"The project “Inclusive Bridges to future - Empowerment, Gender, Culture” (shortly: Bridges) consisted of 4 different activities all belonging to the overarching field of international and inclusive educational work. Partly through the settings of the workshops and partly through the topics, participants of all 4 activities where dealing with various forms of exclusion: disability, gender, culture, ethnicity and religion being just some of the topics that where the center of their work. An important goal in this educational project was implementing human rights as providing education for all. Along with the YIE inclusion strategy it was important to shape the program in such a way that would allow new audience to actively participate.Further project‘s objectives where:- Disseminating and implementing inclusion - Integrating new target groups in the international youth exchange program- Facilitating encounters between people who are unlikely to meet in their everyday lives - Promoting understanding for diversity, opportunities and possibilities to show the variety of our society- Strengthening and empowering young people from different countries, increasing their employability- Learning about the way exclusion works through the methods of non-formal education.The following activities were implemented within the framework of the project ""Bridges"":A1 Bridges: Traditions und Customs (VBT 19-21.09.2015)Project date: 01.-07.12.2014Participants: 46 People from GE, PL and CZ, including 29 young people with various backgrounds and disabilities. Project content: The project used the opportunity presented by the Advent season as a thematic anchor point to discuss the intercultural diversity.During the creative workshop the participants practiced how to make traditional pastries, learned international Christmas carols and many other international, national and individual customs. In this way we wanted to show the diversity and different cultural dimensions. Everybody could choose different activities from the variety offered and thus shape their own experiences. We created festive decorations, took photos and made postcards with winter motives. The project finished on the 6th of December with a festive meal and visit from Santa Claus. Project results: We selected 7 motives created by participants and printed them as postcards.A2 Bridges: GirlsProject date: 09.-15.08.2015 (VBT19.-21.06.2015)Participants: 44 female participants, including 30 young girls from different backgrounds from GE, PL, CZ, HR.Project description: During the youth meeting “Girls” participants took part in two Wendo workshops with experienced trainers. Wendo promotes assertiveness among girls, gives them confidence and shows the dignified way to deal with their own borders. In addition to doing Wendo the accompanying facilitators offered their own workshops and program such as: Football, “Strong women in history”, “Youth on flight”, ”DIY” and “body percussion”. This way every participant could contribute something to the program, share their knowledge, talent and experience recognition and appreciation. A3 Bridges: CirkusProject date: 04.-10.05.2015 (VBT 06.-08.02.2015)Participants: 56 people from GE, PL, LT and RO, including 40 young people with various backgrounds and disabilities. Project content: This inclusive, international project works uses the method of circus pedagogy. Young people have learned different circus disciplines and then had the opportunity to specialize in chosen discipline, in the small mixed group. As a result of the various workshops between the young people cooperation and mutual responsibility arose. In addition to promoting physical fitness and coordination skills of the young people, the circus workshop had a lot of positive effects and influence on personal development and strengthening the self-consciousness. A4 Under Construction: Gender Based EducationProject date: 17.-22.04.2015Participants: 30 international education professionals from GE, PL, HR, RO, TRProject description: The goal of this workshop is to look at the international inclusive youth education through the lenses of gender-sensitive pedagogy. The intensive exchange was possible thanks to variety of countries and perspectives of our participants. Very important resource were the participants’ experiences.During the training participants were given detailed introduction to the gender-sensitive education, learned and reflected on the new methods. Moreover two experts offered their workshop: the first one allowing a deeper insight into the educational work with boys, and the second, ""Rhetoric of Sexism"", sensitizing the participants for the use of language."

