The main objective of the MIND project is to strengthen mental health practices within VET and improve learners’ emotional well-being. These objectives are being achieved through the collaboration of ADICE and the project partners, who have structured four specific objectives (SO) aimed at producing effective and innovative results (R): • SO1: Identify needs and expectations regarding mental health in the VET sector. • SO2: Enable VET professionals to adopt mental health practices within their organisations. • SO3: Raise VET learners’ awareness of mental health and integrate emotional well-being into their training and international mobility projects. • SO4: Support VET learners in developing their emotional, cognitive, and social skills. Within this framework, the following expected results have been developed: • R1: Dissemination of mental health needs at EU level. • R2: Engagement of VET professionals towards adopting mental health practices. • R3: Increased awareness of mental health among VET learners. • R4: Implementation of mental health practices by VET learners.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, VET learners have been facing increasing mental health challenges, affecting their education, career paths, and social relationships. Today, young people are 30 to 80% more likely to experience a mental health condition. The European Union has made mental health a priority, emphasising in its latest report on youth mental health and emotional well-being that “young people’s mental health requires continuous attention and support in ‘normal’ times, and the measures implemented during the pandemic must be sustained in the long term.” In response to these challenges, the MIND project addresses the following needs: • Development of practices in VET: Promoting mental health practices, particularly in the context of international mobility projects. • Inclusion through mental health: Integrating inclusive pedagogical innovations for all VET learners. • Tools for well-being: Equipping professionals to promote socio-emotional well-being within their organisations. • European dynamic for mental health in VET: Facilitating a shared understanding of mental health at the European level.