CONTEXT Emotional intelligence (EI) is considered to be one of “super” (transversal) competences of 21st century. It is commonly recognized that being able to constructively deal with and regulate ones emotions and relate to others is highly crucial not only for successful working career, but also for managing fulfilled personal and social life of each person. During the last years more and more general attention is being turned to this concept also in the youth work (YW) field. Nevertheless, as we have observed in our communities, the majority of youth workers lack deeper awareness about the different dimensions of EI, they have limited skills of managing their own emotions in a conscious way. Therefore, they also have limited capacities to support young people in developing their EI. Nevertheless, a strong need it out there! Young people cite the immense societal pressures they face today, which leads them to confusion, dissatisfaction, hate and despair. More and more young people across Europe are expressing their concern at the prevalence of mental health and well-being issues such as high stress, anxiety, depression and other mental illnesses amongst their peers (EU Youth Goal Nr. 5). In order to maintain well-being, young people need support in understanding how to deal with these pressures. They need to learn, how to manage their emotions and thoughts in a constructive way through EI practices. As the topic of EI is very wide (there are many theories, approaches, tools, practices which can take years to explore), our focus in this training was to start cultivating EI by promoting participants greater self-awareness and self-regulation skills. As we believe in the approach that (1) EMOTIONS are very connected also to (2) THOUGHTS and (3) BODILY SENSATIONS (how our body feels), in this training we paid special emphasis on providing a space for participants to explore this triangle. By learning to sense and name them, it gives a chance to choose how to respond and change the perception and impact of them. So, if they develop such skills - all of us can learn how to influence how we and people around us feel! To make the learning more powerful and transformational, during this training course we have chosen to combine more common non-formal learning methods with Outdoor Experiential Learning (OEL) and adventure/hiking experience in Latvian nature. This allowed the participants, on the one hand, to connect with themselves, with each other and world around them in a deeper level (nature connectedness is proved to be contributing to emotional well-being). On the other hand, being in the nature for extended period of time lets experiencing situations that are out of their comfort zone (thus create unexpected emotions, thoughts and body sensations, which they have to deal with). AIM The main aim of the project was to contribute to improving the quality of youth work by building Emotional Intelligence competences of 24 youth workers so that they can be more effective in supporting young people’s emotional well-being and their capacity to deal constructively with life challenges and connect with each other. OBJECTIVES - Becoming more aware about EI as a crucial transversal competence both for personal and social well-being as well as successful tool for working with young people in youth work context and promoting their empowerment - Reflecting on own (participant’s) emotional intelligence skills through real-life situations of interacting with others during the training and experiencing different challenges during the 2 days Hike in with challenges in the nature - Exploring more in-depth and building skills in self-awareness and emotional self-regulation, which are 2 components to start with if one wants to develop EI - To explore already existing tools and proven practices for cultivating EI and develop non-formal learning sessions outdoors that contribute to developing self-awareness and self-regulation - Implementing concrete follow-up activities that improve EI competences for youth workers (plan for farther personal and professional EI development) and young people (NFL workshops (optionally, involving outdoor approach) that develop EI competences among youth in each participating community)