ESC: 6 months in Pikku-Syöte Youth Center, on the boarder of Lapland

International Youth and Camp School Center Pikku-Syöte is located in Pudasjärvi, Finland and it is a youth center that has provided a wide range of activities for youth and school children for over 20 years. The youth center is surrounded by nature and located nearby a national park which supports all year around very wide range of outdoor activities such as downhill skiing, snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, ice-fiching, hiking, canoeing, learning wilderness living skills, etc. The youth center offers educative activities for different kind of groups, mainly for children and young people but sometimes also for adult groups. With organised activities the youth center pay special attention to inclusiveness and a holistic approach to learning. All activities organised in Youth and Camp School Center Pikku-Syöte are supported by professional educators. Pikku-Syöte employes about 20 people year around and duble during high season. Pikku-Syöte also runs a hotel with over 200 beds, caravan are and a ski center. Pikku-Syöte is part of Vuolle Settlement which is a nonprofit, politically and religiously non-affiliated association established in Oulu in 1944. Over 400 trained volunteers and 300 people employed are involved in the programmes of Vuolle Settlement. Today Vuolle Settlement and it´s services have become part of 15 000 lives in Northern Ostrobothnia and Northeast Finland. Vuolle offers various types of activities catering to the needs of all age groups. Vuolle aims at providing education and learning courses to people of all age groups, youth work, voluntary activities as well as services for senior citizens and people from different cultures. In addition, Vuolle has a strong foundation to support people with difficult phases in their lives. This includes crime victim support, mediation of crimes and disputes as well as preventing violence and violent extremism. The original purpose of Vuolle was to support rehabilitation from tough times of war by offering ordinary people a chance to re-establish themselves. Vuolle is a member of the Finnish Settlement Association and part of the international settlement movement. The work Vuolle does outside of youth center Pikku-Syöte is sometimes connected to Pikku-Syöte as various groups from other parts of Vuolle work visit Pikku-Syöte for part of their programme. Vuolle all together consist of Youth Centre Pikku-Syöte, an education center in the middle of Oulu and some well-being services and Pikku-Syöte is just a small part of the work of Vuolle, but work at Pikku-Syöte is guided by the strong values that settlement work has. Pikku-Syöte is non-politic, non-religious youth centre which offers activities to all young people from anywhere asking no background of the people participating activities. More importantly our premises for the work are to create the strong sense of community and affect to an individual through that, trust to each other and ourselves and to value diversity. Pikku-Syöte youth center is also part of The Finnish Youth Centre Network that has 9 youth centers all around Finland which offer a safe and responsible environment for various camps, courses, training sessions and other events throughout the year. The youth centres in the network are Finland’s most popular school camp organiser, with an emphasis on experiential education. The youth centres also organise themed camps, nature schools and many other international youth events. Pikku-Syöte works for example in the areas of environmental education, international cooperation and Nuotta coaching together with other youth centres and the work of those areas is developed in common networks. The work in Pikku-Syöte is also strongly guided by the common values agreed with all youth centres belonging to The Finnish Youth Centre Network. The common values are to organise valuable youth work and real experiences to the participants of any activities, as well as respect for all living and respect the nature as well as close cooperation in developing the work of youth centres. For youth centre network as well as for Pikku-Syöte, one of the main works is to create opportunities for international learning spaces and educate about sustainable development. For all youth centres the main target groups of the work are very similar. Main work is with different kind of youth groups, such as school camps and for example Nuotta coaching. Nuotta coaching is supporting young people’s social and life management skills. In Pikku-Syöte nuotta-coaching is a group-based coaching sessions for young people needing social support. The nuotta-coaching gives young people a break from their daily activities, creating activities supporting everyday life and giving views for future possibilities. During the training session, young people can try new things and perhaps even find a new hobby for themselves. Leisure time and talking together in the evenings is important for building trust between employees and young people.