The managers of the youth centres and the youth specialists from LPAs went for a study visit to Estonia, which was organized in partnership with the Estonian Youth Work Centre and aimed to develop a learning and communication platform between the youth specialists and workers from the Republic of Moldova and those from Estonia in order to exchange experience and good practices regarding the activity of the youth centres in both countries.

Participants were informed about youth policy from Estonia, about the institutional set-up and structure of youth work and programs from Estonia.

At the same time, the group from the Republic of Moldova visited the Faculty of Youth Work of Tallinn University where they learned more about the system of initial training of youth workers, the system of certification and recognition of their professional skills, and about the continuous professional development of youth workers. The members of the group also attended a lesson at the Faculty during which they interacted with future youth workers from Estonia.

The members of our delegation had a major interest in the visits they paid to the Youth Centres from Tallinn and Tartu regions (8 youth centres) where they were able to learn about the programs, types of services provided to young people, and about the initiatives and projects implemented by these centres.

‘Estonia's experience in the development of youth centres and of programs and services focused on the needs of young people and their interests is an important source of inspiration and an example of good practice. We will take over interesting examples of developing mobile youth work, as well as ideas of civic engagement of young people by directly supporting their initiatives’, Alina Darangiu, director of Straseni District Youth Centre.

The youth workers from Moldova had the opportunity to learn directly from the experience of their Estonian peers, they asked questions and spoke about methods and examples of working with young people. The youth centres they visited presented tools for the assessment of youth services and programs and know-how for the national context of the Republic of Moldova – mobile youth work.

‘We definitely obtained positive and beneficial experiences, which will contribute to our personal and professional development, but also to the implementation of youth programs. In Estonia, young people are open to change and are proactive. The youth worker is a key stakeholder in the life of young people, the person who supports the active participation of young people in the public life and helps them overcome the difficulties they face on the labor market’, mentioned Ludmila Blaj, Youth Specialist at the Division of Youth, Sports and Public Relations under the Education, Youth and Sports Department of Balti municipality.

Consequent to the study visits, youth centres will improve the quality of the services they provide, particularly the information and participation services, as well as the mobile youth work in order to reach the most vulnerable groups of young people.

‘We are very happy that youth workers from our country managed to visit Estonia, a state with which we have a common history, a similar vision and approach regarding the development of youth policies, where youth centres operate almost in the same way as in our country and where the trends in youth work development and professional training of youth workers are similar to the ones established in the Republic of Moldova’, mentioned Ion Donea, Project Manager, UNFPA Moldova.

The study visit took place during 2-6 March 2020 and involved 11 participants from all the regions of the country. Also, another group of participants went to Romania for a study visit in 2019. They visited Timis County Youth Foundation (FITT), an organization that obtained the Council of Europe Quality Label for Youth Centres.

The study visit is part of the activities carried out by the Joint Fund for Developing Youth Centres and Strengthened Participation and Civic Engagement of Young People in the Republic of Moldova, set up by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Research, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation and the United Nations Population Fund.

For details please contact Irina Dragutanu, Communication Assistant of the Joint Fund for Developing Youth Centres and Strengthened Participation and Civic Engagement of Young People in the Republic of Moldova, set up by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Research, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation and the United Nations Population Fund. Tel.069694246, dragutanu@unfpa.org