ESC: MIKK STREET PART 5

Mladinski informativni in kulturni klub Murska Sobota (MIKK Murska Sobota) is a youth center, a place where young people can autonomously explore their creativity, develop critical thinking and participate in the creation of the programme. MIKK Murska Sobota is a public institution established in 1996 by the Municipality of Murska Sobota with the aim of offering young people a place to hang out and enjoy in activities intended for them as a specific target group. The seat of MIKK Murska Sobota has been in the premises of Castle Murska Sobota at Trubarjev drevored 4 in Murska Sobota since 2006. Headquarters of MIKK Murska Sobota houses the administration premises, the MIKK café with the club space, the MIKK gallery and the lecture hall. Since 2002, the Municipality of Murska Sobota has left the Park shelter on Štefan Kovača Street in Murska Sobota to the MIKK. The shelter for 100 people is used for the activities of preparing and conducting music workshops and rehearsals of local music groups. The mission of MIKK is the permanent and uninterrupted implementation of cultural and information activities for young people in the Municipality of Murska Sobota and in the wider region of Pomurje in the fields of culture, non-formal education, information and counseling and entertainment activities. Through its year-round activities, MIKK ensures the organization of concert cycles and festivals; regular identification of the needs and interests of young people; design and implementation of regular programs, activities and projects to meet identified needs and interests of young people; encouraging and assisting young people in preparing and implementing their own independent programs and activities; networking and cooperating with organizations working in the field of youth work in the wider local environment; coordinating and promoting youth work in the region; support for formal and informal groups and organizations in implementing youth programs in their local environment. MIKK Murska Sobota is an indispensable link in the chain of public institutions of the municipality, acting in the interest of the local community, especially young people in the field of youth, cultural activities, active citizenship and youth participaton, multimedia and volunteering. From the beginning of its operation until today, MIKK Murska Sobota has positioned itself as proponent of alternative (youth)culture, non-formal education and a place of gathering for people from all environments. Today, MIKK places its activities in the segment of modern, urban and advanced culture, the foundation of which is to provide support to young people in active participation, nonformal education and in the implementation of their own projects, ideas and programs. MIKK ensures and sets as its goals: - regular identification of the needs and interests of young people; - design and implementation of regular programs, activities and projects to meet identified needs and interests; - encouraging and assisting young people in preparing and implementing their own independent programs and activities; - implementation of other programs and activities of interest to young people; - cooperating with organizations working in the field of youth work in the local community and beyond; - support for formal and informal groups in the implementation of programs with and for young people in the local environment; - other goals according to the needs of the target group. The primary target group of the organization is represented by young people aged 15 to 29, who also represent the primary group of users of the services of the youth center. Secondary target groups also include primary school children aged 6 to 14, for whom special activities are also intended during the summer and school holidays. Part of the secondary target groups are also those over 30 years of age, who are involved in activities primarily in the role of mentors to young people, thus implementing intergenerational cooperation and the transfer of knowledge and experience. The programme of MIKK Murska Sobota includes informal and nonformal education in the form of lectures, round tables on current youth issues, employment, volunteering, international youth mobility, DIY workshops, creative workshops, year-round music workshops (drumming and guitar workshop), workshops and education in the field of intermedia arts, structured dialogue with decision-makers, and an entertainment program that includes board game nights, gaming nights, table football tournaments, film evenings, karaoke nights, concerts, and stand ups.