Empoweryouth: Enhancing Youth Mental Wellbeing

Here is an article about the Empower YOUth project, featuring some interesting facts ✏️

You can find both the Italian and English versions on the website 🌐

EmpowerYOUth lavora ogni giorno per portare nelle scuole spazi sicuri di dialogo, educazione emotiva e crescita relazionale continua.

Attraverso approcci scientifici, la classe docente e le figure operanti nel settore giovanile stanno sperimentando consapevolezza emotiva, gestione dello stress, sviluppo delle competenze relazionali.

Vuoi saperne di più? Leggi l’articolo 👉 https://danilodolci.org/notizie/empoweryouth-intelligenza-emotiva-scuole/

Piloting of the EmpowerYouth programme has been ongoing in Iceland, Bulgaria and Italy since beginning of February 2026. The new course is being piloted among over 600 young people 14-17 years old in, 13 schools and 27 classes in these countries.

ПОКАНА
представяне на проекта EmpowerYOUth в рамките на „Диалогично пространство“ на Катедра „Философия“

Уважаеми колеги, преподаватели по философия и гражданско образование,

Радваме се да съобщим, че проектът EmpowerYOUth ще бъде представен пред колеги от общността по философско и гражданско образование по време на първата за 2026 г. среща от проекта „Диалогично пространство“ на Катедра „Философия“ (СУ „Св. Климент Охридски“). Каним ви да се включите в среща, насочена към обмен на практики и към конкретни, приложими дейности за насърчаване на младежката гражданска активност и благополучие.

Дата: 21 януари 2026 г.

Час: 18:00 ч.

Място: аудитория 404, 4-ти блок, кампус „Изток“, СУ „Св. Климент Охридски“

Представянето ще бъде в формат практическа работилница, водена от Елица Тодорова, преподавател по гражданско образование в ЧОУ „СофтУни Будител“. Заедно ще изпробваме интерактивни дейности и учебни материали, разработени по EmpowerYOUth: укрепване на устойчивостта и психическото благополучие на младежите в цяла Европа. Проектът се осъществява в България от Национална школа по мениджмънт.

Заповядайте да се срещнем, да обменим работещи подходи и да си тръгнем с идеи, които могат да влязат в клас още на следващия ден.

🚀 From training to practice: preparing for piloting EmpowerYOUth

A central focus of the Italy training was preparing youth workers for the piloting phase of EmpowerYOUth in their own contexts.

Participants worked on:

adapting activities to different groups of young people,

collaborating with schools and partner organisations,

developing national implementation plans,

reflecting on ethical and practical aspects of working with sensitive topics.

The learning journey continued with a 3-hour online follow-up session, supporting reflection, exchange of experiences, and confidence in implementation.

Together, these steps lay the foundation for piloting EmpowerYOUth across Europe and strengthening long-term support for young people’s mental wellbeing.

💬 Learning by doing: inside the EmpowerYOUth training

During the training in Italy, youth workers explored the EmpowerYOUth framework, its modules, and tools through hands-on facilitation, group reflection, and experiential methods.

Sessions were facilitated by partners from different countries, offering diverse perspectives while working within a shared methodology. Participants engaged with topics such as school stress, anxiety, loneliness, relationships, social media, money, and mental health.

The programme also included outdoor and embodied learning sessions, supporting deeper reflection and connection between learning and practice.

The focus was not only on what to deliver, but on how to create safe, inclusive, and meaningful learning spaces for young people.

🌍 EmpowerYOUth international training in Italy 🌍

In October 2025, the EmpowerYOUth project reached an important milestone with the delivery of an in-person international training for youth workers, hosted in Italy, followed by an online follow-up session.

A total of 32 youth workers from partner countries took part in a 2–3 day intensive training focused on mental wellbeing, resilience, and meaningful work with young people aged 14–18.

The training combined theory, experiential learning, reflection, and practical preparation for piloting the EmpowerYOUth approach in real youth and school contexts.

This was a key step in strengthening the capacity of youth workers to address topics that matter most to young people today.

How does incorporating I-YOU into EmpowerYOUth give youth workers and youth actionable exercises? Just like this! Take a moment today to build a new habit of appreciation.

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🌍 EmpowerYOUth: Strengthening Youth Resilience Across Europe! 🌍

Last week, we officially launched EmpowerYOUth: Enhancing Youth Mental Wellbeing, an Erasmus+ funded project designed to equip youth workers with the skills and tools they need to support young people (14-18) in building resilience and coping mechanisms.

💡 Why is this important?
Young people today face growing challenges—stress, loneliness, financial worries,anxiety, social media, and more. Through EmpowerYOUth, we’re helping youth workers engage youth in important dialogue about these sometimes difficult subjects and developing practical, resources to help youth workers support adolescents in navigating them.

💬 At our first transnational partner meeting in Reykjavik, Iceland, partners from 🇮🇸 Iceland (Píeta Samtökin & NORTH Consulting Reykjavik), 🇧🇬 Bulgaria (National Management School), and 🇮🇹 Italy (Centro per lo sviluppo creativo Danilo Dolci) came together for an intensive 2-day workshop where we thought together to:

✅ Map the needs of youth, youth workers & parents.
✅ Review youth surveys identifying key concerns: financial literacy, loneliness, and school stress.
✅ Integrate insights from BUILD (a resilience-focused curriculum piloted in Iceland & Lithuania) and I.You (a self-coaching wellbeing app for youth workers).

🚀 This is just the beginning! Through our continual cross-cultural collaboration, EmpowerYOUth will provide youth workers with a powerful curriculum to help young people build stronger mental wellbeing, resilience, and coping skills.
📢 Stay tuned as we develop more practical resources to support youth across Europe!