POJAT

POJAT is an umbrella organisation in Tyrol for Professional Youth Work (eg youth centers, youth clubs, youth streetwork,...). There are more than 80 organisations working in the field of professional open youth work in Tyrol with approx. 240 employed youth workers. Our aim is to support, to develop and to professionalize the field of Youth Work. Our main target group are the youth workers, next to the youngsters, the politicians of municipalities and local communities, the people working in adminstration and the general public. We organise meetings, workshops, trainings, events,... in order to create and develop a sustainable network across Tyrol in which the youth workers can gain professionality. One of the most important meetings are regulare Tyrol-wide POJAT Conferences on different topics with more than 60 participating youth workers. Our yearly offered training course for new beginners in Youth Work helps them to start their job profoundly and brings quality support to the youth centers. We support muncipalities in Tyrol to involve young people and build structures to achieve continous participation on a local level. Our main methods are surveys with questionnaires, youth hearings, future workshops and meetings with youngsters and local politicians and many more. We are part of the Austrian-wide assistance program "Jugendcoaching" in which we support and accompany young people to their first appointment and inform them about further support programs so they can make experiences in the world of work and get a report with recommendations for their future.