The "Mind the Gap: Building Mental Health Awareness in Youth Work" project aims to equip youth workers with essential mental health awareness and support strategies, enabling them to better address the well-being of young people while also safeguarding their own mental health in their professional roles. Youth work is a field that demands emotional resilience, adaptability, and the ability to provide support in often challenging environments. However, mental health remains an underexplored and underdeveloped aspect of professional youth work practice. This project seeks to close that gap. Primary Objectives: Enhancing Youth Workers’ Competences in Mental Health Awareness The project will provide youth workers with practical methodologies, tools, and strategies to identify, address, and support mental health challenges among young people in a non-formal learning context. By improving their knowledge and confidence in handling mental health-related situations, youth workers will be better prepared to create safe and supportive environments for the youth they work with. Empowering Youth Workers with Self-Care and Emotional Resilience Skills Burnout, stress, and emotional exhaustion are common risks for youth workers. This project will emphasize self-care strategies, stress management techniques, and emotional resilience-building, ensuring that youth workers learn how to protect their own well-being while supporting others. Developing Practical Non-Formal Learning Approaches for Mental Health in Youth Work Many youth workers lack access to engaging, adaptable, and effective mental health learning tools. This project will introduce innovative non-formal education methods, including experiential exercises, storytelling, group reflection, and peer mentoring, allowing youth workers to integrate mental health education seamlessly into their daily work. Strengthening the Capacity of Youth Organizations in Mental Health Integration Beyond individual learning, the project seeks to embed mental health awareness into the structures and policies of youth organizations. By equipping youth workers with scalable and transferable tools, the project ensures that mental health methodologies are not only applied by individuals but also adopted as an institutional practice across partner organizations. Fostering a European Exchange of Good Practices in Youth Mental Health Through international collaboration and knowledge exchange, youth workers from different countries will learn from each other’s experiences, challenges, and solutions in mental health support. By bringing together perspectives from Greece, Romania, Portugal, Lithuania, and Belgium, the project will create a diverse pool of insights and best practices applicable across different cultural and social contexts. Expected Impact on Youth Work Practice: Youth workers will gain confidence and competence in addressing mental health challenges, improving the quality of their interactions with young people. Organizations will integrate mental health approaches into their programming, creating more inclusive, supportive, and sustainable youth work environments. The training will contribute to reducing stigma around mental health in youth work, empowering professionals to discuss and promote emotional well-being openly. The project's methodologies and resources will remain accessible for youth workers beyond the training, ensuring long-term application and impact in non-formal education settings. Ultimately, the project bridges the gap between youth work and mental health education, ensuring that youth workers are not only aware of mental health issues but are also equipped to respond effectively, fostering a healthier and more supportive environment for young people across Europe.