The document summarizes a pilot study on the "Youth Meetings" program in Estonia, which aims to promote cultural awareness, openness, and tolerance among youth through local exchanges. The study assessed the program's impact on over 700 Estonian and Russian-speaking youth participants before and after participation. It found that participation significantly improved youth's social skills and ability to interact with those of different ethnicities. For Estonian youth specifically, it increased awareness of other regions, social issues, and improved foreign language skills. For Russian youth, it boosted skills in interacting in Estonian and contacts with other ethnicities, though they were still more likely to see their future outside Estonia. Both groups reported feeling more comfortable with ethnic

1. Program “Youth meetings”
Archimedes Foundation Youth Agency
Triin Ulla
triin.ulla@archimedes.ee

2. YOUTH MEETINGS
Launched in 2015
Format of local youth exchanges
Half of the participants are Russian-speaking
~ 1700 young people yearly / ~ 45 projects
noored.ee
“Best integration program in Estonia”

3. General aim of the program
• To promote cultural awareness, openness and tolerance among
the program participants (and in the society in general) through
communication, cooperation and contacts
• 16-24 youngsters at a time / 3-6 days in a row / 1-3 times
• Main target group: secondary school (age 11-16)
Youth meetings

4. Aims:
• Does the program meet its purpose?
• What is the reported impact on the youth that has participated
in the “Youth meetings”
• Which competences does the participation influence
• The level of youth engagement
https://noored.ee/uudised/noortekohtumiste-programmi-pilootaasta-moju-uuringu-aruanne/
Pilot year study 2015 /
Marianna Makarova, Triin Ulla

5. Instruments
• Research-based Analysis of Erasmus+ Youth in Action (RAY)
• Estonian Open Identity questionnaire (EOI) (Valk, Karu-Kletter, Drozdova 2011;
Pilvisto, Valk, 2013)
Project: general competences and their assessment
• Social competence questionnaire (Kaldoja, 2014, based on Beauchamp & Anderson, 2010).
• Citizenship competence (based on the Sociopolitic Control Scale by Zimmermann & Zahnister, 1991,
and Concept for Societal Competence by Chi, Jastrzab, Melchior, 2006 )
+ Additional background questions (socioeconomic status, general activity level)
+ Questions about the impact of and participation in the project experience

6. Respondents
Before
participation
After participation
N (Est/Rus) 724 (338/386) 481 (223/258)
Age 10-19 10-18
Mean age / SD 13,9 / 1,61 14,3 / 1,39
N Female / Male 427/297 317/174
% of overall pilot
year participants
44,9% 29,8%

7. • Few frequent contacts among people of other ethnicities (did not change after
participation in the project) (Question 1)
• High interest in learning foreign languages and interest towards interaction
with people of other ethnicities. (Questions 6 & 9)
• Willingness towards future participation in Youth meetings (mean score 3,58 / 3,67
of 4 for Est/Rus)
• Youth engagement in youth work / extracurricular activities higher than the
Estonian average, yet financial possibilities limited
• Significant impact on the capability of having good relations with people of
different ethnicities from one’s own (and logical reasoning) (p<.05)
• No change across overall scores of citizenship competence
Overall trends
(both Estonian and Russian speaking youth)

10. Impact on the Estonian youth
After Youth meetings experience:
• I’m more aware of ways that young people live in other Estonian
regions (p<.005)
• I have higher awareness of what is generally going on in
Estonia (p<.01)
• I understand better what I have in common with the Russian
youth (p<.05)
• I feel more freely interacting in English (p<.005)

11. Impact on the Estonian youth
As compared to before the Youth meetings:
• I know that some people in our society have fewer opportunities
than others (p<.01)
• For me it is interesting to interact with representatives of other
ethnicities (p<.05)
• Social skills scores are higher (p<.005) due to higher scores of
prosocial behavior and interaction skills
• Main developments in changes in skills that are related to carrying
out the project, such as cooperation and entrepreneurship

12. Impact on the Estonian youth
Estonian Open Identity scale
Before Youth meetings:
Estonian youth reported highest scores on the national pride
subscale / lowest scores on “In Estonia, one should
respect different views about history”
After Youth meetings:

13. The strength of Estonian and Russian national identity attitudes before and
after Youth meetings
* p<.05; ** p<.01, *** p<.005
Estonian youth Russian youth
Before After Before After
I feel connected to all people living in
Estonia, no matter what is their ethnic
background
0.790 0.961 * 0.389 0.465
I do not mind that different ethnic groups
live in Estonia, as long as
they respect Estonian laws
1.172 1.412 ** 1.161 1.174
In Estonia, one should respect
different views about history
0.577 0.845 *** 0.842 0.802
It does not disturb me that people of
different ethnic origins live in Estonia
0.787 0.996 ** 0.904 0.984
National identity 1.040 1.150 0.461 0.482
Multiculturalism / openness 0.840 1.020 ** 0.934 0.951

14. • More likely to see their future outside Estonia than their Estonian
peers (p<.01)
• The number of contacts with other ethnicities co-varies with the
type of education they are engaged in
• Rise in their skill scores of “interacting with people with a
different mother tongue” (p<.01) and making myself clear in
Estonian (p<.05).
Russian youth

16. I could overcome
my fear of
interaction, of
doing or saying
something wrong!
Youth (R), Kohtla-
Järve
I learned that
ethnicity says
nothing about a
person’s essence.
Youth (E), Iisaku
The project had a
really strong impact
on me. Now I want to
learn Estonian and
interact in it
Youth (R), Tallinn
I would like to meet more new
people with different native
languages. I believe now more
in my abilities and do not fear
to learn new things!
Youth (E), Kuressaare
One should not fear that
the language barrier will
prevent any interaction.
Common activities will
quickly break the barrier!
Youth leader (R), Narva

17. Integration is not a
symmetrical
process!
Majority group is the
crucial target group in
assuring cohesion in
the society!
Contact is
key!