Position paper on open child and youth work

"Open child and youth work is committed to the interests and needs of all young people, for girls and boys, for young people with different sexual orientations and gender identities, different cultural and religious milieus, for young people with and without disabilities and different social classes . "

This is how the position paper of the cooperation group open child and youth work begins, which – based on a specialist conference in Mannheim 2018 – by many colleagues from practice in municipal and free sponsorship, was developed and formulated at local, state and federal level as well as science. The cooperation group for Open Child and Youth Work was founded in March 2016 in order to ensure better visibility and representation of the field, particularly at the federal level, and to create a nationwide platform for the technical discussion, discussion and further development of open child and youth work in Germany. The result of such a discussion process is the establishment of a common starting position, which is now available with the position paper and is to be understood as an invitation to further discourses.

Open child and youth work as a space for lived democracy

The goals and conditions for the success of open youth work are formulated in seven (technical) political demands: "The diverse target groups of open child and youth work need stable spatial, personnel and, for a correspondingly differentiated offer with regard to life situations, topics and (time) resources Financial resources. The possibility of being able to address different groups also opens up space for these groups to meet and can lead to a corresponding community and development of Tolerance and acceptance contribute. ”The socio-spatial dimension is also central:“ The hallmarks of successful open child and youth work are not as many offers, flagship projects or major events as possible, but the support, visibility and realization of interests and the possibility of interfering and participating in different young people People in the social area. In this sense, the focus is also on expanding appropriation and participation opportunities for young people in public space, also outside of youth institutions. Open child and youth work as part of a network and in cooperation with other actors in the social area can promote dialogue between young people and other interest groups in the social area, conflicts constructively mediate with the aim of further developing a democratic community. "

Open child and youth work as a space for lived democracy

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