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CoME AS YOU are

2024-1-SI02-KA153-YOU-0001987262024Mobility of youth workersfinalized
Countries: SI|HU|IT|EL|HR|EE|RS|DE|ES|BG · Grant: €39,131
Community developmentNew learning and teaching methods and approachesPhysical and mental health, well-being

Objectives

The main goal of this training was to expand youth workers' awareness in creating safe and supportive environments for young people—especially for those from vulnerable groups—where they can express themselves, connect, and develop peer support. The training aimed to highlight the importance of fostering young people's personal and social skills, emotional intelligence, creativity, self-confidence, and ultimately, body and nature intelligence. It focused on exploring ways to support youth in deepening their self-awareness, personal growth, and relationships with others through movement, presence, and emotional literacy. Another core objective was to build knowledge on how to create supportive environments that enhance protective factors for youth—spaces where they feel safe to express, share, and connect with empathy, while nurturing peer-to-peer support. We also focused on developing understanding and relationships around social inclusion, diversity, and sustainability in youth work, as well as learning how to apply these concepts when working with young people with fewer opportunities. Youth workers were equipped with tools and knowledge for innovative methods of working with young people: using experiential movement-based practices, mirroring, creative and artistic media, and the natural environment. They learned not only how to apply these methods to support the goals mentioned above, but also how to adapt them to their specific needs and objectives. We explored new practices for encouraging creativity and authentic self-expression through different media, and how these practices can help develop young people’s personal and social skills—emotional and social intelligence, personal development and self-reflection, body intelligence, creativity, and self-confidence—especially in the context of working with youth facing mental health challenges, young people with fewer opportunities, and in fostering social inclusion. Participants learned new ways to connect with their bodies and to harness the transformative power of movement and attunement practices to build presence, awareness, and connection with others. They developed skills related to emotional expression, self-empathy, empathetic listening, and emotional self-regulation—essential tools for supporting and guiding vulnerable youth. Through these methods, we also deepened the learning of compassion—for oneself, for others, for nature, community, and the broader ecosystem. Our intention was to enable youth workers to use these approaches in a thoughtful, intuitive, adaptable, and compassionate way—attuned to the needs of individuals and group dynamics. We focused on developing participants’ competencies that empower them to act with confidence and strengthen their personality and mental well-being. We also explored the importance of community support as a protective network, and how to nurture empathy, a sense of belonging, and peer support. Practically, the aim of the training was to provide participants with concrete, innovative methods that help them create safe and supportive spaces and encourage creativity and authentic expression. The training also offered a space for sharing inspiring and innovative practices from partner organizations that use movement, art media, and nature as tools for holistic learning, youth development, and support for vulnerable or at-risk youth.

Project partners (12)