Model International Criminal Court (MICC) is an innovative approach to human rights education. The project proposed by seven partner organizations from Bosnia, Croatia, Germany, Netherlands, Poland, Serbia, and Ukraine encompasses two youth meetings of 89 youth (aged between 15 and 20) and training for 21 youth workers. During the training course in Kreisau/Krzyzowa (Poland) the youth workers have the possibility, to learn in depth about the method MICC and to exchange good practice in human rights education with youth. After the training, they could apply the new method in the youth meetings. During seven days of the youth meetings that took place in Krzyzowa (PL), the young participants took over the roles of prosecutors, defenders, judges, and journalists and dealt with historical cases that had been heard before international tribunals (Nuremberg trials, ICTY and ICTR). The language of communication was English. With the help of the project MICC, the young participants had approached the problems related to the protection of Human Rights, the basic concept of justice and the rule of law. MICC encouraged young people to learn about Human Rights and their implementation within the frame of international criminal law. At the same time, they were familiarizing themselves with domestic affairs of justice. Participants had a chance to learn how to raise awareness in their daily life and to understand themselves as part of active European citizenship. It raised the European consciousness of the young participants as well it underlined the achievements of a democratic and peaceful European confederation. Our participants were strengthened in order to stand up for maintaining democratic principles. Through critical reflection and exchange, the young participants have learned to understand and accept different point of views. With its multinational character and teamwork, the MICC lays the foundation for intercultural dialogue and mutual understanding between participants with different nationalities and cultures. In addition, the MICC encouraged to continue the international cooperation among all partner organizations. The mobility of young people and youth workers was promoted. The project partners were contributing to an intercultural dialogue. With the help of the mutual project, a sustainable international network was created. It will serve as a foundation for the exchange of knowledge and methods in the field of non-formal education and will lead to a lasting discussion about topics and research connected to Human Rights and the ICC. The two short movies and two editions of newspapers were created by the press team and a manual about the MICC methods (OER), which supported a wide range of dissemination of project results and informed about contents of the project.

“Once upon today… in Europe” was a training for multiplyers from Estonia, Germany, Moldava, Poland and Ukraine working in the field of historical and political education. They got the opportunity to deal with historical narratives concerning Europe in the countries they were coming from. Narratives include myths, official presentations in texts and images, but especially commonly cultural shared interpretations of important historical events of one nation. 2015 the 70th anniversary of the end of the Second World War took place. This anniversary served as an occasion to deal intensively with the historical narratives in participants’ home countries and the European Integration. The most important objective of the project was initiating an intercultural dialogue that is based on a deepened understanding of the perception and interpretation of past and future in the participating countries. At the same time the training encouraged to reflect on one’s identity in a European society which is shaped by migration and diversity and to develop an understanding and tolerance towards living together with people having different national, ethnical and religious backgrounds. During the training youth workers developed methods based on non-formal education in the field of European cultures of remembering, under taking into consideration innovative and learner concentrated pedagogical approaches. Youth workers used these methods and carry on working with them in their own field of work with young people in their local communities. As one consequence of the training multiplyers developed micro projects that will be carried out and realized in their field of work. Those micro projects are documented and constantly updated on a project blog. Additionally it serves to exchange experiences and ideas among the participants.

"Since summer 2015 flight and refugees are Europe-wide one of the main topics in politics, media and also in the societal debate. In 2017 there were 65,6 Mio. people forcible displaced worldwide. With millions of refugees arriving in Europe by overland routes or via sea, the current debate takes place more frequently in our international youth meetings. The project ""Together for Europe"" brings together 30 young people between 15 and 19 years from Germany, Poland and Greece to discuss in workshops and a simulation game about flight to Europe. The youth meeting takes place from December 10th until December 14th, 2018 in the International Youth Meeting Center Krzyzowa and provides a platform for the exchange of views and opinions about the current situation and developments, reasons and causes for flight. The diverse geographical, social and cultural backgrounds of the young people provide an opportunity to get to know different perspectives and learn about different experiences as well as common values like freedom and tolerance in order to sensitize them for different opinions, perspectives and positions on the topics flight and migration. During a simulation game the participants tackle their roles as citizens of the European Union and simulate a summit of the European Council on the topic of the European Asylum and Refugee Policy. The goals of the simulation are the exchange of different positions, getting to know the work of the European Council as well as European decision making processes and the improvement of debating and discussion skills of the participants. The simulation game is the basis for further discussions about topics like participation, active citizenship and political involvement as well as respecting human rights and the discussion about common European values."

