The project “My Roots and Rivers” aims to enhance the personal capacity of youth workers and equip them with innovative methods and competencies applicable to and inspiring the work with disadvantaged and marginalised youth. Through training of the youth workers, we aim to empower young people, especially from vulnerable groups, to realise their potential and find constructive engagement in society, becoming active agents in their own lives and contributing to the wider community. Through this project, our partnership is responding to the modern problem of many young people choosing to disengage from societal processes, experiencing social anxiety and mental health problems, struggling with despair regarding global problems without seeing how to contribute to a positive change, or turning towards radical actions and extremism. In modern Europe, where youth should be playing an active role in development and democratic life, we observe historically low employment and engagement among the youth, and associated with it societal problems. The project offers leading-edge methodology for youth workers for supporting and catalising psychological and societal development of young people – especially among youth with fewer opportunities: in particular those with educational problems, neurodivergency challenges, immigrant background, ethnical and cultural minorities, school drop-outs, LGBTQ+, and groups at risk of radicalisation. The project offers a model and active training of an innovative personal development methodology adapted to the field of youth work, based on outdoor activities and nature-based methods combined with self-discovery maps, storytelling, cognitive and somatic (body-integrating) activities, creative expression, trust-building activities, and healthy approaches from developmental psychology. The transformative and empowering quality of the nature-based methodology employed in this training has proven to significantly enhance self-confidence and participatory leadership qualities, strengthen mental health, empower active participation in society, develop an inclusive attitude, and inspire to realise professional, societal, and personal achievements among the youth. The name “My Roots and Rivers” refers to the strong nature-based element of the training, and to individual development of personal inner “structures” and qualities – helping youth workers to grow strong (“roots”) and remain adaptable and flexible (“rivers”) – enabling more professional capacity for supporting others (particularly disadvantages and marginalised youth) in their developmental processes. THE PROJECT AIM: To increase the capacity and competences of youth workers and educators to support sustainable individual development of young people, especially among disadvantaged groups, to reduce behavioural and psychological problems (educational difficulties, mental health issues, school dropout, social exclusion, radicalisation, etc.), and engage the youth in the wider society. THE PROJECT OBJECTIVES: – Train youth workers in a comprehensive methodology to support the developmental needs of youth not met within the educational system – specifically among disadvantaged, and vulnerable youth (culturally marginalised groups, with mental health problems, immigrant background, school drop-outs, LGBTQ+, groups at risk of radicalization); – Develop youth workers’ competences and personal capacity that enable them to support young people in complex personal processes, helping to reveal their full potential and navigate personal crises, to empower them to become active citizens in society; – Hands-on practice of innovative methods by youth workers, such as somatic (physical) practices, storytelling, trust-building community tools, and psychological techniques for the individual support of young people's development, for empowerment, self-realisation and social inclusion; – Develop practical sessions by youth workers based on the methodology presented, but adapted to their specific target groups and the local community they work with; – Strengthen tools and mainstream the culture of inclusion of marginalised and vulnerable groups: understanding the value of their experience and ways to integrate it for the benefit of the group, beyond just acceptance or tolerance; – Create an environment for the development of core values for youth workers in their work: community, respect, empathy, inclusion, solidarity, and active citizenship; – Promote an environmental attitude and responsible behaviour among the youth through the use of nature-based methods; – Through the dissemination of the project results, to mainstream nature-based methods for youth work, and inspire more youth work with disadvantaged, marginalised and vulnerable youth; – Create a long-lasting inter-cultural community of youth workers equipped with digital tools and a structure to keep learning and exchanging their experiences.