"Joyful Minds" is an Erasmus+ initiative addressing European adolescents' growing mental health crisis by integrating humor-based resilience training into youth work. With increasing social pressures, digital overload, and the lasting effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, traditional mental health education often struggles to engage young people. This project fills a critical gap by offering an innovative, culturally adaptable, evidence-based approach to emotional well-being. Project objectives & target groups "Joyful Minds" equips youth workers with practical, research-backed humor techniques to enhance emotional regulation, cognitive flexibility, and stress management in vulnerable youth populations. The project aims to: - Train over 50 youth workers and educators in humor-based mental health strategies. - Develop a blended learning curriculum combining digital tools and in-person training. - Engage more than 1,000 adolescents in humor-based resilience workshops. - Strengthen transnational collaboration among youth organizations. The project primarily targets: - Youth workers and educators are direct beneficiaries. - Adolescents (aged 12–18), including neurodivergent individuals, rural youth, and gender-diverse populations. Impact & sustainability - Short-term: Enhanced resilience skills in youth workers and adolescents. - Mid-term: Scalable humor-based training models for European youth organizations. - Long-term: Integration of humor-based resilience strategies into national youth work policies. Led by the Genesis Project (Bosnia & Herzegovina), the consortium includes expert organizations from Croatia, Albania, and North Macedonia with backgrounds in youth work, mental health, and digital education. By combining experienced Erasmus+ partners with emerging organizations, the project fosters knowledge transfer, innovation, and cross-cultural adaptation of humor-based resilience strategies.