YOUth Connect

23/08/2026

✨ BE AWARE - A reflection from YOUth Connect ✨
What does taking responsibility in youth work really mean?
During the Erasmus+ Training Course “Be Aware” in Măguri-Răcătău, Romania, we were reminded that youth work is about more than just organizing activities—it’s about how we show up, the choices we make, and taking ownership of them.
Key insights from the project:
- Responsibility & Accountability: Understanding that our choices affect our teams and young people, reflecting on that impact, and taking action.
- Trust: Built through consistency and communication, trust empowers young people to step up, take initiative, and truly belong.
- Experiential Learning: Real growth happens when we experience challenges, observe outcomes, and reflect on what happened.
To inspire young people to become active, responsible community members, youth workers must practice awareness, accountability, and trust themselves. Meaningful youth participation starts with how we choose to work. 🌱
Thank you to everyone who shared this intense journey of reflection, growth, and connection!
🇪🇺 Organized by MATRISZ and funded by the European Union.

20/08/2026

✨ Project Stories – BE AWARE | Basic Synergy Training ✨

From 19 to 28 July 2026, our youth workers took part in the Erasmus+ Basic Synergy “Be Aware” in Măguri-Răcătău, Romania.

💬 What our participant says:

“Reflecting on my experience with the ‘Be Aware’ project in Romania, I can say it was an impactful, structured, and deeply challenging journey.

From the very beginning, the atmosphere was incredible, built by an inspiring group of participants, an amazing setting, and a powerful theme. However, the methodology of non-formal education used here was unlike anything I had experienced before.

The topic of awareness was explored and unpacked from multiple angles. The most profound takeaway for me was the growing realization that we are the creators of our own destiny; we always have a choice, and we must take full accountability for whatever results follow.

Responsibility and choice were concepts I was already exploring in my personal life, and this training provided both answers and fresh, unexpected perspectives. It was an intense experience, but one that truly expanded my mindset.”

Over ten days, participants explored self-awareness, resilience, personal responsibility, and reflective practice through non-formal education and experiential learning. The training encouraged youth workers to recognise their own behaviour patterns and limiting beliefs, question established perspectives, and develop a deeper understanding of how their choices and attitudes can influence both their personal lives and their work with young people.
“Be Aware” created a space for reflection, personal development, and meaningful growth, strengthening competences that participants can bring into their future youth work and everyday lives.

A big thank you to the organisers, trainers, facilitators, and all the participants who contributed to making this such an intense and meaningful learning experience! ✨

🇪🇺 The project was organised by MATRISZ and funded by the European Union.

18/08/2026

ACT Green - New Youth Exchange for Italian participants!

TOPIC: Turning environmental awareness into real actions. In a supportive and energetic setting, you’ll explore sustainability, connect with others and discover how your everyday choices can make a real difference.

🗓️ WHEN: 11 - 20 September 2026
🗺️ WHERE: Valea Doftanei (Traisteni village), Romania
🧐 PARTICIPANTS' PROFILE: Young people 17-25 +

📝 INFOPACK: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cUs5LOqNnLDZMBo0MeDMWiOUQjOBZNIA/view?usp=sharing
📝 APPLICATION FORM: https://forms.gle/z9xd2E8QQKMBGSsm7

ACT Green - New Youth Exchange for Italian participants!

TOPIC: Turning environmental awareness into real actions. In a supportive and energetic setting, you’ll explore sustainability, connect with others and discover how your everyday choices can make a real difference.

🗓️ WHEN: 11 - 20 September 2026
🗺️ WHERE: Valea Doftanei (Traisteni village), Romania
🧐 PARTICIPANTS’ PROFILE: Young people 17-25 +

📝 INFOPACK & APPLICATION FORM: Link in BIO

12/08/2026

Every day, we are inspired by the young people we meet.
By their courage to step outside their comfort zone.
By their curiosity to discover new cultures.
By their willingness to learn, connect, and grow together.
We’ve seen ideas become projects, strangers become lifelong friends, and experiences become turning points.
This is why we do what we do.

“Facing today’s challenges, young people are demanding bold and accelerated action... Humanity depends on the boundless energy, ideas, and contributions of young people everywhere. Today and every day, let us support and stand with young people in shaping a just and sustainable world.”
- António Guterres, UN Secretary-General

At YOUth Connect, we believe that every young person deserves the opportunity to discover their potential, find their voice, and create meaningful connections that can shape both their future and their communities.
Today, we celebrate all the young people who choose to be curious, courageous, and engaged. Thank you for reminding us, every day, that real change starts with people coming together.
💛 Happy International Youth Day!

05/08/2026

🎭 TELL ME ABOUT IT

Can stand-up comedy transform the way we understand ourselves and connect with young people? It definitely did! ✨

“Tell Me About It” used comedy as a powerful educational tool for personal growth, stronger relationships, and youth work.
Here’s what we explored:
🔍 Self-Awareness & Needs: Turned inner conflicts and daily struggles into empowering stories.
🤝 Empathy & Connection: Used vulnerability and humor to build trust and break down barriers.
🛠️ Youth Work Skills: Mastered storytelling, public speaking, and engagement techniques to create safe, inspiring spaces for youth. 📢🌈

🇪🇺 Co-funded by the European Union.

