Wellbeing4Youth: Building Resilience Together Across Europe

Youth mental health in Europe is in crisis. Across our five partner countries, the numbers tell a sobering story: in Poland, only 30% of students have access to a school psychologist, with one specialist serving an average of 1,900 pupils. In Greece, over 40% of young adults report chronic stress linked to unemployment. In Romania, more than a third of young people give up on psychological support because of the cost. In North Macedonia, entire rural regions have no counselling services at all. In southern Italy, more than 35% of young people show signs of burnout.

Before designing this project, our five partner organisations surveyed more than 700 young people in their local communities. The results confirmed what we suspected: 62% struggle to cope with stress, 48% rate their self-esteem as low, 37% have never accessed any form of psychological support, and over half want to learn relaxation and mindfulness techniques but simply have no way to access them where they live.

Wellbeing4Youth responds directly to this gap. From 10–16 May 2026, 30 young people from Poland, Italy, Greece, Romania and North Macedonia will come together at a training centre surrounded by nature near Warsaw for a week built around non-formal education: mindfulness and breathing techniques, movement and theatre-based methods (image theatre, forum theatre, trust exercises), creative and artistic activities, and outdoor, eco-conscious practices.

Participants aren't passive attendees — they helped shape this project from the start, running local surveys, proposing workshop ideas, and taking the lead in organising activities during the exchange itself. Every session is designed with inclusion in mind: seated and no-contact variants, plain-language instructions, and the option to take part without appearing on camera. Ten of the thirty participants are young people facing additional barriers — economic, geographic, health-related, or social — and receive dedicated support to ensure their full participation.

The exchange itself is just the beginning. Participants leave with a personal Youthpass certificate, a toolkit of ten inclusive exercises, an online handbook of mindfulness and ecological practices, and the skills to run their own peer-led workshops back home. In the three months following the exchange, partner organisations will run at least 15 local events reaching over 400 young people directly — and thousands more online — turning one week of shared experience into a lasting network of wellbeing across Europe.

• Improved mental wellbeing — at least 80% of participants will learn and apply a mindfulness or relaxation technique in daily life

• Increased self-esteem — average participant self-assessment scores will rise by at least 30% (measured with the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale)

• Stronger social and intercultural skills — 70% of participants will confirm progress in at least three key competence areas via Youthpass (e.g. teamwork, communication, cultural awareness)

• Lasting, shareable resources — an online handbook of mindfulness and ecological techniques, an educational game, and a promotional video on mental health, freely available to the wider community

• Digital skills growth — at least 60% of participants will learn the basics of video and graphic content creation, publishing a minimum of three materials online

• Greater ecological awareness — 80% of participants will be able to name at least three everyday practices that support sustainable living

• Stronger social and conflict-resolution skills — 75% of participants will report improved group-work and conflict-resolution abilities after the project