From Climate Paralysis to Climate Action

Project title: From Climate Paralysis to Climate Action

Program action: Erasmus+ Capacity Building in the Field of Youth

We are developing a Capacity Building project in the field of youth focused on strengthening the ability of youth organisations and youth workers to support young people in responding constructively to climate change.

Across Europe and neighbouring regions, young people increasingly experience eco-anxiety, climate fatigue, and feelings of helplessness, which often prevent engagement rather than motivating action. At the same time, youth organisations lack structured methodologies to work with these emotional responses and to translate them into sustained youth-led climate action.

The project will address this gap by developing and testing an integrated resilience-to-action approach, combining emotional, reflective, and practical dimensions of youth work on climate change. The focus is on building long-term youth agency, rather than one-off actions or awareness-raising.

Main objectives

Strengthen the capacity of youth organisations and youth workers to address climate-related emotions in youth work.

Enable young people to move from climate anxiety and paralysis to constructive, self-directed action.

Test and refine a replicable youth work approach that supports resilience, agency, and engagement with climate challenges.

Foster transnational learning and cooperation between organisations working on youth, climate, and resilience.

Main target groups

Primary: Youth workers, youth educators, staff and volunteers of youth organisations

Secondary: Young people aged 18–30, engaged through local activities implemented by trained youth workers

The project will include:

A transnational capacity-building phase for youth workers

Local implementation phases where trained youth workers engage young people

Transnational exchange and reflection between partner organisations

Documentation and dissemination of lessons learned and transferable practices

Specific activities, tools, and outputs will be co-developed within the partnership.

Partnership profile :

We are looking for experienced and committed organisations that:

Work with young people (18–30) in a non-formal education context

Have experience or strong interest in climate education, resilience, wellbeing, or youth empowerment

Are motivated to co-create methodologies, not only implement predefined activities

Are able to engage youth workers and young people locally

Are interested in long-term learning and impact beyond the project duration

Partners from Western Balkans, Eastern Partnership, or South-Mediterranean countries are welcome.

Consortium under development (approx. 5 partners)

Lead applicant: Biovilla (Portugal)

Planned submission: 26 February 2026

Contact

Organisations interested in joining the partnership are invited to contact us with:

A short description of their organisation

Relevant experience in youth work and/or climate-related topics

Motivation for joining this project