<< Objectives >>According to the WHO, mental disorders and other mental problems are among the greatest challenges of the 21st century. Unfortunately, health systems are not prepared yet to treat all people in need of help and to address their needs adequately. Moreover, mental health is still a widely tabooed topic, which hinders open dialogue about the issue. This is quite concerning – especially when taking into account that thousands of people in Europe and across the world die prematurely due to mental disorders. Mental health problems can affect anyone – directly or indirectly, irrespective of age, gender or social status. Dealing with this topic is especially challenging with people affected by social disadvantages or disabilities. Due to a lack of knowledge and systematic assistance, these groups are often left to themselves and thus feel lost. This worsens untreated mental disorders even further. The project “YWMH” is a response to all these challenges the world is facing with regard to mental health. It is designed to provide support in those areas where the existing systems have thus far been unable to find solutions on a structural level. The project fosters mental health of young people, especially of those affected by disadvantages and disabilities, as well as of youth workers who are working together with those groups. The project raises awareness for the importance of mental health in the field of youth work, thus supporting the wellbeing of young people and youth workers. By focusing on mental health, the project includes the civil society in the public debate about the issue. In doing so, it aims at finding new approaches to the topic, which ideally will be included into daily working routines. There has been a demand for new problem solving approaches for quite some time already. In view of potential impacts of the corona-crisis on mental health, the search for new solutions has only gained in relevance. The consequences of the crisis are not conceivable yet. However, it is already clear that the present experience of isolation could make feelings of anxiety a part of everyday life for many people. When the crisis has passed, the world will not only have to deal with its economic consequences, but also with its mental ones – and dealing with the latter might very well be the harder task.The project “YWMH” consists of ten international activities: Three inclusive youth exchanges, three APVs, and four seminars for youth workers. The common goal of all ten activities is to give young people and youth workers the opportunity of making themselves more familiar with the topic. In the long term, this shall lead to less stigmatization and discrimination, which people affected by mental disorders have to face. Additionally, the activities also have a preemptive effect with regard to mental health issues – both on an individual and on a structural level. More generally, the project aims at promoting activities focused on this topic, initiating dialogue and taking responsibility for the mental health of young people. During the project, we will collect key concepts connected with the mental health of young people. These concepts will later be used to spread knowledge and skills in the public debate to increase the protection and fosterage of the mental health of young people (especially those affected by disadvantages and disabilities) and youth workers. During the project activities, the participants will get to know various methods which facilitate the understanding of one’s own emotions, resilience and relaxation.The seminars address youth workers and especially aim at their professional training. After the project, all the experiences gathered during the seminars and youth exchanges will naturally be incorporated into the everyday work of the participating youth workers. There, they can be shared with colleagues, which supports an ongoing discussion of the topic and contributes to the sustainability of the project. The project “YWMH” can be regarded as a big investment in human resources. Societies will profit greatly from these kinds of investments in the future – especially in the sense that they increase the wellbeing of their members.<< Activities >>The project “YWMH” consists of ten activities: four seminars for youth workers, three youth exchanges and three APVs.A1 (10th-13th December 2020), A3 (13th-16th May 2021), and A4 (15th-18th July 2021) are seminars for youth workers. They come from Germany, Poland, Czech Republic, Croatia, Turkey, Estonia and work with young people in their respective country. 26 persons will participate in each seminar, and the staff members of each partner organization will participate in at least one of these. The seminars have different thematic focal points, all of which are connected to the needs of youth workers in the field of mental health. The participants can choose between the following seminars: Mental Health in the Area of Youth Work – Challenges and Solutions, Self-Care in the Area of Youth Work, Mental Support for Young People.A2 (25th-28th February 2021) is a seminar for 26 professionals from the field of international youth work. International youth workers form Germany and Poland, most of whom are active as trainers in international youth exchanges, will participate in the seminar. It aims at providing youth workers with an opportunity to learn more about self-care and enabling them to take better care of their own mental health during youth exchanges. On an institutional level, the seminar helps to get an overview of challenges connected to mental health issues in the area of international youth work. The information gathered during the seminar will later be incorporated into the partner organizations’ public discourses. The seminar is a follow up of the Erasmus+ project “Get involved!” (2018-2019), which was a series of professional trainings for people from Poland and Germany working as trainers in the field of international youth work. During the seminar, both new and experienced trainers will acquaint themselves with various methods designed to improve their own working conditions.All four seminars will lead to increased professionalization of youth workers. They impart knowledge, competences, and skills that are useful when working together with young people and can help to deal with stress in a better way. The seminars support the participants’ search for new solutions for their respective organizations regarding challenges connected to mental health. In doing so, they promote a more open-minded approach to the topic.A7, A8, and A10 are international inclusive youth exchanges, titled “How are You?”