Vision:

PRONI Center is striving to encourage cooperation and understanding between people. PRONI Center wants to enable young people to take responsibilities for themselves and for development of the society they are part of, in which their needs are recognized and responded to at all levels.

Our organizational goal is to improve the living conditions of young people, by opening choices and raising awareness on existing opportunities. We would like to see a society where young people are able to actively participate in making the decisions that affect them, thus taking responsibility in the process of social change. We would like young people to be conscious, active citizens in their communities, contributing to development of democracy and society. Therefore, we see encouragement of young people’s participation and their self-empowerment as a focus of our work.

Mission:

PRONI Center for Social Education is a non-profit organization founded in 1998 as a legal entity in the Republic of Croatia. Special attention in our work is given to young people, respecting differences in ethnical background, religion, culture, gender and race. PRONI Center works in Croatia, with special focus on post-war regions where the strong need for societal reconstruction is present. In its work, PRONI is using experiences and examples of positive practices from the EU, as well as is developing cooperation with less developed countries in this sense (primarily neighborhood countries) where Croatian experiences can help their society development. PRONI works with young people, civil society organizations and responsible authorities using an integrated developmental approach in the fields of education, youth work and policy development.

Our aim is to support the personal development of young people through strengthening their individual capacities to respond and deal with the challenges they face in the transition to adulthood in society affected by the consequences of conflicts as well as those of the economic, social and cultural transitions. Social and economic distress in the transition process reinforces tensions and development of conflict situations. Therefore, we see personal development as a fundamental tool for young people to confidently face challenges posed by difficult circumstances and take responsibilities for their own lives and development of the society they are part of. Throughout our work with young people we aim at promoting social reconstruction in areas affected by conflict and transition, and therefore, contribute to the community development in general.

• advocating for supportive youth policies and structures of public sector,
• creating and implementing programs of action for youth at all levels and recognition of professional youth work qualification,
• organizing appropriate and quality educational programs in youth leadership, including university program for community youth work, and
• implementing and further developing models of community youth work based on informal and social education.

Building partnerships and fostering cooperation with different actors (stakeholders) – youth NGOs, other civil society organizations, and local, regional and national authorities – represent a fundamental process to achieve our goals.

Our approach is based on social education and youth work methodologies, as well as learning organization’s principles.

The following values underpin our work:

• respect the value of each individual, their voice and their experiences,
• rights, responsibility and accountability,
• challenge to foster further personal and professional development,
• building and valuing mutual relationships,
• expressing feelings, beliefs and opinions,
• participation and empowerment,
• honesty, openness and transparency, and
• mutual trust and support.