Children, Youth and Environments

Abstract:

This report explores the role of mobile youth work for community development in one of the most deprived neighborhoods of the Slovak capital, Bratislava. Two youth programs are reviewed: an educational program for pre-school age children and a participatory video project by youth between 15 and 20. In both cases, we focus on how the programs reflected and reacted to the needs of the community, how they drew from local resources, their politics of participation, and their noticeable impact on the community. In the final section, we focus on integregation in community work—i.e., the integrative involvement of children and youth of all ages in projects that are sensitive to the young people's individual needs and capacities—and on the role of place in this process.