EKO is happy to announce that one more amazing youth exchange has been completed successfully. The project “Music for mental health” united 26 young participants from Greece, Spain, Portugal, Turkey, North Macedonia and Croatia. It was organized by the Croatian organization ARGONAUTA, and took place in Šibenik, Croatia from 03 October- 11 October 2024. 

Aims & Objectives of the project 

The aim of the youth exchange with the title “Music for Mental Health” brought young people to Croatia to work together on the topic of mental health through music. The main goal of this project was to bring 26 youngsters and 6 group leaders from 6 different countries to inspire each other with methods for improving their personal well-being and to share them in their local communities. The goal was to

raise awareness about the current state of mental health in their communities and boost their emotional

and physical state through creativity and activities including dances and sports.

More specifically the objectives were:

•  Promote cultural diversity and intercultural learning while living and working in mixed nationalities.
• Raise awareness about the current mental health of young people through the exploration of experiences in their local communities,reducing the stigma about taboo topics.
• Reflect on the effect that arts like music have on mental wellbeing,overcoming negative attitudes as well as boosting confidence and self-esteem of the participants.
• Learn how to express themselves more effectively, creatively and enhance their emotional and physical state through dancing and sportive workshops.
• Provide a space to prepare a show and perform it in front of the local community to show the results of the exchange.

Workshops & Activities of the project 

Through this project, participants had the opportunity to get better in some key competencies such as multilingual competence, personal, social and learning to learn competence. During the week, they worked with non-formal education methodology All team members developed different skills and competencies while acquiring new knowledge. The main objectives were biodanza, body depression, image, theatre, conscious movement, active meditations, nature walks, team building games, afro dances, salsa, reflections, and music circles.

They were able to develop skills such as creativity, teamwork, the ability to energize, practice languages, reflection and definitely lots of certain skills.  

It is an amazing opportunity and a great experience for EKO’s team

Lydia, Katerina, Giorgos, Stavros, and Aikaterini were the Greek participants whom we want to thank for all their contributions and collaboration throughout the project!

As EKO, we are very grateful for that amazing opportunity given to the Greek team. We thank our Croatian partner Argonauta and the members of the hosting organization for all their hard work and for creating such an impactful project!

Thank you – Ευχαριστούμε – Hvala!