Riga Youth Centre “Kaņieris” – the trusted partner and ally of young people

What is Riga Youth Centre “Kaņieris”? What one can do there? Who can come here?

Riga Youth Centre “Kaņieris” is a space of opportunities for the youth of Riga and their organisations, where they can acquire knowledge, skills and develop collaboration. The task of the Youth Centre is to create and maintain in daily life an inclusive, benevolent environment, which is open to society. The driving force of “Kaņieris” is the youth organisations of Riga, their needs and challenges to their development. “Kaņieris” team– we are the support, ensuring that young people, in the premises that are accessible here, with appropriate resources would organise their project planning, training and events, starting with a gaming evening for a couple of persons up to the major annual events of organisations, utilising all premises – the Meeting Space, the Smart Space, the Youth Office, the Cosy Space as well as the Large Hall. “Kaņieris” is situated on the bank of the Daugava River, at the beginning of Ķengarags Promenade, therefore also outdoor events can be organised, closer to nature.

When and how was this Centre created?

The idea of “Kaņieris” appeared in the cooperation between the youth organisations of Riga and the Riga City Council Education, Culture and Sports Department. The youth organisations of Riga came with an initiative for reinforcing the capacity of non-governmental organisations and developing their participatory skills, which required a modern resource and experience centre. “Kaņieris” is their springboard.

The premises of “Kaņieris”, their furnishing, technical equipment and the thematic lines of activities, starting from the idea of the centre until implementation in real life, have been embodied together with young people. Their needs were respected both in defining the functions of the Centre and its visual style, as well as in equipping the Centre together with crafts masters. Young people have been involved in every step, have mastered new skills and learned creative cooperation. “Kaņieris” was opened on 20 May 2011, and, over these years, improvements have been made in accordance with the youth’s proposals and needs. 

Looking back into the Centre’s activities, what would you mention as the most significant events, achievements?

“Kaņieris” has traditional events, which are organised annually, focusing on relevant topics and taking into account the feedback and proposals provided by the youth and people from the area of youth.
This year will see the ninth edition of the annual conference on innovations in the work with youth, which gathers people working in this area from Riga and the whole of Latvia, to enable successful transfer of experience and development of cooperation networks. As many youth organisations come to “Kaņieris”, we observe trends and listen to feedback about work with youth, as the result we see the larger picture of this area. Everything keeps changing – young people change, their wishes and challenges change, the world around us keeps changing, and the youth work must be able to follow these changes, to have appropriate offer for young people. The main purpose of the conference is to provide an opportunity for the specialists in the area to gather and share their impressions, experience as well as to identify needs and update working methods. 

“Kaņieris” cooperates with institutions of education, where not only informative events have been held but also pop up workshops have been organised, involving all young people of the school throughout the day, when at least ten youth organisations provide to students of Forms 7-12 the possibility to explore civic participation, to study voluntary work and develop their own initiatives. Whereas in autumn, young people traditionally gather in “Kaņieris” for the event “Build Yourself” to get to known the majority of active youth organisations in Riga, to engage and develop their competences in a meaningful way. 

For several years, a financing competition is announced for organisations that work with the youth in Riga, to increase their capacity. This competition is created with a special support system for youth organisations – training on project management, on-site presentations, which allow presenting their projects more comprehensively as well as supportive mentoring throughout implementation of the project.
 
Supervisions for youth workers take place in “Kaņieris” to strengthen those working in the field, so that they would be able to support one another also in their daily lives. We also organise master classes for people from organisations on topics that are relevant for them. 

Do you commend in particular or appreciate cooperation with active youth organisations?

Civil participation is facilitated by the granting of the annual Youth Participation Award, which is one of the most inspiring moments and an indispensable manifestation of “Kaņieris”. The award panel is comprised of representatives of youth NGOs, the municipality and “Kaņieris”. At the ceremony, three awards and three notes of appreciation are presented to the most active, most courageous and most outstanding youth organisations. For Better Life, Incubator of Leaders, Rising Star – these are only some of the categories, in which prizes are awarded. The award is an acknowledgment of quality for organisations, which both facilitates the parents’ trust in them and also opens greater opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration with institutions of education and non-governmental organisations in other areas.

Let’s give our imagination free reign – what will “Kaņieris” be like in 5 or 10 years?

In 10 years, “Kaņieris” will work in the format required by the wishes and needs of young people of the time, which will be identified with methods appropriate for the time. “Kaņieris” will be known in even broader circles of youth and more accessible – both digitally and physically.

You responded to the NGO House’s invitation and became involved in the work of the local support group of URBACT project “The Riga NGO House – Collaboration Platform for Organisations and the Municipality”. What are your reflections on this participation?

We follow actively and with interest the local activities of the project and we explore the best practice examples presented at international seminars. In September 2018, we had the honour to welcome all project partners, telling and showing how our Centre worked. We are genuinely happy that our partner of cooperation – the NGO House – was selected as URBACT Good Practice, and the significance of this project is found in the fact that we can learn, listen to and see new ideas, and grow. We shall definitely follow the model of the NGO House and shall promote “Kaņieris” also beyond Latvia’s borders.

What would you like to wish to the youth of Riga and representatives of non-governmental organisations?

We wish you to be aware of the fact that we have that what we have done, and cooperation allows us to do more and with greater capacity.

Thank you for this conversation.

Interviewer: Zinta Gugane, project coordinator of the NGO House