The goal of our activities in youth work area is to support equal opportunities among the young people living in Estonia in terms of studying as well as by the creation of a positive attitude towards each other through the experience of cooperation.

We hope to achieve this by supporting language teaching to young people in language camps and families outside schools, but this is not the only thing we offer. We also carry out joint activities about democracy, civil society and participation for young people where they can practise Estonian. It is important to support intercultural dialogue in the cooperation between young people and to prepare youth workers for working in a multicultural environment.

The objective of our activities is to ensure equal opportunities for the young people that live in Estonia during their studies and by shaping their positive attitudes towards each other through collaborative experience. To that end, we support extracurricular Estonian language learning in language camps among other things. We also organise joint events that address the topics of democracy, participation and civil society for the young people so that they can practice Estonian. It is important to support intercultural dialogue in the collaborative efforts undertaken by the young people and the preparation of youth workers for working in a multicultural setting.

Although our activities are primarily undertaken to involve the young people living in Estonia, young Estonians living abroad are not neglected. The Foundation organises camps for Estonian children living abroad where they can improve their Estonian language skills and learn about the Estonian culture.

In cooperation with the Estonian National Youth Council (Eesti Noorteühenduste Liit), the collection “Take Part. Say If You Think!” has been reprinted several times. The collection has also been translated into and published in the Russian language. These collections were given free to the young people during the events organised by MISA and the Estonian National Youth Council. Both collections are available as web publications in the web library of MISA.

In 2008–2010, MISA organised several seminars and conferences for 14–19-year olds that addressed the topics of being a citizen, democracy and participation with the aim of teaching the Estonian language.

Impact of MISA's youth work activities

We hope that our support helps school graduates, irrespective of the language of instruction of their school, to be able to function in society and have sufficient knowledge of Estonian to continue their education and compete on the labour market. We believe that the young people engaged in the activities are tolerant, aware of their opportunities, participate actively in youth work and are active members of society.

The young people and adults who have participated in language and cultural activities value their identity, maintain the ties between themselves and the ethnic homelands of their parents and introduce their national cultures to the people living in Estonia. This increases the awareness of the representatives of national minorities themselves about the multitude of cultures in Estonia and the state of Estonia as their second homeland.