Abstract
The following article provides an insight into the development of Wiener Parkbetreuung (Playwork in Vienna’s Parks). It offers a new perspective on play as a potential starting point for working with children and young people. An essential aspect of Parkbetreuung is the creation of spaces that are away from highly functionalized environments, such as traffic-dominated streets. These spaces can be appropriated and reinterpreted by children and young people as play and living spaces. The approach of Parkbetreuung is based on a non-deficit model that encourages open play and provides space for children and young people to address their own concerns. This enables young people to appropriate and act in ways that align with their own learning goals, rather than predetermined pedagogical objectives. It is a fundamental competence of Parkbetreuung to maintain a lifeworld- oriented perspective in these processes.