The future year of the “difficult children”

An alternative holistic career orientation centre

With our Poliversität© initiative we are creating a career orientation centre, including the project “YOUTH ON THE FARM – your future year” for young people aged 14 and over, offering time for orientation and for the process of finding a career without school. Accompanied by personal coaches, inspired by encounters with people and companies and their biographies, by learning journeys and by carrying out a concrete project, the young people are to be enabled to search for their path on their own responsibility, with enjoyment and thoroughly. Step by step, answers emerge to the questions “Who am I?”, “What can I do?” and “What do I want?” We started for the first time in September 2025 with 5 young people in their future year.

The 6-month practical project is intended to help young people find their way professionally and develop independent life skills. In addition to professional qualification, the focus is on promoting self-organisation, teamwork and a sense of responsibility. The lasting benefit lies in the young people’s personal development and in broadening their professional prospects, all the way to becoming holistic entrepreneurs.

All project activities take place on the 5-elements farm in Lower Austria, which has shared accommodation, kitchen and housekeeping areas, and learning and working spaces. The surroundings allow practical experience, for example in agriculture or crafts.

✅ Strengthening young people’s self-efficacy

This is about deliberately giving young people experiences of success. They take on their own projects or tasks and feel: I can make a difference.

✅ Teaching everyday skills (cooking, housekeeping, planning)

Independence begins in everyday life: from buying food to cooking together to organising the household and planning the budget, the young people practise every step themselves.

✅ Clarifying professional interests through practical experience

Instead of just talking, the young people try out various professional fields hands-on, such as wood and metalworking, horticulture or media projects. This way they can discover their strengths and preferences.

✅ Making sustainable lifestyles tangible

Sustainability is not taught here as an abstract concept but lived: permaculture in vegetable growing, upcycling in the workshop, composting together, solar technology, small power plant technology or rainwater use.

✅ Community life as a field for learning responsibility and resolving conflict

Living together day by day on the farm creates real team situations: who celebrates when, how do we settle conflicts, how do I take responsibility for others? This practice is an intensive school of social skills in which empathy, willingness to compromise and communication skills grow.

Grandma’s mistake

5 young people start the taster weeks

On an outing, the teenage group met an older woman who asked them whether they were “the difficult ones”. Without thinking much about it, they said yes. Only afterwards did it become clear why the woman had asked: just around the corner there was a youth home for children with behavioural difficulties.

In a group conversation afterwards, the teens said that because of their life outside school they are generally regarded as “difficult” by the regular education system.

Our regular education system today trains children for work and success. Everyone learns the same thing, and hardly any child is perceived, let alone supported, in their own personality or degree of maturity (stage of development). Every young person learns differently and has their own interests and inclinations – very few state schools are able to recognise and specifically support these. For several generations our view of the world has been deeply shaped by the belief that “school simply has to be”.

Educators, parents, experts and young people want to fundamentally overhaul the centuries-old education system together and show how self-determined education and natural learning can work.

We are all committed to every person being free to choose their own educational path. Self-determined education outside schools could become the third pillar of a dynamic education system, alongside free schools and state schools, guaranteeing every person their right to lifelong education.

We at the TAPOJA association have made it our task to create opportunities for development and the right conditions so that, with our holistic educational model, young people can freely decide “WHEN – HOW – WHERE and WITH WHOM” they want to learn.

From 15 to 26 September 2025 we had the pleasure of getting to know and accompanying our first taster participants.

We gave insights into the professions of well builder, potential counsellor, millwright, watchmaker, carpenter, photographer, Human Design reader, sawmill master and order picker.

In order to support the teens as well as possible in their future year from January 2026, we still need SUPPORTERS who would like to give the 5-elements farm a financial boost as a career orientation centre.

Leni, Celine and Anni share an interest in horses and animals. The first joint project could arise here. Celine is focusing her training on becoming a holistic horse trainer, Anni would like to become an animal naturopath and animal communicator, and Leni is interested in becoming a feng shui consultant or animal film trainer. For this the farm still needs stables, a riding arena and horses. Sheep or alpacas could also find a place here.

Valentin would like to gain experience as a cook. We can support him on the farm as a TCM cook and caterer. This still requires expanding our commercial kitchen with a restaurant. Free-style weddings, welcome celebrations, farm festivals and family project weeks could take place on the farm itself.

Tamina wants to get started as a photographer. Besides expertise, she still lacks professional equipment. Her talent could also be used at all farm events.

Laurenz has an intuitive feel for drawing and is interested in cars. He could well develop potential as a technical draughtsman or product designer in the automotive industry.

SUPPORTERS WANTED

Support our farm as a holistic career orientation centre! We are grateful for donations to our association’s account

Raiffeisenbank St.Gilgen IBAN: AT31 3505 6000 0106 7347

Innovative people who put their ideas into practice

At the Klang dumpling manufactory our teens also got an insight into making handmade dumplings.

The small family business has set itself the goal of bringing the best and freshest dumplings to the shelves of well-stocked food shops, into the kitchens of committed restaurateurs and onto your table.

The many different dumpling variations are not frozen. To guarantee freshness, every order is produced to the exact piece.

This family business lies in the gentle hills of the Waldviertel, near the Wachau – surrounded by untouched meadows and fields. This is where the hay grows that they use for their products. Over 20 years this has given rise to a colourful range of mattress toppers, pillow toppers, quilts and herb pillows that many people value – for relaxing, switching off or simply bringing a piece of nature into their home.

The Waldviertler Heubettmanufaktur (hay bed manufactory) made a strong impression on our teens. An innovative farm that has recognised the gifts of nature.

We warmly invite all interested people to take an active part in this process and contribute their ideas and skills. Together we can bring about positive change. Your creativity and commitment are the key to creating a lively and dynamic educational community. Together we can realise innovative projects and make our career orientation centre a place of exchange, cooperation and mutual support.