries that belong to the SPI NEET. These countries are: 

Latvia, Estonia, Finland, Sweden, Austria, Belgium (Flanders-region), Portugal, Italy, Spain, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Romania and Denmark.

Applicants from other Programme countries can still apply, but the priority will be given to applicants who reside in one of the countries listed above.

Safety and Covid-19:

In this event, we follow the principles of a safer space. We strive to ensure that everyone is met as their own self and that no one has to fear discrimination or harassment. We want you to respect the same principle.

We are closely monitoring the situation with Covid-19 and the Russian attack to Ukraine and take consider to all measures for the safeness for participants. Read more, https://um.fi/entering-finland-and-travelling-abroad.  

In order to apply you should familiarize yourself with the Covid-19 rules when traveling to Finland. Note that the rules might change before the event. It is recommended to apply / participate in the event only if you are fully vaccinated with a vaccine that is approved in Finland or if you have a certificate of recovering from Covid -19 in less than 6 months from entering the country.

Link to the guidelines of the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare: https://thl.fi/en/web/infectious-diseases-and-vaccinations/what-s-new/coronavirus-covid-19-latest-updates/travel-and-the-coronavirus-pandemic

Accessible and sustainable:

Our activities are accessible to people with different abilities. If you need a support person, accessible room and transport or supporting tools, we will provide it for you. You can tell us your needs in beforehand so that we can be ready.

We take sustainability in consideration where we can. Since most participants have to fly over the sea to Finland, we encourage you to travel on land within Finland. We also encourage you to contact your own national agency to find out how they support low-emission travelling to activities abroad.

We provide plant-based meals, or use locally grown and produced foods, as much as possible. We also respect the diets and food allergies of all participants.

Programme:

Draft of the study visit programme can be found in the attachment. Note, that arrival will be on Mon 9th January and departure on Fri 13th January. Also note that there might be minor changes to the contents of the programme.