OFFLINE: Connecting through Art, Culture and Sport

The project starts from a simple question:
How can we help young people connect with each other beyond screens?
Today's teenagers are growing up in a highly connected digital world. Mobile phones, social media and online platforms offer many opportunities, but at the same time, young people need spaces where they can meet face to face, discover common interests, express themselves freely, build friendships and experience a genuine sense of belonging.
OFFLINE aims to create a safe, inclusive and international environment where teenagers from different European countries can meet, interact and build meaningful relationships through shared real-life experiences.
Rather than focusing on what happens through a screen, we want to explore what happens when young people put their phones aside and start creating, playing, talking, moving, laughing and experiencing things together.
Three ways to connect
The project will use three universal platforms for human connection:
ART – to express ourselves
Artistic and creative activities will provide young people with different ways of expressing who they are, communicating emotions and discovering common interests beyond language barriers.
CULTURE – to discover each other
Cultural exchange will allow participants to share their traditions, stories, music, games, heritage and everyday lives while discovering both their differences and everything they have in common.
SPORT – to play and cooperate together
Sport, outdoor activities, traditional games and cooperative challenges will be used not primarily for competition, but as tools for inclusion, teamwork, enjoyment and connection.
Inclusion and belonging
Inclusion and Diversity will be at the heart of OFFLINE.
We want to create spaces where different young people can find their own way to participate and connect, regardless of their personality, abilities, social background, cultural identity or previous international experience.
Art, culture and sport will be used as inclusive languages that can help overcome social, cultural and communication barriers.
The project will pay particular attention to creating safe environments and facilitating the participation of young people with fewer opportunities or those who may experience difficulties in social participation and belonging.
Digital wellbeing
OFFLINE is not an anti-technology project.
Technology is an important part of young people's lives, and we recognise its opportunities and benefits. Our aim is to help teenagers reflect on their relationship with digital devices and experience a healthier balance between their online and offline lives.
During the exchange, participants will experience periods and activities without mobile phones or screens and reflect on questions such as:
What changes when I put my phone away?
How do I meet someone new without a screen?
What makes me feel connected to other people?
What do online and offline friendships give me?
How can I create a healthier balance between both?
Young people themselves will participate in creating an OFFLINE Agreement, deciding together how and when digital devices will be used during the exchange.
Personal and social competences
Through non-formal learning, participants will have the opportunity to develop important personal, social and intercultural competences, including:
communication, cooperation, creativity, autonomy, empathy, active listening, self-expression, teamwork, intercultural awareness and respect for diversity.
Participants will reflect on their learning throughout the exchange and identify the competences they have developed through the Youthpass process.
Expected activities
The Youth Exchange will combine non-formal and experiential learning activities such as creative workshops, cooperative sports, traditional games, outdoor activities, cultural exchanges, team challenges, artistic expression, storytelling, intercultural evenings and reflection activities.
A fundamental principle will guide the programme:
Less screen time. More shared time.
Participants will not simply attend activities. They will be actively involved in preparing, designing, leading and evaluating parts of the Youth Exchange.
Expected results
By the end of the project, we expect participants to have:
created meaningful relationships and international friendships;
improved their social and communication skills;
experienced different ways of socialising without depending on digital devices;
increased their sense of belonging and confidence in face-to-face interactions;
developed greater intercultural awareness and respect for diversity;
discovered art, culture and sport as tools for expression, inclusion and connection;
reflected on their digital habits and the balance between online and offline life;
developed personal, social and intercultural competences.
Participants will also co-create two common project outcomes:
OFFLINE TOOLBOX – Ways to Connect Without a Screen
A collection of games, artistic activities, cultural experiences and cooperative challenges that can be used by other youth groups.
OFFLINE MANIFESTO – Connecting in Real Life
A set of ideas and recommendations created by the young participants about friendship, belonging, digital wellbeing and meaningful offline connections.
Who are we looking for?
We are looking for European partner organisations working with young people aged approximately 14–16 and interested in becoming active partners in an Erasmus+ KA152 Youth Exchange.
We are particularly interested in youth organisations, NGOs, youth centres, municipalities and other eligible organisations working in areas such as:
inclusion and diversity, youth wellbeing, art and creativity, culture and cultural heritage, grassroots and inclusive sport, outdoor education, digital wellbeing, intercultural learning and non-formal education.
We are not simply looking for organisations to send participants.
We would like to build a partnership in which organisations and young people co-design the project together, contribute activities and ideas, share their local experiences and take an active role in the preparation, implementation and evaluation of the Youth Exchange.
Our invitation
We believe that art, culture and sport can provide extraordinary spaces for young people to meet others who share their interests, express themselves freely, feel included and create friendships that go beyond social media.
Sometimes, the best connection does not need Wi-Fi.
Switch OFF the screen.
Create. Play. Share.
Connect for real.