Hygge: The Art of Slowing Down

Hygge: The Art of Slowing Down
Erasmus+ KA152 Youth Exchange, Felsőtárkány, Hungary. Six days plus two travel days, planned for the second half of 2027.

Young people across Europe live under constant pressure. School and work expectations, money worries, and a phone that never stops asking for attention. Most of them know they are tired. Very few have ever practised anything that actually helps.

This project takes the Danish idea of hygge, the art of comfort and slowing down, and treats it as a real subject rather than a lifestyle trend. Thirty young people aged 18 to 30 from five countries spend six days working out where their own stress comes from, practising techniques they can use at home, and then teaching those techniques to local young people at a public event in the city of Eger.

The week is built around six questions, one for each day. Who are we and what makes this safe. What is hygge really, and what is wrong with it. What happens in my body and what can I do about it. What does slowing down feel like outside a room. Can I give this to someone else. What do I take home.

Everything runs on non-formal education. Image theatre, land art in the forest, moving debates, a small experiment on phone habits, a silent sensory walk, peer coaching in pairs, and one session with an invited mental health professional who explains how the stress response actually works. Each country teaches its own untranslatable words for comfort and slowness, so the theme becomes European rather than Danish. Every evening the group meets in fixed small groups to reflect, and what they say there changes the next day's programme.

Participants leave with a hand-made zine holding the tools that worked for them, a Youthpass certificate, and one small local action they commit to doing at home.

Venue. Bábakalács Forest School in Felsőtárkány, at the gate of the Bükk National Park. Accommodation and workshop space are in the same building, surrounded by forest. Two planned trips by local bus, one to the Szilvásvárad valley and one to Eger.

Who we are looking for: Four partner organisations, each able to send 6 participants aged 18 to 30 plus 1 group leader. We would especially like to work with organisations reaching young people who face barriers such as economic difficulties, rural isolation, or little previous experience with international projects.

If you are interested, please send us an email attached with your PIF and your OID.