Rural youth

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

With rural youth grew up, and young people living in rural areas are called.

Rural youth is also the short term for all youth associations in which some of these young people have come together to represent their interests.

Rural youth in Germany

In Germany there are three youth associations , which are called "rural youth" for short:

All three youth associations were founded by the beginning of the 1950s. The youth organization of the German Farmers' Association is only the Federation of German Rural Youth, while the two church youth associations are organizationally independent. The only exception is in Bavaria, where the Catholic rural youth movement (KLJB) in Bavaria and the Evangelical rural youth (ELJ) have been recognized youth associations in the Bavarian Farmers 'Association since 1953, alongside the Bavarian Young Farmers' Union.

The two denominational rural youth associations are also youth organizations of the respective churches and belong to the Federation of German Catholic Youth and Protestant Youth .
The maintenance of customs, cultural youth work and the promotion of the village community quickly emerged as objectives of the rural youth organizations alongside basic and advanced training in agricultural and domestic areas.

The three German rural youth associations were among the first youth organizations to introduce board positions based on the quota system: at all levels - from the local groups to district, district and state associations to the federal association - the association is made up of one female and one male board member represented.

Even outside of the rural youth associations, young people in rural areas like to create their own meeting places, such as B. in construction trailers or huts, often outside of residential areas. There are increasingly their own LJ homes or rooms in which young people work or celebrate in the community.

But since July 2008 there has been an increased nationwide network, which is brought about by the founding of MeineLaju , a social network only intended for rural youth, which cooperates with the Federation of German Rural Youth . In the course of the International Green Week Berlin in January 2009, MeineLaju was awarded the Ernst Engelbrecht Greve Prize, which for the first time had to do without financial recognition.

In rural communities too, open youth work is increasingly being offered in smaller local youth centers.

Rural youth in Austria

Logo of the Austrian rural youth

The roots of rural youth can be found immediately after the Second World War with the simultaneous formation of the chambers of agriculture . Through federalism and the occupation zones , individual and organizationally different associations developed in the federal states. The establishment of the Federal Youth Association in 1953 was the impetus to form an umbrella community across all federal states. The working group for rural youth issues was initiated as a committee of the presidential conference. Due to the lack of a legal form, the rural youth could not yet be accepted into the Federal Youth Council.

It was not until 1972 that the Austrian Rural Youth Association was founded as the umbrella organization for all local and regional groups. The committee remained, however.

In the 1980s, the rural youth opened up to the non-farming sector and soon reached a larger number of members. However, it took until 1992 for the rural youth to be accepted into the Federal Youth Council.

In Austria, the rural youth is one of the largest youth organizations in rural areas with around 90,000 members and tries to coordinate the concerns of the "rural youth". Furthermore, the association or the members would like to make a positive contribution to the development and design of rural areas. Membership is possible from 14 to 35 years of age.

The vision according to the mission statement is: “We shape the future in rural areas and competently represent the interests of young people. In our lively community, we challenge and encourage young people to develop their personality. "

The principles of rural youth are:

  • active leisure time
  • Personality development
  • Co-design of the rural area

The program is divided into six uniform priorities throughout Austria:

  • General knowledge
  • Agriculture & Environment
  • Service & organization
  • Sport & Society
  • Young & International
  • Culture & customs

The organization is based primarily on the voluntary commitment of the elected managers. At the head of the association there is a leader. The rural youth is a non-partisan youth organization. The rural youth hierarchy is divided into four areas, whereby the higher-level position is a member of the lower positions and can therefore perform a control function:

  • Federal organization
  • National organization
  • District organization (according to political districts with the exception of the rural youth of Lower Austria. This is divided into court districts, which in turn are divided into four individual districts.)
  • Local groups (called "Sprengel" in Lower Austria)

At the international level, rural youth work in a wide variety of areas, such as sporting competitions (e.g. championship plowing) or training seminars. The rural youth is a member of the international Rural Youth Europe and a member of the European Council of Young Farmers ( CEJA ).

Rural youth in Switzerland

Logo of the Swiss rural youth association SLJV

The Swiss rural youth emerged from rural movements in the post-war period. In order to represent the interests of rural and rural youth across Switzerland, a national umbrella organization, the Swiss Rural Youth Association (SLJV), was founded in 1956. The Swiss rural youth is religiously neutral and politically independent.

Today the rural youth is an interest group for the concerns of the youth in rural areas and is open to all interested young people. It offers young people between 14 and 30 years of age from all professional groups varied and active leisure activities. Topics are general education, sport, games, culture and socializing.

The focus is on interpersonal contacts. The young people broaden their horizons, experience community, try out self-determination and learn to take on responsibility.

Throughout Switzerland there are around 3,300 rural youth members who are organized in around 66 regional groups. These in turn are grouped into 6 regional associations and affiliated to the Swiss umbrella organization, the Swiss Rural Youth Association.

The Swiss Rural Youth (SLJV) is a member of the European Rural Youth Association (Rural Youth Europe).

Rural youth in the USA

An organization comparable to rural youth is 4-H in the USA.

literature

  • Bund der Deutschen Landjugend (Ed.): 50 years Bund der Deutschen Landjugend. A chronicle. Munich 2000
  • Federal Ministry for consumer protection, food and agriculture (ed.): Reports on agriculture. The rural youth study 2000. Münster-Hiltrup, 214th special issue, 2001
  • Johann Kirchinger: Fight for the rural youth in Bavaria. Catholic rural youth and Bavarian farmers' association in the competition for youth work, in: State office of the Catholic rural youth (ed.): Land.Jugend.Welt. Why is the association needed? Work letter for rural youth, 2012, pp. 15–19.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Statutes of the association "Landjugend Österreich"
  2. ^ Rural Youth Austria - Our Mission Statement. Retrieved December 17, 2018 .
  3. ^ Rural Youth Austria Program. Retrieved December 17, 2018 .