Mindful youth for brighter future

CALL FOR PARTNERS

PROJECT TYPE

Erasmus+ KA2 Capacity Building for youth in ACP countries, Latin America and Asia

PROJECT NAME

Mindful Youth for brighter future

GOAL

The main goal of this project is to empower and educate young unemployed people who are prone to stress and depression due to their economic circumstances with methods of mindfulness and non-formal education so that they can easily prosper on the labor market.

THE MAIN IDEA OF PROJECT

One of the biggest problems currently in the world is the unemployment of young people, so there is a need to put our focus on this issue. Not just because it is a problem right now but because it could have immense consequences for the future. We have a whole generation of people who are in their prime but because of economic circumstances can’t thrive. This influences badly not only them or their families but whole communities.

Young people who are unemployed face problems with their mental health due to lack of confidence for not being able to provide for themselves and being dependent on their parents/state. They suffer stress when trying to find a job in the labor market that not only lacks employment opportunities but is ever changing the demand and supply making it much more confusing and unsafe place then it was for their parents.

These mental issues and the lack of resources force the young person to seclude and not to take part in social, cultural, sport and other activities that they would usually take part in. They often fall into depressive states or turn to drugs or other destructive behaviors which can then further debilitate them from finding employment, starting their own families and actively contributing to their local communities.

Because of all that is said above we see this as one of the biggest issues right now that needs to be addressed as soon as possible. We believe that the only way to empower young people is through giving them the tools to deal with everyday stresses of the modern world, a way to work on their confidence, to regain a balanced emotional and mental state, to better their social skills and to have an overall positive outlook on life so that they can create new opportunities and not just be a passive bystanders but to take responsibility for their own lives.

This long term Erasmus+ project by name Mindful youth for brighter future offers a possibility to young people to learn mindfulness techniques which have been scientifically proven to help with regulating stress levels, balancing the health of the whole body and mental health, promoting healthy emotional states, supporting the natural neuroplasticity of the brain which is important when learning a new skill or changing a hindering personal belief. Mindfulness also helps with building confidence, self-love and self-care and learning better social skills. With all of the changes that mindfulness can bring to a person they will have more opportunities for personal development, for navigating the labor market and also for promoting their entrepreneurial spirit. With these changes young people not only make their lives better but can contribute to their local communities more as healthy, emotionally stable and accomplished individuals and also be healthy role models for other young people.

THIS PROJECT CONSISTS OF 7 MAIN ACTIVITIES

0-Preparatory activity

Time planned for activity is 30 days.
Before the project starts every partner will have 30 days to make a video survey to find out what is the prevailing opinion about mindfulness amongst youth in their country, to see if they are familiar with the term and if there are some prejudices about it.
The survey videos will be used as a part of the video montage that will be presented at the end of the project on a website that will be made for this project.

1-Partnership building activity

Time planned for this activity is 8 days.
All participants will be invited to come to Novi Sad, Serbia to get to know each other and to talk about the problems young people have in their countries when trying to establish themselves on the job market. First 4 days they will share experiences, find common themes and reflect on differences.
The last 4 days participants will have lectures about mindfulness and learn about different tools they can use and should implement in their everyday practice until the next meeting.
During the whole stay participants will be encouraged to get to know each other through different cultural and other activities in the city and in the workshops so that they will be comfortable to share with each other their experiences when practicing mindfulness next time they meet.

2-Personal self-development activities

Time planned for this activity is 60 days.

Participants will use mindfulness techniques in their everyday lives for a period of 60 days and will be obligated to keep a journal recording their experiences, emotional states, stress levels etc. These journals will be for their own reflections and also for sharing their conclusions with the other participants during the next activity. They will record 3 short videos about their progress which will be used in the video montage at the end of the project and will come up with their own inspirational message that they will sent to the applicant.

3-Mindfulness coaches training course

Time planned for this activity is 9 days.

Participants will meet in one of the Erasmus+ countries, this time somewhere in a rural environment with a lot of nature, a place providing a peaceful and calming setting for the next activity.
During this activity participants will talk about their experiences when practicing mindfulness on their own and will have lectures on how to teach mindfulness to others. They will also have other lectures and workshops about healthy ways of living, emotional intelligence etc. They will be encouraged to give lectures about the projects that they are already doing with unemployed youth in their own countries, making it possible to make a network and to promote future cooperation between partners on this projects.
During this activity participants will be provided with the official Mindful youth for brighter future manual which will provide them support during their practical work with young unemployed people in their local communities. They will also be involved in creating brochures for promoting their workshops and the topic of this project.
At the end participants will be provided with mindfulness coach certifications.

4-Mindfulness techniques in practice

Time planned for this activity is 7 months.
When our participants get back to their respective countries they will have 6 months to practice/teach mindfulness techniques to our target group in this project-unemployed young people. Each mindfulness coach will gather 10 unemployed young people from their local community and work with them transferring knowledge over a course of 6 lectures about different topics using the official Mindful youth for brighter future manual.The mindfulness coach will be involved and will follow the progress of the mindfulness training participants giving them advice, sharing personal experiences and providing them feedback and support for their own personal development practice. Mindfulness coaches will also ask participants to provide feedback (written or video) about their emotional state, stress levels, ability to focus and overall progress so that they can include it in their own final report that they will share with other mindfulness coaches at the evaluation meeting. After 6 months working with unemployed young people, each mindfulness coach will have 30 days for preparing this material that will also be included in the final video montage on the project website.

