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EMBRACE - Embodied Resilience Academy for Collective Enaction

2026-1-AT01-KA153-YOU-0003968982026Mobility of youth workersongoing
Countries: AT|PT|HU|NL|DE|BG|PL · Grant: €36,859
Development of training coursesPhysical and mental health, well-beingQuality and innovation of youth work

Objectives

The project responds to the increasing complexity and pressure faced by youth workers across Europe. Youth workers are required to support young people experiencing stress, anxiety, disengagement, conflict, and uncertainty, while also fostering participation, inclusion, and democratic dialogue. At the same time, youth workers themselves face rising emotional and cognitive load, blurred professional boundaries, and risk of burnout. Many lack access to professional development that supports not only methods and activities, but their own presence, regulation, and capacity to hold challenging relational and group processes sustainably. In parallel, experiential and embodied approaches are increasingly used in youth work. However, they are often applied in fragmented or superficial ways, without sufficient understanding of embodied processes, ethical framing, or trauma sensitivity. This limits their effectiveness, reduces transfer into daily practice, and can create uncertainty or safeguarding risks. From the perspective of youth work quality and safety, there is a clear need to strengthen embodiment literacy as a coherent professional competence. The overall aim of the project is therefore to support youth workers in developing embodied awareness as a foundational competence that enhances their resilience, facilitation quality, and professional sustainability. The project focuses on strengthening how youth workers are present, relate, and respond in complex situations, as a key condition for high-quality youth work with young people. To achieve this aim, the project has the following objectives: 1. Strengthen youth workers’ resilience and professional sustainability by developing embodied self-regulation and grounding capacities that can be applied in everyday youth work practice. 2. Improve competence in facilitating safe, inclusive, and participatory group processes through embodied awareness, relational presence, and consent-based practice. 3. Build embodiment literacy by providing a coherent understanding of embodiment grounded in lived experience and scientifically grounded perspectives, reducing superficial or unsafe application of embodied methods. 4. Ensure strong transfer by equipping participants with adaptable tools, micro-practices, and session formats that can be realistically implemented in diverse youth work contexts. 5. Strengthen and further develop the previously established Embodied Resilience Network (ERN) as a community of practice, fostering continuity, peer learning, shared ethical standards, and long-term professional anchoring beyond the duration of the mobility. 6. Strengthen peer learning and European cooperation through intercultural exchange and shared reflection on youth work realities, challenges, and methods. By addressing these objectives, the project aims to contribute to youth work that is more resilient, inclusive, ethically grounded, and capable of responding to current social challenges. Strengthening youth workers’ professional capacities ultimately improves the quality, safety, and impact of youth work with young people across different European contexts

Project partners (7)