Invitation to the training and networking event
‘Junkyard playground: an outdoor space for youth that provides challenges, co-creation and non-formal learning.
August 8-11, 2023, Tartu, Estonia

Do you think that kids should spend more time outdoors?
Do you wish that they had more opportunities to be with their peers, be creative, playful, active and autonomous, learn in a non-formal way and deal with age-appropriate challenges?
Do you think that we should all do something about it?

Join the training 'Junkyard playground: a co-creative outdoor space for non-formal learning' in August and be part of the solution!

8-15 year old children and adolescents often lack age-appropriate activities, non-formal learning opportunities and proper outdoor spaces. As a result, young people’s schedules are overbooked, or they spend too much time alone. Often, their physical, mental and social health suffer.

Junkyard playgrounds, which are spaces for youth designed to provide various opportunities for building, creating, communicating, moving, and playing, offer kids the challenges they need. Such spaces might be integrated into school yards, youth and community centres, but can also be built temporarily for festivals and other events. Junkyard playgrounds support creativity, initiative, autonomy, and social skills.

Join us for a practical, hands-on training with the best junkyard playground experts from Germany and the UK to learn:

  1. What does a junkyard playground consist of and why do we need it? Outdoor space that attracts youth and supports their development.

  2. How to design a junkyard playground? Co-creation with youth; creating a pop-up and a permanent playground

  3. How to maintain a junkyard playground? Role of the youth worker, maintaining a free and creative atmosphere; keeping playgrounds sustainable, managing change

Training is for: youth workers, activity leaders, outdoor space designers from Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.
Language: international training is conducted in English.
Venue: Tartu, Estonia.
Price: free for participants

For applying and more information: https://forms.gle/tWcfUxHXntj2Fipr9

Organiser: NGO Kids Outdoors/MTÜ Lapsed Õue, kolahoov@gmail.com, lapsedoue.com

Partner: Jaunatne Smaidam, Latvia
Co-funded by: EU

Trainers

Jérôme Fink from Germany. Jérôme has more than 13 years of experience as a playworker in Kolle 37 junkyard playground that is located in Berlin. During the training, Jérôme will give the most practical advice on building and maintaining junkyard playgrounds, introduces the role of play worker and shares his experiences from Kolle 37. https://www.kolle37.de/

Suzanna Law from the UK. Suzanna is a mobile play worker, adventure playground trainer, and the founder of Pop Up Adventure Play NGO situated in USA/UK. In the training, Suzanna will be introducing the role of playworker, talk about the free play and game theory and shares her knowledge and experience from popup playgrounds. www.popupadventureplay.org.

Charlie Moreno-Romero from Colombia is an anthropologist and democratic educational researcher. In the training, Charlie will open up the subject of democratic education and the role that junkyard playgrounds can play in democracy.

Mari-Liis Viirsalu, Liis Kuresoo, Sigrit Rosental, Marta Peebo and Leene Korp from the NGO Kids Outdoors/MTÜ Lapsed Õue will be the facilitators and organisers. We will give our best to make the first junkyard playground training a pleasant and inspiring experience.

Estonian first junkyard playground, Co-created with kids and youth in 2022

Photos made in the building camp of the first junkyard playground in Estonia, built in 2022 by adolescents of STEP-programme; sculpture students of Pallas Art School and the community of MTÜ Lapsed Õue/NGO Kids Outdoors.

Want to know more about junkyard playgrounds?