5-Evaluation meeting

Time for this activity is 5 days.
This activity will be implemented in one of our partners Erasmus+ countries.
On this evaluation meeting we will evaluate every project planned activity (0,1,2,3,4). Participants will also have an opportunity to evaluate their experiences during the workshops with young unemployed people in their local communities. Through this sharing, they will improve their teaching process so that they can continue with other youth groups even when this part of the project is concluded.

6-Final project presentation

Time planned this for activity is 90 days.
Final project presentation of the video montage will happen within 90 days from evaluation meeting. From every part of every activity in the project movie segments will be edited and presented on the official Mindful youth for brighter future website. Every partner will organize a promotion and a viewing of said video montage in their respective local community where they will invite all local representatives and the local target group of this project – young unemployed people.

OBJECTIVES

• To provide practical knowledge and skills of mindfulness techniques to participants (youth workers, youth leaders and volunteers) working with young unemployed people.
• To provide participants with mindfulness tools to reduce and control stress in everyday life as well as when participating in labor market process.
• To encourage participants to take care of their mental and emotional health using non formal education and mindfulness techniques.
• To teach participants how to deal with negative emotions that can come up and be destructive while in the job interview process and a stressful working environment.
• To increase level of confidence and self-esteem in participants using mindfulness techniques that can help them in their employment process.
• To raise awareness in participants about the importance of emotional intelligence when involved in a co-working environment making them more employable and more likely to keep a steady job of their choosing.
• To increase active participation of unemployed young people in their local communities.
• To create a strong network of partner organizations that are working with young unemployed people who are struggling because of their economic situation.
• To promote Erasmus+ Programme possibilities to young unemployed people giving them a platform to take charge of their own lives and motivate them to take a more active role in their communities but also on the global level.

TARGET GROUP

In this project by name Mindful youth for brighter future we are inviting youth workers, youth leaders, volunteers, and representatives of student organizations and all others that have the opportunity to approach/work with young people who are unemployed (who are prone to stress and depression due to their economic circumstances).

EXPECTED RESULTS

• 30 participants fully trained and certified in mindfulness techniques.
• 30 participants educated to transfer knowledge about mindfulness through non formal education.
• Each participant transferred the acquired skills and knowledge to 10 unemployed young people in their local community, making the number of indirect beneficiaries increase to 300.
• A minimum of half of the participants are expected to have improvements in their economic, mental, social and emotional state during the period of 6 months after the project lifetime.
• The total 300 beneficiaries who are educated in mindfulness, are expected to impact positively at least 5 people in their surroundings, which results in more than a 1500 people affected by this project.
• Estimated expected result of this project is that at least half of the 300 beneficiaries consider that acquired knowledge and skills about mindfulness are helping them increase their level of employability.

PRODUCT/S

• Documentary video montage of the whole Mindful youth for brighter future project,
• Educational manuals and brochures for mindfulness trainers who work with unemployed young people,
• Dedicated website in which participants will exchange educational and specialized videos about mindfulness, and share positive examples from their community,
• Custom made printed blankets and pillows with inspirational messages from diaries of the participants from their self-development process in activity 2,
• YouTube channel containing practical tips and tricks on how to reduce stress and improve mental and emotional state of young unemployed people.

PROFILE OF PARTNER ORGANIZATIONS

In this project by name Mindful youth for brighter future we are looking for partner organizations who:

- are involved in youth work, non-formal education and unemployed young people,
- are devoted to the promotion of mindfulness practices,
-are interested in improving mental, emotional and overall health of young unemployed people.

Organizations must be established in Erasmus+ Programme countries and Other Partner Countries from Regions 5 to 14 (check in Erasmus+ Programme guide pages 22, 23 and 24).
If you are interested to become partner organization in our project please send to us: Filled partnership identification form – like word document (.doc) on E-mail: anja.anasazi@gmail.com

Deadline for receiving partnership identification form is: 15 January 2019

WHO WE ARE

Student organizations union of University of Novi Sad (Unija studentskih organizacija Univerziteta u Novom Sadu) is nonprofit, non-government student organization established in May 1997.
The aim of our organization is to initiate students to actively participate in cultural and social transformation of University itself.

Our primary goal is to improve the quality of studies and to accelerate the implementation of the Bologna idea, to enter the EHEA and the ERA, as well as to spread the idea of the importance of non-formal education.

We want our future academic elite to truly possess and embody the qualities of professional knowledge, self-initiative and awareness of the importance of lifelong learning (life-wide learning).

Through the youth policy team, we are trying to solve the problems of young people in the field of education, information and mobility, culture, free time, volunteerism and youth participation in society.
We emphasize the importance of tolerance, democracy, European ideas, because our vision is education according to European and world standards.

More info:
www.usouns.org