In modern societies in Europe, an increasing number of young people struggle with sedentary lifestyles, stress, burnout, and declining mental well-being. Studies highlight the increasing prevalence of anxiety and depression among youth. On the other hand, physical activities like hiking, climbing, mountaineering, can significantly boost self-confidence, problem-solving abilities, and emotional resilience (Frühauf et al., 2021). “Traditional” education and youth work often fails to engage young people, making it essential for youth work to adopt alternative, dynamic, hands-on approaches. Outdoor Adventure Education (OAE) has proven highly effective in enhancing motivation, teamwork, and personal development, especially for those struggling with conventional learning environments (Jane et al., 2022). Among OAE disciplines, rock climbing and glacier climbing stand out as attractive, engaging, socially appealing tools for fostering confidence, trust, resilience, and collaboration. This is why we have decided to use these activities as tools during the project. On Belay—named after the climbing term signaling readiness and safety—aims to create a secure and supportive learning environment where youth workers can develop the skills and methodologies needed to design impactful adventure-based learning programs. On Belay aims to enhance the quality and outreach of youth work by equipping participants—and, in turn, their organizations—with high-quality training and crucial competencies in Outdoor Adventure Education. - To reflect on the current challenges faced by young people in different parts of Europe and evaluate the role of youth work/workers in addressing these issues. - To equip participants with effective strategies, approaches, and methods for integrating Outdoor Adventure Education, particularly rock climbing and glacier climbing, into their local youth work contexts. - To showcase and adopt the benefits of rock climbing as a holistic, engaging, and sustainable approach for fostering physical, emotional, and social development among young people. - To examine, experience, and internalize the use of climbing as a tool for personal and professional growth, building confidence, resilience, and self-efficacy among young people. - To enhance participants' soft skills, such as communication, resilience, trust, teamwork, trust-building, problem-solving, and leadership, through hands-on climbing and adventure-based learning activities. - To improve participants' technical (hard) skills, including climbing, safety procedures, belaying, risk management, first aid, etc. necessary for facilitating adventure based educational programs. - To share good practices and create working network among the individuals and organizations directly involved in adventure education activities for long-term, sustainable partnerships. These educational objectives will be achieved through 2 PDAs, taking place in Georgia, summer 2025, and Norway, summer 2026. The first PDA will focus on rock climbing as a tool. During the phases, participants will have specific tasks to perform locally. The 2nd phase of the project will focus on Glacier climbing in Norway. On Belay will incorporate elements of Outdoor Adventure Education and Experiential Learning. The program will offer both theoretical insights and practical outdoor experiences, encouraging participants to fully participate in the learning process and take responsibility for their own educational outcomes.