The Netari.fi project was launched by the City of Helsinki Youth Department to carry out and develop national youth work performed over the Internet. The project’s target is to make contact with that section of youth who spend a large part of their time in various Internet environments.

The Netari operations began in 2004 as a joint project between the municipalities of the Helsinki metropolitan area. Due to the good results, in the fall of 2007 the Ministry of Education granted the City of Helsinki Youth Department project funding and a mandate to begin expanding the operation at a national level.
In January 2010, the project includes the youth work units of as many as 24 municipalities. In each municipality, one or more youth workers perform part-time online youth work, as a part of their job description. The City of Helsinki Youth Department is the centralized unit responsible for coordinating and developing the operation with the support of the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health.

Netari online youth work is performed in two network environments popular with young people, Habbo and IRC-Galleria. The Netari online youth facility works in both environments, making it possible for young people to have real-time conversations both with other youths and with trained youth work professionals. These youth work facilities are open eight nights a week. There were approximately 159 000 visitors in Netari.fi-online youth clubs during 2009.

Netari.fi also produces Netari-tv with co-operation with Yle, Finnish National Broadcasting company. Netari-tv is live web-tv broadcast with realtime chat. Aim of Netari-tv is to provide means of participation and channel to express opinions and share experiences on topics that vary from broadcast to broadcast.

As well as virtual contacts, Netari organizes real world get-togethers for the youths who use the facility, and also a national Netari camp once a year. Young people are also offered a chance to be trained as voluntary assistant youth workers who take part in the performance of online youth work with the help of an actual Netari youth worker.

The aim of the Netari.fi-project is to develop youth work done over the Internet and to create a coherent work model and working culture for national Internet youth work. Through multi-professional cooperation, the project aims to lower the threshold for those youths using the facility to seek social and health services when necessary. The plan is to also bring the services, through the Netari operation, straight to the Internet environments popular among young people.