The Bob Institute

The Bob Institute is a NGO in the field of youth work, with the aim to provide conditions for development autonomy of young people, increase the active participation of young people in society and encourage them to think critically. In short, we support young people in realizing their own potential! The Bob Institute was founded in 2007. Its mission is to "Ensure active participation in society, especially those who do not have a public voice or whose voice is not heard. "There are currently 13 full-time employees (two are included in the public works program), majority of them have national vocational qualification for a youth worker and long years of experience. Most employees have university education in social sciences: social pedagogy, andragogy, sociology, social work, international relations and philosophy; others have education in economics, textile engineering and chemical engineering. Main objecties of Zavod Bob are: • providing space and content for creative expression and leisure time of young people; • providing support to young people with realizing their own potentials; • implementation of activities for the development of critical thinking and active participation in society (active citizenship); • provide support programs to facilitate the transition from the education system to the labor market (to employment); • providing conditions for equal access to activities for all young people; • capacity building for digital (youth) work, critical evaluation and use of online (digital) tools. The Bob Institute has managed to gain an important role in the non-governmanetal sphere of youth work (with main activities as: street-based youth work and field work, activities of youth centers with an emphasis on creative leisure time and activities of the Livada LAB – outdoor learning polygon). Through its activities, the Bob Institute has gradually developed methodologies for field work, especially street-based youth in Ljubljana - together with our partners we have built (now coordinate) a strong network of organizations that carry out street-based youth work (Mreža Mlada street). Today, in addition to coordination of the network, we also provide training and pass on good practices to youth organizations throughout Slovenia. By participating in international projects, we have established ourselves as experts in street-based youth work and we are becoming more and more recognized in Europe as well. So this year we took over the co-coordination in the global network of street workers DYNAMO for area of Europe. In partnership with the City of Ljubljana and the Biotechnical Faculty, the Bob Institute has set up the first outdoor learning polygon, which is co-created by young people. Today it is managed with youngsters and given conten are related to nature protection and environmental awareness. The projects we implement with the support of Erasmus+ extend to almost all areas of key actions, enrich the coherence and transfer of good practices from different European einvironments and strengthen the skills of youth workers. At the same time over partnerships, we are developing new methodological approaches and going beyond national action. There are two youth centers within the Bob Institute. the Ulca Youth Center, whose main activity is promotion, and operating on the principles of hip-hop culture, represented by four elements: brakaking, graffiti, rap and DJing. Activities of Bob Youth Center are based in non-formal education - a learning process based on the needs of the participants, where young people evaluate learning outcomes (acquired competencies) through real experience and strengthen critical thinking. Main educational topics are: active citizenship, all current social issues, from the climate crisis to the situations of young people in today's society, gender equality, youth employability etc. MC Bob and MC ULCA are active partners of the national network of youth centers MaMa and from 2017 also part of the Network