Finding the treasure of happiness… in Denmark!

What can make us happier than our mental health? How important is it to our well-being and how can we enhance self-care in order to enjoy our lives more? It was with thoughts like these that we started our journey to Denmark to participate in a mental health training project.

Living in nature, we created a community where everyone cared and cared about others, where we could express ourselves, share information, talk about our feelings, get out of our comfort zone and play so we could learn experientially. Thanks to our instructors, we learned a lot about stress and the hormones that make us happy, practiced mindfulness, and started using self-help techniques that push us to grow on many levels. Although we were far from home, after a while the place felt like home, as the relationships we cultivated with people through our activities made everything feel very familiar.

Every night we had fun organizing intercultural evenings, where we presented our countries through games, music and dance. This made us think how united we are in our diversity and made us create a team, a big family. It was a wonderful experience that we met people from different countries and in such a short time we bonded and felt that everywhere in the world we have people waiting for us.

We want to say a big THANK YOU to You in Europe for giving us the opportunity to develop our emotional and social skills internationally and to have this unforgettable experience.

In other words:

During the time period 13-21/4/22, the organization Copenhagen youth Network in collaboration with the organization Youth for Society Georgia and other organizations inside and outside the borders of Europe carried out a 9-day training program entitled “Developing mental Health through youth work and non-formal education” within the framework of Erasmus+ and with the funding of the European Commission. You in Europe offered the opportunity to 3 young people to
travel to Copenhagen and take part in the educational program with a central theme of mental health.

The training program aimed to provide tools and support to empower young people working with vulnerable groups. The program offered the participants a comprehensive look at the reality and the possible responses and contributed to the networking of the participating organizations.

In the first stage, 30 young people from Denmark, Germany, Italy, Greece, Ukraine, Jordan, Hungary, Turkey, Poland and Georgia participated in this educational program. During the program the participants had the opportunity to attend intensive courses that included theoretical, practical and experimental approaches.

In a second stage, after the end of the training program the trained young people will have the opportunity to put their ideas into practice at the local level and organize activities to spread ideas related to mental health, mindfulness, soul power and the possibilities of Erasmus for the youth.

During the program a toolkit was created which provides youth workers with the opportunity to understand the concept of mental health and talk about it. In addition, this toolkit provides an opportunity for youth group leaders, educators, professionals and volunteers to support the mental health sector through youth work and using non-formal educational activities to take action on mindfulness and empowerment in their own communities. the communities. The toolkit will be published on the
Copenhagen Youth Network official page and on the Salto educational portal by the end of May.

Zoe, Stavros, Christiana

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Finding the treasure of happiness…in Denmark!

What can make us happier than our mental health? How important is it for our well-being and how can we raise our self-care, in order to enjoy more our life? With thoughts like these we started our journey to Denmark to take part in a training course about mental health. Living in the nature, we created a caring community with young people, where we could express ourselves, share information, talk about our feelings, get out of our comfort zone and play, so that we could learn in an experiential way. Thanks to our trainers, we learned a lot about stress and hormones that make us happy, we practiced mindfulness and we started using new techniques to help ourselves grow on many levels. Even though we were far from home, after a while this place felt like home, as the bonds we made with the people and the place through the activities made us feel that everything was familiar. Every night, we had fun while organizing intercultural nights, where we presented our countries through games, music and dances. This made us think how united we are in our diversity and it made us build a team, a big family.

It was a lovely experience to meet people from different countries and in such a short time to bond with them and feel that everywhere in the world you have people waiting for you. We want to say a super big THANK YOU to “You in Europe” for giving us the opportunity to develop our emotional and our social skills on an international level and have this unforgettable experience.

In other words:
On April 13-21 2022, the Copenhagen youth Network began a nine-day training course “Developing mental health through youth work and non-formal education”. The training course was organized in the frames of the Erasmus plus program implemented by the Copenhagen youth network in partnership with Youth for Society Georgia, with partner organizations from Europe and Beyond with the financial support of the European Commission.

The TC aimed to offer tools and support the competence development of young professionals working with vulnerable youth. The project offered the participants a holistic view of the realities and possible responses and contributed to the capacity building of their organizations.

The first stage of the program delivered training sessions in mental health and youth work to 30 young participants from Denmark, Germany, Italy, Greece, Ukraine, Jordan, Turkey, Hungary, Poland, and Georgia. Throughout the training, participants had the opportunity to participate in very intense sessions that included theoretical, practical, and experimental learning approaches.

Upon completion of the training course, in the second phase of the project, trained youth will be able to turn their ideas into local actions and organize youth-led dissemination activities in their local communities about supporting youth mental health, mindful lifestyle, building resilience, Erasmus plus opportunities for youth.

Most importantly, within the project, a toolkit was created for youth workers, trainers, and interested individuals. This toolkit provides young professionals with opportunities to understand and speak about mental health. It also provides youth leaders, teachers, educators, professionals, and volunteers with concrete ideas to support mental health through youth work and non-formal educational activities and involves young people to take action for their mindfulness and resilience in their own way, in their own community. The toolkit will be published on the official page of Copenhagen Youth Network and educational tools portal – Salto until the end of May.

Stay tuned!

Zoi, Stavros, Christiana