01/08/2026

🌍 Partnership Building Activity for Italian youth workers!

TOPIC: Exchange innovative practices on youth mental health, wellbeing and community support, connect with organisations from across Europe and co-create future Erasmus+ projects that make a real impact in local communities.

🗓️ WHEN: 6–13 September 2026 (travel days included)
🗺️ WHERE: Los Alcázares, Region of Murcia, Spain 🇪🇸
🧐 PARTICIPANTS’ PROFILE: Youth workers, educators, NGO representatives and people actively involved in youth work.

✨ WHAT TO EXPECT:
• Exchange of good practices with organisations from different countries
• Collaborative learning and project-development work
• Build meaningful European partnerships and develop future Erasmus+ projects
• Participants should be willing to share the results of the activity and continue cooperating with the Italian organisation after the project.

📝 INFOPACK & APPLICATION FORM: Link in BIO

31/07/2026

Finally, we can share a project that means so much to us! 🌱

We’re so excited to finally introduce Communi(ty)cate it!, a Youth Participation project that we’re developing together with our wonderful partner Be Visible Be YOU🌹 💛

The project brings together 16 young people from different backgrounds, including youth facing socio-economic challenges, disabled, q***r, and migrant youth. Together, we’re exploring how language shapes identity, influences our communities, and can become a powerful tool for active participation.

Our journey has already begun with the first international mobility in Greece, where participants shared experiences, reflected on inclusive communication, and started building ideas together. Soon, we’ll meet again in Italy to continue this work and turn those ideas into practical actions.

Along the way, we’ll also organise local events in Athens and Turin, including a creative hackathon, a dialogue with decision makers, and a final celebration with the local community.

One of the project’s main outcomes will be an Accessibility Protocol for Inclusive Communication, co-created by young people to help make communication more accessible and inclusive for everyone.

We’re just getting started, and we can’t wait to share more of this journey with you. 🫶

📸 Photo by our beloved Alex

Co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union 🇪🇺

26/07/2026

🌿 PROJECT STORIES - EMBODIED UNITY | TRAINING COURSE 🌿
29 June – 8 July in Poland

What does it mean to truly connect with ourselves and with others? During the Embodied Unity Training Course, our participant experienced a transformative journey made of vulnerability, trust, presence and community. 💚

💬 What our participant says:

“Embodied Unity was a deeply transformative experience. It showed me that change must first happen within us before we can spread our light into the world.

It revealed the real and raw meaning of community: a place where you can be vulnerable and feel safe, where you can hold and be held, lift and be lifted.

I found people I could deeply trust, people who saw me in both my light and my darkness, and who shared their presence without the need for words.

Embodied Unity showed me how beautiful human beings can be, in a week that felt worth a lifetime.

Aho 💚”

🇪🇺 Funded by the European Union through the Erasmus+ Programme.

21/07/2026

🎲 What makes a board game more than just a game?

💬 In this video, the youth workers behind our “From Conflict to Connection” board game share their experiences of the co-creation process, the lessons they gained, and why they believe this tool can make a real difference in youth work. Meaningful learning happens when we create spaces where people can safely explore their feelings, recognise their needs, practice empathy, and communicate with curiosity instead of judgment.
The board game was designed with exactly this purpose in mind.

❤️ For the youth workers involved, the process of creating the game was just as valuable as the final result. It strengthened their collaboration, challenged them to see different perspectives, and deepened their understanding of how Nonviolent Communication can be applied in everyday youth work.

🎥 Watch the interview to hear their stories, reflections, and why they believe learning through play can create lasting impact.

🙏 A special thank you to our Hungarian project coordinator , to our Polish partner and everyone who contributed to making this project a reality. As YOUth Connect, we are grateful to have been part of this inspiring partnership and learning journey.

17/07/2026

✨ From online reflection to meeting in person: CommuniCAREer is taking shape! ✨

On 27 June, 20 people joined us at the Casa del Quartiere di San Salvario in Turin for the first in-person event of CommuniCAREer, an Erasmus+ project connecting professional identity, personal well-being and active participation. The event marked the continuation of an online journey during which participants explored their strengths, personal values and needs, the internal and external resources available to them, and the direction they would like to take in their personal and professional lives. Moving from the digital space to a real shared environment allowed us to deepen these reflections through non-formal education activities, peer-to-peer exchanges and moments of individual and collective learning.

CommuniCAREer was created to provide young people with safe spaces where they can explore their professional identity, develop greater self-awareness and transform personal reflection into collective participation using. Because a career is not simply a destination. It is a path we build by understanding who we are, what supports our well-being and what kind of change we want to contribute to.

CommuniCAREer is an Erasmus+ Youth Participation project implemented by YOUth Connect in partnership with El Eco del Arte.