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MentalIDEA: Empowering Minds for Youth Mental Health

2025-1-PT02-KA153-YOU-0003038502025Mobility of youth workersongoing
Countries: PT|GE · Grant: €31,220
Physical and mental health, well-beingInternational relations and development cooperationNew learning and teaching methods and approaches

Objectives

The reason we want to undertake this project is the pressing need to empower youth workers and their organisations to work effectively with young people with mental health issues. We want to carry out this project because we understand that the mobility of youth technicians is essential to strengthen the skills of youth technicians and, consequently, improve the quality of projects aimed at young people. Therefore, it is crucial to train youth technicians and exchange experiences between different realities to contribute to the development of new skills, methodologies and innovative approaches in working with young people. Project idea: This project aims to bring together youth workers from Portugal and Georgia, creating a space for sharing experiences and good practices, developing skills and formulating innovative strategies to address the specific challenge of mental health in young people. Our goal is to create a collaborative learning environment where youth workers can acquire new methodologies, techniques and tools to improve their professional practice. We therefore aim to ensure more effective support for young people with mental health problems, facilitating their integration and active participation in local society. The project focuses on training youth workers through non-formal learning, with the aim of strengthening their performance in the area of youth mental health. To this end, a training and exchange plan will be implemented that will allow the creation of support networks and the development of sustainable local practices. This project arises as a response to several needs identified in the work with young people and youth technicians in the area of mental health. The fundamental reasons for its implementation are: 1. The rise in mental health problems among young people, recent data indicates a significant increase in mental health problems such as anxiety, depression and burnout among young people. Many young people do not have access to adequate psychological support, so youth workers play a crucial role in promoting mental wellbeing. 2. Lack of specific training for youth coaches in this area, although youth coaches play an essential role in youth development, many do not have specific training in mental health. This project aims to empower them with tools and strategies to address emotional and psychological issues in young people. 3. Need to create a professional support network, create a structured network of youth workers focused on mental health, a community of youth workers from different countries that allows the exchange of good practices, multiple support and the continuous improvement of working methodologies. 4. Improving the quality of youth projects, as many youth projects do not include structured components for mental well-being, by training youth workers, it will be possible to integrate more effective and mental health-sensitive approaches into youth activities. 5. Strengthening the capacities of youth organizations, with this project we will help organizations to develop innovative and sustainable practices in the area of mental health, with a lasting impact, as they will allow these entities to implement more effective and replicable methodologies. 6. Promotion of non-formal learning, international experiences provide dynamic learning environments, where youth workers strengthen the exchange of good practices and methodologies, promoting innovation in the sector and the experimentation of new tools and techniques applicable to their local context. The project objectives are: 1. Empower youth workers through innovative methods and good practices in mental health; 2. Create an active community of youth technicians, promoting collaboration and knowledge exchange; 3. Develop sustainable local practices, facilitating the implementation of effective strategies in working with young people in this area; 4. Contribute to the strengthening of youth organizations by providing them with tools that promote mental health in their projects; 5. Promote the inclusion and well-being of young people by ensuring that their emotional needs are recognized and met. This project will have a lasting impact on both youth workers and the organizations involved, providing them with resources to better address youth mental health challenges. The focus on non-formal learning and creating collaborative networks will ensure that the results can be applied and replicated in the long term.orativas irá garantir que os resultados possam ser aplicados e replicados a longo prazo.

Project partners (2)