The project aimed to empower disadvantaged youth by providing them with innovative visual tools for emotional self-development, thereby increasing their self-esteem, emotional literacy and resilience. A key objective was to create and promote the use of Emotionography—an interactive, multilingual guide that supports young people in understanding and expressing their emotions through visual storytelling. Another important goal was to enhance the capacities of youth workers, equipping them with inclusive and creative methodologies to become effective guides for young people’s emotional growth. By facilitating participatory visits, training sessions and local workshops, the project sought to create meaningful intercultural exchanges and foster collaborative learning. In the long term, the project aimed to build a stronger, more inclusive youth work infrastructure by embedding the Emotionography method into the everyday practice of NGOs, schools and youth centers. The project also aspired to inspire further innovation and replication by making all materials freely accessible and adaptable.
The project was initiated to address the unmet emotional and developmental needs of young people with fewer opportunities, who often face exclusion due to socio-economic hardship, migration, disability or ethnic background. These conditions limit their chances for self-expression, self-reflection and active community participation. Traditional educational methods and youth work approaches are often insufficient to reach these groups, especially when language or cultural barriers exist. The consortium identified visual arts—particularly photography and storytelling—as powerful, inclusive tools for building resilience, emotional literacy and personal development. The project therefore aimed to create innovative methodologies that would enable young people to explore and manage their emotions, while also training youth workers to become effective guides in this process. Through the development of an interactive self-development book, participatory visits, training sessions and workshops, the project addressed the lack of creative and accessible resources in youth work, ensuring long-term impact for both youth empowerment and professional youth work practices.