. They follow a similar concept: The young participants will learn to observe and express their own emotions and thoughts, while also getting to know various relaxation techniques. The applied methods are designed to enable young people to reducing their inner emotional strain. This concept will be tried with different groups of young people. Due to the constellation of partner organizations, the groups will vary with regard to age, experiences, and living environments of the participating young people. The majority of participants of all three youth exchanges has experienced various forms of disadvantages connected to social, economic, geographic or health-related obstacles. In many cases, these disadvantages are also tied to educational difficulties, including restricted access to different forms of education, especially on an international level.The same youth workers who will have taken part in the seminars A1-A4 will take part in the youth exchanges. They can thereby directly apply their newly gained knowledge in an international working environment. The youth exchanges will also provide an additional opportunity for the youth workers to acquaint themselves with techniques to support young people in dealing with mental health issues. Those techniques can then be shared with colleagues in their respective organisations.A7 (27th November to 2nd December 2021) is a youth exchange with 32 participants (aged 15-20) from Germany, Poland and Turkey. A8 (16th-21st January 2022) is a youth exchange for girls, in which 32 young female participants (aged 13-18) from Germany, Poland, Croatia and Czech Republic. The last youth exchange, A10 (24th-29th April 2022) addresses 32 young people (aged 13-15) from Germany, Poland, Czech Republic and Estonia.In order to guarantee a high-quality preparation of all youth exchanges, each one of them will be preceded by an APV, during which questions concerning logistics and content can be discussed with the partner organizations. The APVs will take place in Warsaw and Berlin, respectively. The seminars and youth exchanges will take place on the premises of the International Youth Meeting Centre in Kreisau (Poland) and in the Trebnitz Castle Education and Exchange Centre (Germany).<< Impact >>The project deals with the topic of mental health and focuses on the target groups of young people and youth workers. The results will have an impact on the individual level of the participants, the institutional level of their organizations and networks, as well as the societal level in general.The youth exchanges “How are You?” will provide their participants various methods to help them maintaining their mental wellbeing and which they can apply in their everyday lives independently after the project. By getting in contact with young people from other countries, the participants will become more open-minded towards others and more willing to be part of an international dialogue. Because most of the participants are affected by a disability and/or disadvantage, their participation in the project cannot be taken for granted. They are still under-represented in international educational activities and the project counter this under-representation by addressing them as a target group.All youth exchanges of the project are based on a similar concept, though the constellation of partners differs from meeting to meeting. Therefore, each group consists of many different participants and the project can address a variety of target groups. After the youth exchanges, the participants will share their experiences with their local peers so that many more people will benefit from the project indirectly. In this way, the general consciousness for the importance of the topic of mental health will be increased.The second target group of the project are youth workers. The seminars are designed to support them by sharing knowledge and competences regarding questions of self-care in this specific working environment. This will presumably lead to improved working conditions and a professionalization in the field of youth work.Because of the heterogeneity of the participants, the project addresses a number of target groups in the field of youth work. This makes it possible to observe, identify, and connect a large variety of mental health-related challenges in the area of youth work, thus obtaining a detailed picture of the present situation. The results of the project can later be used by the partner organizations and their networks to come up with new solutions for fostering the mental health of their youth workers and young people. Apart from the more long term and structural impacts of the project, it will also have a direct positive effect on the mental health of the participants.Moreover, the partner organizations themselves will profit from their participation in the project, as well. During the activities, the participants get to know various methods and techniques that can improve mental health. The acquired competences will immediately affect their everyday work. Additionally, they will share their experiences with colleagues, friends and other networks, thus raising awareness for the topic of mental health (of young people and youth workers) among their organizations and networks. This will also intensify the creation of new problem solving approaches and structures aimed at fostering mental health. For some partner organizations, the topic of mental health will thereby be noticed, discussed and dealt with on an institutional level for the first time. Therefore, the project supports the creation of long-term community structures that can foster mental health and can campaign for addressing issues surrounding it in an open manner.By dealing with the topic of mental health, the project contributes to decreasing its tabooing, stigmatization and the discrimination against people affected by mental disorders.The project promotes mental health as a basis for societal wellbeing. It opens doors where there is a need for new solutions, because there are no well functioning approaches on an institutional level, yet. It strives for a long term and sustainable discussion on mental health with relation to youth work and brings together institutions from different countries to do so. In this manner, it creates a basis for the implementation of further projects in the field of mental health, which in the future shall become a part of the regular project activities of the partner organizations and their networks.