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Under pressure

2019-3-AT02-KA105-0025812019Youth mobilityfinalized
Countries: AT|HR|ES|LT|SI|DK · Grant: €38,590.98
ICT - new technologies - digital competencesHealth and wellbeingYouth (Participation, Youth Work, Youth Policy)

Objectives

In a world that is changing ever faster - pandemic, war, climate crisis - many young people feel overwhelmed in the transition phase from school to university or the world of work. They are under pressure to meet the ideals and role models of society as well as the expectations of relatives. Their own expectations and the striving for self-optimisation can also lead to stress and negatively influence their well-being and health. Due to the increasing digitalisation of society, both at work and in everyday life, young people's lives are becoming more fast-paced and interpersonal relationships more superficial. Youth workers who come into contact with these "digital natives" in their daily work feel the effects of these developments. Many young people do not take time to reflect and care enough about their well-being. They often lack the resources, whether time or material, the methods or the right access. The pandemic and its consequences have accelerated the process described here and given much more importance to the virtual world for young people. With the two-part Erasmus+ project "Under Pressure", JEF Styria did set itself the goal of addressing this need and doing something about it together with its project partners. The title of the project was a programme and pointed out the above-mentioned challenges. With the project, which consisted of a training course for youth workers and a youth encounter, we wanted to provide assistance in overcoming the identified challenges in two ways. In the training course, youth workers were trained to strengthen the well-being of young people. They were to get an insight into different methods and learn to identify and defuse stress factors for themselves as well as for their work with young people. During the training, the youth workers were given the opportunity to develop and test their own workshops and methods on the topic. The focus was on the connection between well-being and competence development. This was especially important to us because some of the youth workers who took part were the group leaders of the youth exchange. In this way, we wanted to ensure that they were prepared for the youth exchange in the best possible way and also give them the chance to test and improve their skills. The aim of the youth exchange was to work together with colleagues from the partner organisations and the participating young people on the topics of well-being, mental health and the use of digital devices and tools. The motto: "Under Pressure - Find your Balance!" was the guiding principle to raise awareness for the challenges outlined and to develop solutions at the same time. The contents were conveyed through non-formal methods. A central methodological approach of the youth exchange was to hold it largely "disconnected". The multi-day "digital detox" enabled us to focus on the development of interpersonal relationships, intercultural exchange and the creation of a positive learning and development environment. All participants and group leaders handed in their smartphones, laptops and other digital devices. In order to ensure trust between participants and the organising team, the way the project was implemented was communicated transparently at the time of the call for proposals. A "Disconnection Contract" was drawn up and concluded with the young people. Members of the project team ensured that relatives and friends received regular information about the progress of the project through e-mails and also managed the social media. The dissemination of the project results was thus ensured despite the "digital detox". The volunteers from JEF Styria and its partner organisations implemented the project because they were convinced of its positive impact on the unification of Europe. The aims of the project were, among others, to further develop the cooperation with our partner organisations, to make Europe tangible for young people through cross-border exchanges with peers, to motivate the participants to broaden their horizons and to use the knowledge, skills and competences acquired in the project activities as active citizens. Europe grows with every transnational friendship and with every Erasmus+ project. The training course and the youth exchange brought young people together and brought Europe to life.

Project partners (6)