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Mountain Buddies

2022-1-FR02-KA152-YOU-0000690782022Mobility of young peopleongoing
Countries: FR|RO|HU|CZ · Grant: €36,116
Physical and mental health, well-being

Objectives

Young people spend more time indoors than outdoors, leading to a passive lifestyle. The current youth is the first generation which has grown around computers, the internet, social media, being able to sit in front of a screen for long hours without a break. This generation avoids going out - most probably because was not encouraged to do so or is not fully aware of the benefits of time spent outdoor - and enjoy simple things like hiking and walks in nature. In addition, studies have shown that whenever individuals experience stress they are more prone to have a weaker health state (https://doi.org/10.1186/s12942-020-00248-8). In a study where French students were asked if they felt anxious during the academic year 2018/2019, 40% of the respondents answered very often and 39% sometimes. During the pandemic, the levels of anxiety and stress have only increased. This is a problem identified at the level of young people among all partners’ communities. Youth have experienced long periods of sitting in front of their screens both for their studies and recreational purposes. Therefore, without enough exercise and time spent in nature, young people from the four partners’ communities got a little disconnected from the reality outside their comfortable homes. The partner organisations emphasise the need of the young people to have the chance to gather around other young people so that can communicate, connect and develop an understanding of each other and themselves through these relationships and experiences. At the same time, for more than 2 years most of the youth from the communities have stopped travelling, had no contact with people outside from their proximities and need to engage again in intercultural dialogue and explore at first-hand other cultures. With this project, we aim to bring them outdoor, to give them the chance to explore nature. We seek to address the importance of spending time outdoors: exploring nature, to show that spending time and learning outdoors is a great way to keep fit mentally, physically and emotionally. Hiking is an excellent outdoor activity that is suitable for almost everyone. It has multiple benefits for the body and mind, from improving blood pressure and blood sugar to providing repairing powers and relieving the stress of being out of nature. Regardless of athletic ability, almost everyone can find a trip that offers the right level of personal challenge. Although highly accessible, hiking requires a certain level of knowledge regarding the tools for tracking, choosing the right route, knowing how to read the trail markers and signs, use the proper clothing, shoes, supplies and tools. Risk situations can occur at any step; therefore, a good level of awareness and prior knowledge is required. Based on our organisation and partners’ experiences, we have designed an outdoor experiential learning program that enables and enhances personal (me), social (new) and environmental (all) interactions, experience exchange, and understanding between youth from different backgrounds and nationalities that have diverse beliefs, beyond cultural and traditional barriers. Moreover, our city of Grenoble offers a large number of hiking possibilities nearby and is the perfect location to undergo such a project. The goal of our project is to give the opportunity to 36 young people from four different countries to engage in intercultural dialogue and experiment the benefits of hiking in an experiential way. All these being mentioned, with the current project the partner organisations have set the following objectives: O1. To develop positive attitudes and understanding of 36 young people from FR, RO, CZ and HU with regards to engaging in intercultural dialogue with youth from lands other than their own, by the end of the mobility; O2. To develop the knowledge and abilities of 36 young people from FR, RO, CZ and HU with regards to practicing safely hiking, by the end of the mobility; O3. Raise awareness on the importance of the people-nature balance and promote the benefits of hiking in the four partner communities, by the end of the project.

Project partners (4)