From Inside Out

By JL • 2 years ago

Jul
2023

1 September, 2023 – 31 August, 2024
Erasmus+

We’re happy to announce that we became a partner in an Erasmus+ project From inside out (Slovenia, Spain, Greece, Portugal, Iceland).

Project “Inside Out” has the main objective to empower youth workers from 5 Eureopean countries to initiate a positive dialog around the topics of mental health and well being with young people from their local communities with the ultimate goal of mitigating the effects of mental health stigma, misinformation, and lack of resources felt by youngsetrs from these countries. In this project Non Formal Education (NFE) methods and new approaches will be used to facilitate the dialogue on mental health topics, thus improving the access of young people to valid information and resources that can positively impact their health and well-being. Particular attention will be given to groups at risk of mental health issues and/or social exclusion. Therefore, the NFE methods, resources and activities developed throughout the project will take these groups’ needs and feedback into consideration. The materials provided should be inclusive and accessible to all youngsters facing cultural, social or economic barriers.

What are we doing and what are the outcomes?

Development of participants’ soft and hard skills (e.g. collaborative work, research, NFE methods), acquisition of new tools to promote good quality youth work by organisations’ staff and other local youth workers, development of efficient strategies to disseminate information in order to reach the target groups more efficiently, raised awareness on general mental health & well-being topics, expanded network of partners.

How was the partnership formed? What are the strengths that each partner will bring to the project?

This partnership was formed during a 7-day Partnership Building Activity (PBA) organised by Psientífica, in January 2023.The other 4 POs have been cooperating with Psientífica for at least 1 year, so Psientífica was the common link connecting new partners. At least one staff member from all the involved POs of this project took part in the PBA, and that is where the idea for this project was born and drafted.

SEEDS‘ biggest strength is their experience in hosting international volunteers and providing them with the opportunity of improving creativity, organisational, social and entrepreneurial skills through projects around the island in partnership with a network of local hosts and municipalities. Currently, there are 4 local youngsters actively involved in community projects with SEEDS, focused on health & well-being, solidarity and intercultural learning:

EPEKA’s work has been connected to the integration and inclusion of vulnerable youth for more than 14 years. They bring in a lot of experience in E+ projects focused on fighting social exclusion and discrimination of minority groups, as well as empowering vulnerable groups:
https://epeka.si/en/?s=antigypsyism
https://epeka.si/en/?s=social+integration
https://epeka.si/en/?s=employability+of+vulnerable+groups

At Maracena’s Youth Space they are very experienced in developing new NFE methods to involve local youngsters in European programmes. They work with school-aged children into their young adulthood. With the support of the Municipality, they have an array of resources that allow them to reinforce the City Council’s policies in education, youth and equality.

Psientífica brings in staff expertise in the areas of education and psychology. Their intervention is based on NFE for the development of social and personal competencies. Their early childhood projects focus on: physical education, languages, emotions, mathematical thinking, and arts.
They bring in vast experience in working with primary schools, the Municipality, and implementing successful national and international projects in the field of youth.

You in Europe are very experienced in the use of NFE methods and activities. Particularly, they wish to share their good practices during Covid-19 when volunteers created a broadcast. The goal was to share information on how people could improve their indoor time, during quarantine. A lot of people engaged with the radio and shared that this activity helped them fight mental health issues, such as loneliness and isolation. The youth are still very active using this as a powerful NFE tool for mental health protection.

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