Youth center; offers for children and young people

In addition to municipalities, the providers of youth leisure facilities can also be churches or other independent youth welfare organizations (e.g. Bavarian Red Cross, local associations). As a rule, the local youth welfare office is responsible for technical supervision.

Youth centers usually employ social education workers, social workers, educators or other educational specialists.

Youth centers offer children and young people non-binding meeting places (sometimes with games such as table tennis, billiards) and programs (e.g. discos, vacation programs, youth camps). They provide advice on typical youth problems, organize youth cultural events or offer seminars and workshops. Individual facilities often specialize in specific age and target groups.

Advice and support for self-managed youth clubs

In Erlangen, youth clubs are an integral part of open youth cultural work and important leisure venues for young people aged 16 and over. The currently 14 self-managed youth clubs are reviving a tradition in Erlangen that goes back over 40 years.

Youth clubs are self-organized and serve a sector of open youth work with their voluntary citizen commitment.

The youth clubs have always been about offering a field of action and experience for young people aged 16 and over to spend their leisure time in a way that is not structured from the outset. In doing so, young people get involved as employees for their peers and thus become multipliers for creative and social action. The employees in the clubs gain skills through group processes and ideally pass on their tried and tested knowledge from generation to generation.

The democratic, autonomous and responsible participation of young people forms the backbone of the model. It offers a real opportunity for young people to try out their own ideas, implement them, gain experience and find their own point of view through reflection and binding responsibility.

The voluntary activities in the clubs include various tasks, first and foremost the organization and implementation of open youth club events and related activities. In addition, there is the club organization and the administration of rooms, facilities, materials as well as counter and cleaning services.

The most important characteristics of voluntary youth club work are the self-organization of the activities and the self-responsibility for the activities. The city of Erlangen supports those responsible in an advisory capacity.