Through the implementation of this project we want to respond to a clear need we have identified through our own and our partner’s present experience with the realities of youth work, and the rapidly changing dynamics of it nowadays. We have repeatedly observed a growing gap between what youth work today requires from youth workers and the type of preparation and support they receive before and also during their work with youth. Youth workers are expected to be flexible, emotionally available, creative, and responsive, often all of those things at the same time. They work with youth groups that are diverse, emotional, uncertain, often confused about the future and themselves. At the same time youth workers also work with youngsters that are active, energetic and ready to take action if guided in the right direction. In real life, given the diversity of youth and youth groups, work with young people has a tendency not to unfold exactly as planned. Groups arrive tired, closed or over-stimulated. A conflict or resistance might appear. Energy shifts, emotions surface, and unexpected situations must become part of the learning process. To work well in such conditions youth workers need the capacity to notice what is happening, to regulate themselves, and to respond consciously rather than automatically. Because of this, we believe that youth work happens in motion, and it’s important for youth workers to be able to hold and support this motion of energies and needs into the best direction to support young people’s growth and learning while still supporting themselves and their health both, physical and mental. At its core this project is built on 3 main pillars that will interweave throughout the whole project: 1. Curiosity - we believe it’s a mindset that keeps the learning alive. It helps youth workers look past first impressions, stereotypes and rather invites further exploration. “Unfolding” aims to support youth workers in reconnecting with curiosity as a mindset: the ability to question, to stay open, and to explore situations beyond what is already known or expected. 2. Challenges - something often perceived as stressful or avoidable, yet has a potential to lead people beyond the limits of their comfort or create real growth. During this project we aim to approach challenges as learning opportunities and practice fields for learning adaptability. Participants will explore how to recognise personal and group limits, how to regulate themselves in difficult moments, and how to create learning processes where challenge is present and handled with awareness. 3. Creativity - being one of the core competences for youth workers, allows them to adapt to different learning styles, respond to unexpected situations, and design meaningful learning experiences with limited resources. Throughout “Unfolding” participants will experience how creativity can be practised through experimentation, playfulness, reflection, and embodied experience. With this project, though curiosity, challenges and creativity, we aim to reach such objectives: • Strengthen youth workers’ capacity to work with uncertainty and change, supporting them in staying present, grounded, and responsive when reality does not unfold as planned. • Increase participant’s self-awareness and personal responsibility in facilitation, helping them to recognise their own patterns, reactions, limits, and resources in group settings, and understand how these influence young people and group dynamics. • Develop facilitation competences, supporting participants into designing and facilitating activities for young people by using their strengths, awareness of group dynamics and improved knowledge about non-formal education and its role in learning, and to provide participants with tools on using embodiment, nature, outdoor elements in youth work. • Support youth workers in relating differently to challenges, by practising how to meet difficulty, resistance, and emotional intensity as part of the learning process, rather than something to avoid or control. • Enhance adaptability and creative problem-solving skills, allowing participants to adjust methods, communication, and facilitation styles to different learning needs and energy levels. • Encourage a sustainable approach for work with youth, where participants learn to take care of their own physical and mental well-being while supporting the growth and learning of youth.