The Youth Town Encounter

The Youth Town is a course centre where approximately 25.000 young people and their teachers choose to attend one, or sometimes many courses concerning society as a whole. On the courses you can meet people, who as instructors, represent a wide range of Danish and international communities, for example a trade, a sector, an organisation or both private and public companies.

The courses are arranged so as to, as far as possible, encourage the active participation, involvement and commitment of the participants. Most courses are start with an introductory teacher’s course, where each teacher is confronted and experiments with a selection of the contents and activities from the coming pupil’s course. Our experience tells us that this gives an opportunity for the teachers to put the course into a suitable pedagogical framework upon which they can prepare their visit in the best possible manner.

The courses are constantly developed in co-operation with our working associates and the Youth Town’s pedagogical consultants. By allowing the appropriate trade and pedagogical expertise to liase we hope to be able to attain a state of manifold and acceptance, which hopefully negates an opposing simple-mindedness and lack of vision. The contents are founded upon the laws and guides for the "Folkeskole" and youth education and cover the following titles: Values and Guidance, Energy and Environment, Economy and Service, Projects and Co-operation, Media and Expressive Activities and Conflict Management between individuals, ethnic groups and nations.

Within each group there are a series of courses. For example under Conflict Management the Youth Town offers four pupil’s courses and five teachers’ courses:

1. "When is Enough Enough?" (A new course for 6^th grade)
2. "Conflict Management" (A two-day course for 8^th grade)
3. "Peace and Conflict Game" (The army’s latest crisis/control game for age groups ranging from 15 to 80 years)
4. "A New World Order – But How?" (A new course for high school education in history and social science).
5. "Conflict Management" – A two-day course for teachers.

In the Youth Town it is our wish that we can be a meeting place for young people from the upper grades of "Folkeskole" (8^th – 10^th grades) and youth education, and also for teachers and teacher trainees. It is also our aim to present our participants for an increasing number of representatives from the thriving spheres of the local community. In this democratic array of human encounter and between varying backgrounds, experience and outlook on life we can explore untold possibilities for inspiration, debate, learning and personal development.

As an integral part of the National Innovative Centre for General Education the Youth Town’s areas of development can be characterised by the following: -

• That it builds bridges between the "Folkeskole" and youth education and private and public sectors in society as a whole.
• That our associates offer the courses and materials developed, controlled and appraised in the centre to institutions and individuals from all over the country.
• That the concept of the Youth Town, its pedagogical practice and expertise is offered to our international partners and is integrated whenever the possibilities arise.