From two Sicilian trainings that open up mental-health conversations with young people through game mechanics, roleplay and escape games, to burnout prevention and emotional intelligence for youth workers in Portugal, nature-based wellbeing in the mountains of Bansko, mindful and outdoor youth work in Czechia, journaling for emotional expression on the shores of Lake Balaton, an AI practice lab for youth work in Germany, support for NEET young people in Narbonne, and fighting disinformation with decision-makers in Bucharest — this batch of 12 Erasmus+ opportunities spans 9 countries, and half of them are about the wellbeing of the people doing the caring.
Erasmus+ training courses and youth exchanges cover travel and stay. Four are open "as soon as possible," including the two Sicilian mental-health trainings, and the rest close between 18 July and 2 August 2026.
What's in this batch:
9 Training Courses · 3 Youth Exchanges · 9 Countries
🎓 Erasmus+ Opportunities
🇮🇹 Italy — Mental Health Through Gamification (Sicily) 🎮
📅 Deadline: As soon as possible!
A 7-day residential training in Sicily equipping youth workers with gamification, digital tools and mental health literacy to design safe, inclusive activities for young people. As digital stress, social media pressure and isolation grow, learn to address mental health confidently and stigma-free: create safe spaces, build emotional resilience and peer support, and get hands-on with free digital tools like Padlet, Mentimeter, Canva and digital storytelling. Leave ready to lead local co-creation workshops with young people. Open to applicants from 🇮🇹 🇱🇻 🇷🇸 — make the hardest conversations easier by turning them into play.
🇮🇹 Italy — Exploring Youth Mental Health Through Gamification (Milo, Sicily) 🧠
📅 Deadline: As soon as possible!
Learn how to open up mental health conversations with young people through play, digital tools and gamification in Milo, Sicily. Master game mechanics, storytelling, roleplay and escape games, and build safe, stigma-free methods for youth work. Open to applicants from 🇮🇹 🇷🇸 🇱🇻 — a second Sicilian route into the same vital skill set.
🇫🇷 France — Youth Workers Supporting NEET and Disadvantaged Young People (Narbonne) 🧭
📅 Deadline: As soon as possible!
Strengthen your skills to support young people not in employment, education or training at #StandByMe in Narbonne, France. Build practical tools in career guidance, digital inclusion and psychosocial support through role plays, labs and forum theatre, and co-create a NEET Inclusion Toolkit. Open to applicants from 🇫🇷 🇹🇷 🇧🇬 🇵🇹 🇮🇹 — you leave with a toolkit for the young people hardest to reach.
📋 New to ESC and Erasmus+? Everything you need to know — how it works, who can apply, what costs are covered — is in one place. Read the complete guide →
🇭🇺 Hungary — Journaling and Mental Well-Being Through Emotional Expression (Youth Exchange) 📓
📅 Deadline: As soon as possible!
Explore your emotions, build resilience and grow through journaling on the shores of Lake Balaton in Siófok. Develop communication, empathy, self-expression and teamwork through non-formal methods with young people from across Europe. Open to applicants from 🇭🇺 🇸🇰 🇷🇴 — a notebook, a lake, and a week to work out what you actually feel.
🇬🇷 Greece — Outdoor Way: Well-Being, Mindfulness and Nature (Youth Exchange) 🏞️
📅 Deadline: 18 July 2026
Reconnect with nature, practice mindfulness and build practical life skills by the sea in Loutraki, Greece. Hike, join well-being workshops, take on team challenges and explore healthier lifestyles through outdoor, nature-based non-formal education. Open to residents of 🇧🇦 Bosnia and Herzegovina — a dedicated route in for young people from Bosnia and Herzegovina.
🇷🇴 Romania — Strengthening Democratic Participation and Fighting Disinformation (Youth Exchange) 🛡️
📅 Deadline: 19 July 2026
Lead change, become a voice for young people, and strengthen democratic participation while fighting disinformation with SHIELD in Bucharest. Connect directly with decision-makers, experience international decision-making, and grow your advocacy power as an agent of change. Open to residents of 🇹🇷 Türkiye — sit across from actual decision-makers, not just talk about them.
