Equestrian and Youth Center Škatlica

Located in rural north-eastern Slovenija, we run a small equestrian youth center that explores how horses can contribute to the mental and physical well being of young people while keeping the welfare of our horse and human herd a priority. Škatlica ('Little box') is a small non-governmental and non-profit organization, established in 2018. The core of our ethos is sustainability; we strive towards sustainable communities – those that are empowered to take care of themselves, the individuals within them, and the world around them. We believe that the world can only be well if each individual within it has ensured wellbeing, so we explore methods for empowerment and support of individuals. Our main purpose is the empowerment of youth with the skills they need to become independent, decisive, courageous, and curious adults, and to provide opportunities for such empowerment to vulnerable and underprivileged groups of youth. Our core values are community and resilience building, horse-centered approaches, and the principles of holistic and sustainable development of the rural environment. To achieve this mission, we provided free online psychotherapeutic support for young people in distress during the COVID-19 epidemic as part of the program "I Dare (to trust myself)," and in 2021 we began renovating an old, abandoned property (a former sawmill) in Prlekija, a rural and geographically isolated region in northeastern Slovenia. Our vision is to develop a rural community center for the local community of Prlekija, explore how the narrative of sustainable development can fit within the equestrian sector in theory and practice, and focus particularly on researching the therapeutic effect of animals - horses - on young people facing difficulties. A herd of horses supports us in implementing various activities for young people, and in the old sawmill, we are renovating and opening a youth center which will serve as a safe and accessible space for the local young people to use in their free time. With the organisation of various activities and workshops, we support young people to gain non-formal learning experiences, encourage volunteer work and community building among local youth. Our main target group are young people who, in one way or another, do not have equal access to activities that have the greatest impact precisely on underprivileged youth; young people from remote areas, young people facing economic difficulties, young people facing various addictions, young people from dysfunctional families, etc. In the two years of our work in Prlekija, Škatlica has become a recognizable and active local organization, expanding its influence through media acknowledgment, participation in local events, and successful partnerships with local municipalities, elementary schools, and other equestrian associations. We organise activities with horses for the local youth, such as workshops with experts in the field of equestrianism from all over Slovenia, equestrian trips, horseback riding, etc. Starting in the autumn of 2024, we will be developing and implementing equine-assisted learning (EAL) activities for vulnerable groups of young people, supporting their personal growth by teaching social, emotional and life skills through horsemanship. Community is important to us; we host intergenerational picnics for the local community, and and we firmly believe in the transformative power of volunteering on both the and the communities, so we host offer volunteering experiences to both local and international young volunteers in the renovation of the farm & work with the horses and organise intercultural workshops with international volunteers (hosted within the Workaway platform, soon also ESC programs). Within the solidarity project ‚Youth Center Škatlica', we are developing a community space with a group of young people in the old sawmill on the farm, designed according to the wishes of young people. The center will offer space for various activities organised by young people, and special attention in the project is given to including young people from dysfunctional or socially vulnerable families and those facing issues such as drug and alcohol abuse, with the desire to include these young people and offer them an opportunity for skill development and improvement of their position in the community.