WHAT Into the core is a professional development activity (PDA) that offers in-depth training for youth trainers to introduce the PlayFight methodology and improve their facilitation skills in order to deliver high-quality non-formal education and experiential learning programs for youth. WHY We have conducted research among our partner schema and beyond, mapping the situation of the youngsters that we are guiding to understand how they respond to the actual situation in the world. The consequences of the Covid 19 outbreak, the ongoing war conflict, the energy and economical crisis, the climate change... one wave after another, the youth are facing extreme global problems, all at once. What we see more and more often among our youth are severe emotional distress caused by increasing fear of the future that is expressed through anxieties, emotional numbness, bursts of anger, depression, feeling of hopelessness, helplessness or complete withdrawal. Young people are the ones that are called upon to bring the desired change and contribute to prosperous, democratic and cohesive societies in Europe and beyond. Though they first need to be ready to handle such an enormous amount of responsibility. For this to happen, they require to have a safe space to express their emotions and process them so they can be resilient to deal with the complexity and challenges of the current world. The formal education system is less flexible to respond quickly to these needs, but we believe that non-formal education (NFE) can provide young people opportunities to strengthen the necessary skills, and the youth trainers are there to facilitate this process. That is why we created the Into the core project to offer innovative & concrete NFE methodology that will support the youth trainers in developing their resources and competencies to create transformational and sustainable learning environments for the well-being of their targets. FOR WHOM Our participants are active members of the partner organization, youth trainers, educators, teachers, facilitators, volunteers, etc., that have previous experience in facilitating activities for young people. Most of them are working with marginalized groups of youngsters. After the common discussions, we came to the conclusion that our old and ‘always working’ tools are no longer responding to the current situation that their target groups are facing. They need innovation and immediately applicable solutions. They expressed their need to further develop their facilitation skills and renew their toolkit specifically with the PlayFight methodology that they encountered in the past (through YOUnique projects or in different contexts) and found value in it. HOW Playful fighting - PlayFight is a somatic method that uses elements of conscious work with the body & emotions and the art of honest communication. It serves the participants in two levels: As a concrete method (or elements of this method) that they can use in their international & local youth programs to offer the youngsters a safe space to express emotions (verbally and non-verbally), let go of anger (non-violently) and set up own boundaries, find win-win solutions in conflicts, build their resilience & adaptation skills, etc. As a tool to foster the most essential facilitation competencies (holding space, listening emphatically & responding to the needs of the learners, creating spaces where emotions can be shared, guiding the participants through their learning processes, using consciously own somatic expressions to bring desired impact... OBJECTIVES The 27 participants to become familiar with PlayFight methodology to support the well-being & resilience of their target groups. The 27 participants to develop their facilitation skills and bring more quality in their learning programs. To spread the PlayFight method & the learning from the Into the core project in 10 partner organizations and on a bigger scale, through the implementation phase. To provide youth organizations and youth trainers with opportunities for cooperation and peer support, fostering quality improvements in European youth work.