Details of the member organisation / center
Name: Youth Centre Villa Elba
Street address: Sannanrannantie 60
Postcode: 67200
City: Kokkola
Region: Keski-Pohjanmaa
Country: Finland
Email: elba@kokkola.fi
Website: www.villaelba.fi
ESC projects: https://www.villaelba.fi/en/esc-projects/
Telephone: +358 6 8313400
Contact person
Ms Kati Paasila
Position/function: Project planner/instructor
Contact Email: kati.paasila@kokkola.fi
Contact Telephone: +358 445325160
Profile of the member organisation/center
Type of
Status of
Activity level of organisation: national
Short description of organisation / center:
Villa Elba is a Youth Centre supported and supervised by the Ministry of Education and Culture. In Finland network of Youth Centres have a public and social role to support the growth and development of children and young people. The Centres are run under the Finnish law covering youth work and we provide a safe operating environment and expert service for young people and educators. Our main expertise is in international youth work, environmental education, social youth work and youth work development projects. Our work consists of for example international camps, volunteering work for young people, coordination of volunteering projects, educational activities, nature school, adventure education, information and guidance about international programmes and regional coordination of youth work.
Integration the intercultural learning, human rights education and education for active citizenship in its activities
Youth Centre Villa Elba is in daily use for children and young people.
Youth Centre Villa Elba is in daily use for children and young people. Human rights education is a base of our work, and it appears for example in our work towards equity as well as in our environmental education and international activities. We are part of non-discrimination-zone movement. We also raise awareness about childrens rights through exhibitions, social media and support young people participation through regional projects. At our international work we support young people to gain multicultural xperiences and intercultural competences through international activities. We also work to raise young people’s awareness about global responsibilities and to support young people in their growth into global citizens. Through European Solidarity Corps programme we offer young people a possibility to take part in solidarity actions.
Networks that we work with:
- Platform network for Youth mobility: https://www.platform-network.com/
- CoE Quality Label for Youth Centres: https://www.coe.int/en/web/youth/quality-label-for-youth-centres
- Reves Network: https://www.reves.eu/
- Anna Lindh Foundation: https://www.annalindhfoundation.org/
The mechanisms we use in our
Youth participation is one of our core values. Young people’s opinions are important for us and participation is seen as the opportunity to be heard and to have an influence.
In our programmes, we encourage young people to take responsibility for decision-making and problem solving. Our experts rcognize the situations where young people are able to handle the responsibility and when the activity needs to be guided. by the leader.
Where we see the role of our organization / center in promotion and implementation of the youth policies of Council of Europe in our country, region and internationally:
Villa Elba was awarded the Council of Europe Quality Label in 2013 and we are committed to promote the values of Council of Europe: Human Rights, democracy and rule of law.
When we were awarded the Quality Label, our international youth work expertise was highlighted as a key point in our activities. We provide youth and youth workers opportunities to experience multicultural learning both in their local community and by travelling abroad. We like to think of ourselves as a laboratory for innovation in youth work.
We promote and host activities in areas relevant to youth policy from local to European level to the local level and contribute with our knowhow and experiences to youth work practices, youth research and youth policy.
The facilities of our
We offer accommodation up to 74 persons in cosy cabins and houses. We have several modern meeting rooms with up to 170 persons. Elba has three saunas, one electric heated, one heated by wood and one tent sauna.
Villa Elba is surrounded by sea and forest, which offers excellent opportunities for many kind of outdoor activities during the different seasons. In summer time hiking, canoening, sup-boards and biking are popular activities and in winter time our quests can try out skiing, ice-skatindg, winter fishing, kick sledges and snow shoes.
The pedagogial staff in Villa Elba have expertice in global education, international youth work, environmental education and social youth work.
Our priorities / fields of interest for cooperation with other members of the Network in the sphere of intercultural learning:
With Erasmus+ projects we aim to help youth and youth workers in our area to develop their multicultural skills, and we both host and send participants to youth exchanges, training courses, study visits, seminars etc.
In youth exchanges we work with organisations that actucally work with young people and include them in all stages of the project.
With ESC volunteering projects we help organisations active in youth- and leisurework to develop their activities and multicultural competence. We coordinate several volunteering projects in our area and look for partners sending volunteers.
With ESC volunteering team projects we intend to support the development of local communities and look for partners sending volunteers. We host especially young people with less opportunities to offer them a chance to develop their everyday and working life skills. We also send volunteers to similar projects.