Abstracts Political Science

Nuorten työpaja : osallisuutta omaan elämään

by Pekka Karjalainen

The aim of this evaluation study is to produce a comprehensive view of a recently started workshop project of young people. It is based on local partnership and new practices. The workshop started its operation in August 1997 in Korso, in the city of Vantaa. Moreover, in a workshop of citizens, there have been concerted efforts to generate potential for development by local organisations, inhabitants and authorities. There is a common conception that the formation of social networks and co-operation also further possibilities of a single young working in the workshop. The most essential aims for young people working in the workshop are: 1) to support the planning of their own lives and, 2) to train them to work on a project basis. Different clubs for children, the managing of an adventure track and the editing of a regional newspaper are the major forms of workshop activity. The workshop organises in co-operation with other agents also several local events and projects. In evaluating the workshop of citizens, the related processes of progress and innovative traits have been located. Furthermore, monitoring and follow-up methods have been created. The workshop is evaluated in the following dimensions: implementation, outcomes and effectiveness. User-based orientation is involved in the managing of the project and in the development of learning processes. The point of view of utility comprises both the field of workshops as a whole and local project-oriented activities. It is assumed that this evaluation benefits the work of leaders operating in workshops. In the same way, positive effects might be seen in the directedness of young people, in the plans made by those in charge of workshops and, in the local partnership network. There must also be the assumption that a study increases theoretical knowledge of its object. The evaluation is realised as a qualitative evaluation research. Methodically this study can be characterised as an amalgamation of program evaluation, case-study tradition and action research. By developing ethnographic evaluation, it is striven for producing thick description of the domain under study. As to the outcomes of the workshop project, it can be said that the ideas concerning of a workshop of citizens have been obtained quite well. During its first year of operation the workshop has been able to create a well-functioning network. This network has increased possibilities for action of the workshop and the young people of Korso. The workshop has assumed the role of a resource center, an organiser of different plans and a general meeting place. It has been possible to meet youngsters in the workshop all-inclusively and to tailor them convenient possibilities for future. In this sense, action has followed the so-called path-wise thinking. In relation to effectiveness, there is evidence that during the workshop period, the youngsters were more capable of controlling and planning their lives. In addition. they were more goal oriented as well. When considering the future of a workshop of…