Vaasa has received a €350,000 grant for preventing youth street violence

A grant of €350,000 was awarded from the health promotion funding of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health and the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare.

The project ‘Preventing street violence in Vaasa through youth work’ (Katuväkivallan ehkäiseminen Vaasassa nuorisotyön keinoin) will be carried out from 2025 to 2027.

The project targets 13–18-year-olds

The project will develop a model for street-based outreach youth work to prevent youth street violence in Vaasa.

The activities are aimed at 13–18-year-olds in Vaasa who are at risk of engaging in violent behaviour. The model is being designed and implemented together with the young people, says Mika Pietilä, Director of Youth Affairs.

The model includes preventive activities for young people, with the aim of increasing knowledge of violent behaviour and related phenomena among those working with young people, the young people themselves, their parents, and local residents.

Youth violence has increased

There is a clear need for street violence prevention, as data from the Ostrobothnia Police Department indicates an increase in youth violence in Vaasa. School violence is strongly visible in the operations of the Ostrobothnia Mediation Office.

– The Youth Services of Vaasa currently do not have any preventive activities directly targeting this group. In this project, we are developing street-based outreach youth work, which will enable us to reach the target group, Pietilä says.

Street-based outreach youth work engages with young people wherever they spend their time. The aim is to be present in public spaces where young people gather and intervene in risky situations.

Introducing the street mediation model to Vaasa

One of the main objectives of the project is the adoption of the street mediation model.

Street mediation addresses issues such as disputes, bullying, vandalism, and other conflicts among young people.  Through street mediation, young people are given the opportunity to take responsibility, compensate for any damage caused, and achieve reconciliation. The goal is not to punish the young person, but instead to give them the opportunity to take responsibility for their actions and learn from them.

– Vaasa Youth Services have previously trained facilitators in street mediation, but street mediation has not yet been utilised as well as it could have been. Now it will be actively implemented and made more widely known. We are already mapping out our existing street mediators and training new ones, Pietilä says.

The project has been planned in multidisciplinary cooperation with the Police, the Ostrobothnia Mediation Office, the City of Vaasa’s Welfare Unit, and Vamia vocational institute. In addition, Kris Ostrobothnia and Irti Huumeista Ry have been involved in the planning phase.