Supporting Children and Young People in Tartu County

Children’s and young people’s wellbeing is supported in Tartu County through cooperation between municipalities, schools, kindergartens, youth services and regional partners. The Association of Municipalities of Tartu County helps coordinate initiatives that create supportive everyday environments, offer practical help when needed, and open up opportunities for learning, initiative and future skills.

Our work in this field focuses especially on health-promoting educational environments, youth support services, school food and youth entrepreneurship.

What we do

In this field, our role is to support and coordinate county-wide cooperation. This includes:

• supporting health promotion in schools and kindergartens;
• contributing to prevention-oriented cooperation and healthier everyday environments;
• coordinating youth support services together with municipalities and partners;
• supporting young people’s initiative and entrepreneurial mindset through regional and international projects.

Youth support services

Supporting young people is another important part of our wellbeing work. In Tartu County, all the municipalities are part of the Youth Guarantee Support System, a free service for young people aged 16–29 not in employment or training (NEET) to find their next step in education, employment or everyday life. Preventive work also includes younger adolescents aged 13–15.

The support is built around the needs and goals of each young person. Youth wellbeing specialists help young people identify solutions, access relevant support and move towards realistic next steps, whether that means returning to education, entering work or building greater stability in everyday life.

At the European Union level, Member States have agreed on the Youth Guarantee. The goal of the youth guarantee is to ensure that all young people under the age of 30 receive a good-quality job offer, continued education, an apprenticeship, or a traineeship within four months of becoming unemployed or leaving formal education.

In a broader sense, the Youth Guarantee is implemented through activities that aim to:

• reduce the overall risk of social exclusion among young people
• prevent early exit from the labour market and/or education system
• ensure a smooth and timely return to education or the labour market for those not in employment, education, or training (NEETs)

Supportive environments for children and young people

A healthy and supportive daily environment is an important part of children’s and young people’s wellbeing. In Tartu County, we contribute to this through cooperation with educational institutions, municipalities and national partners in the field of health promotion.

Since 2024, a county-level health promotion specialist has supported schools and kindergartens in Tartu County by offering guidance, sharing information and helping create opportunities for peer learning and exchange of experience. The aim is to strengthen the capacity of educational institutions to support both children’s and staff wellbeing, including physical health, mental wellbeing and preventive action.

Youth initiative and entrepreneurship

We also support young people by helping them develop initiative, entrepreneurial thinking and stronger connections with their home region. In South Estonia, this is supported through projects such as LEEN (Young Enterpreneurs in South-Estonia) and Succeed in Business. LEEN focuses on the systematic development of initiative and entrepreneurship among young people aged 7–26 and helps connect them more strongly with their local communities through training, development programmes, camps, fairs, conferences, study visits and hackathons.

Succeed in Business adds an international dimension by supporting young people aged 18–25 through a one-year cross-border training programme that develops entrepreneurial knowledge, teamwork and practical skills with the help of mentors and experts.

School food

School food is also an important part of wellbeing in Tartu County. Our work in this area connects food education, student-centred catering and healthier food environments in schools and kindergartens.
Read more about school food development in Tartu County.