Riots and things

Interesting articles about the reasoning behind the rioting last year, and if anything really changes.

Have a look at:

'The riots haven't changed a thing'    
       
As an official report into the 2011 London riots is released, an angry, troubled generation is being ignored.
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2012/03/2012328121227451432.html?utm_content=automateplus&utm_campaign=Trial6&utm_source=SocialFlow&u

'Reading the Riots'

Investigating England's summer of disorder
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/series/reading-the-riots

'What's the causes behind the riots?'

One man's opinion
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/aug/11/london-riots-davidcameron?CMP=twt_gu

Excerpt from a blog during Birmingham riots

http://birminghamriots2011.tumblr.com/post/8743178376/email-submission-dudley-road-on-wilson-green 

What resources do you use for your Urban Youth Work?

My organization use resources like first: u need youth who is wiling to participate how?

1.Communication
2.Motivation,
3 Involving on the programs and continue to work with them not stop only when u have project.
4. Give them opportunity to express them self.
5. To know the problematic in the urban community where they from and to get knowledge how to involve  them.
6.Focus groups with the youth to know what they want,what is real problems ,how to resolve and working together.
7. Work together on the youth strategic,action youth plan.
8.Diversity youth to see to involve from all ethnics  groups  because in Balcan country has different ethnic.
9.Youth Exchange
10.Use youth tools

Elez Bislim
SUMNAL–Association for development of the Roma community in  Macedonia
Secreter and Coordinator program for creative development of children and young people
str:Maksud Sadik bb Skopje-Topaana 1000 Republic of Macedonia
Office tel:+389 22 611 297,Fax:+389 22 611 295,Mob:+389 70 552 068
elez.blslim@sumnal.org

Some Funding Opportunities

A few links to funding opportunities for youth-related projects:

Europe for Citizens programme:
http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/citizenship/funding/2012/index_en.php

 Youth in Action programme:
http://ec.europa.eu/youth/youth-in-action-programme/overview_en.htm

Dalston - my urban environment

I’m looking forward to the Urban Solutions Seminar next week, in anticipation I took my camera out to capture some pictures of my local landscape.

I live in Dalston (Hackney) in London. I’ve lived here for 11 years. Dalston has a mixed reputation. It’s known for gang crime, socialism and recently fashion and art. It’s predominantly African and Turkish.

Dalston is currently undergoing regeneration, some would say gentrification, house prices have sky-rocketed and it has a vast array of new facilities. It’s also the home of several dynamic youth projects.

Some of the young people in this area could be considered disadvantaged, but then who defines who is disadavantaged? About five years ago I saw an African mother pulling her two young sons (12 - 13 years old) to the window of an estate agent which advertised local properties. She pointed at her sons and said: 'read that!', the boys began to read '...this beautiful Georgian property in the sought after neighbourhood of Hackney, close to the park and many facilities...', afterwards she turned and shouted 'and you tell me we live in the ghetto!!'.

What resources do you use for your Urban Youth Work?

SALTO Inclusion and SALTO Cultural Diversity are two European resource centres that create international opportunities for young people, who face a few extra challenges compared to their peers.

Over the years we have developed some practical youth work resources that explore the use of international mobility programmes for young people with fewer opportunities. You can find them at:

But we would also like to know what resources YOU find useful for your urban youth work?

Post them to this blog by sending an email to urbansolutions@posterous.com – your email will be converted into a blog post automatically. Try.

Welcome to the Urban Solutions Website!

Welcome

This site is a work-in-progress collaborative site for the Salto Youth "Urban Solutions Seminar" - an exploration of the social challenges in urban areas and how to overcome those.

by 'collaborative site' we mean that it is being put together by the attendees, facilitators and the social media team of Steve and Ben (this is Steve writing this). 

If you're going to be there, you're invited to start posting now - thoughts on the situation where you are, useful resources, your hopes for the seminar itself, an introduction to your work. Anything that will help us all to 'hit the ground running' when we meet up in Birmingham in a few days time. You'll have had an email outlining how the social media side of things works, and how to submit to this blog (if in doubt, just send your post to urbansolutions@posterous.com and the subject line will become the title, with any photos you attach being automatically embedded without you needing any web programming skills. 

If you're a twitterer, the hashtag is #UrbSol - please use it, and hopefully we'll all get way more out of the seminar thanks to these deeper connections. 

Got any questions? Stick 'em in the comments below. 

Study Centre of Pärnu Oldtown School, Estonia

Dear friends,

Here is a small description of our work at Study Centre. I hope it is possible to use in blog.
See you soon,

Malle Shalda

The Study Centre of Pärnu Oldtown School, Estonia

The Study Centre of Pärnu Oldtown School was founded three and a half years ago. 

The purpose of the centre is to help the students of Pärnu and Pärnu county who have faced serious difficulties in their studies at ordinary school. Our Study Centre supports them in the process to come back to normal schoollife. The teachers do a lot in order to raise the students’ self - esteem, motivation and create a good atmosphere for successful study process.

The problems our students have met are very different, starting with social problems and finishing with different syndroms - autism, aspergers.

We started with four students, but now there are 24 students at our Study Centre. All the students need individual treatment and approach, friendly and supporting attitude, interesting and effective study process.

The most important achievement of our teachers’ team is that all of our students like to come to school and they do not miss the school without serious reasons.

The students feel themselves at school almost as at home. They study in small groups (from two up to four students in the group), in breaks they can have a cup of tea, a slice of bread, they can play basketball or football at the sporthall or have a nice talk with their teachers or fellow students. Our classrooms are small and cosy. The atmosphere of the centre supports the positive development of our students.

Most families of the students do not have sufficient economy to pay for their hobbies and entertainment, therefore we are eager to organise them free trips, nice entertainments in SPAs and other events as much as possible. We visit theatre performances, different exhibitions and museums. It has become a part of our study process.

Our purpose is to give our students more self-confidence and make their life warmer, friendlier and  happier. We all like our job very much.