✍️ Applying for a training course? Here's how to write a motivation letter that actually gets read — and remembered. Read the guide →
🇨🇿 Czechia — Mindful and Outdoor Youth Work 🌿
📅 Deadline: 20 July 2026
A 7-day training exploring how mindfulness, body-focused practices, outdoor learning and experiential education can strengthen personal wellbeing and improve youth work. Addressing stress, emotional exhaustion and burnout, you'll gain practical tools for self-care, resilience and emotional balance. Through the Outdoor Mosaic process, explore, adapt and create youth work methods combining mindfulness, conscious movement, reflection and outdoor learning, and co-create a practical Mosaic Guide for youth workers across Europe. Open to applicants from 🇪🇸 🇷🇴 🇬🇪 🇨🇾 🇸🇮 and 3 more — you help write the guide other youth workers will use.
🇧🇬 Bulgaria — Wellbeing Through Nature (Bansko) 🌲
📅 Deadline: 20 July 2026
Strengthen your competences in promoting mental wellbeing by combining theory with experiential outdoor learning and non-formal education. In the mountains of Bansko, deepen your understanding of mental wellbeing and its dimensions, raise awareness of common stigmas and stereotypes, and explore the potential of nature and outdoor environments as spaces for reflection, connection and personal development. Exchange good practices with youth workers from across Europe and strengthen wellbeing-focused youth work — the Bulgarian mountains as both classroom and cure.
💡 What do organisations actually look for in applicants? Skills, values, attitude — what makes a strong profile. Read the guide →
🇵🇹 Portugal — Wellbeing and Burnout Prevention 🧘
📅 Deadline: 29 July 2026
Step away from the daily responsibility of supporting others and dedicate time to yourself. Through reflection, movement, mindfulness, time in nature, creative expression and peer exchange, explore self-care, work-life balance, personal values, boundaries and rest. In a safe, supportive environment, learn to recognise the early signs of burnout and strengthen everyday practices that maintain balance, resilience and positive mental health, because taking care of yourself is an essential part of taking care of others. Open to applicants from 🇮🇹 🇪🇸 🇫🇷 🇩🇪 🇵🇱 and 29 more — permission to put yourself first, for once.
🇵🇹 Portugal — Emotional Intelligence for Youth Workers 💛
📅 Deadline: 31 July 2026
As youth workers we're in constant contact with people, caring for their needs, feelings and emotions, but when do we tend to our own? This training strengthens emotional intelligence through self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation and empathy, so you can better care for yourself and give more to others. Through daily experiential sessions, group activities, role plays, guided reflection and peer learning, gain tools to support young people emotionally and socially and create emotionally safe, engaging environments. Open to applicants from 🇮🇹 🇪🇸 🇫🇷 🇩🇪 🇵🇱 and 30 more — the skill that quietly underpins every other one you have.
🇮🇹 Italy — Planning and Facilitating Youth Exchanges 🎯
📅 Deadline: 1 August 2026
Share and master the methods and practices for planning, facilitating and managing a youth exchange project. Part of a series dedicated to raising the quality of youth work and strengthening the European youth work ecosystem, this edition focuses on empowering a new generation of youth leaders with the knowledge, skills and competences to tackle today's challenges and help build a stronger, more innovative and resilient youth work community. Open to applicants from 🇪🇸 🇫🇷 🇩🇪 🇵🇹 🇵🇱 and 30 more — stop joining youth exchanges and start running them.
🗺️ Not sure if your country is eligible? The full list of ESC and Erasmus+ programme and partner countries — including many outside the EU. Check eligibility →
🇩🇪 Germany — AI and Digital Transformation in Youth Work 🤖
📅 Deadline: 2 August 2026
A practice-oriented training for youth work professionals wanting to strengthen their competences with Artificial Intelligence. As AI rapidly reshapes youth work and civic engagement, learn to understand key developments and concepts, try out selected AI tools for planning, communication and project work in a hands-on "practice lab", weigh up the ethical, pedagogical and organisational opportunities and risks, and develop strategies to sustainably integrate digital approaches into your own organisation. Open to applicants from 🇦🇹 🇧🇪 🇩🇪 🇱🇮 🇱🇺 — get ahead of AI before it reshapes your job without you.
Twelve Erasmus+ opportunities across 9 countries — and half of this batch is about the wellbeing of the people doing the caring. Burnout prevention and emotional intelligence in Portugal, nature-based wellbeing in the mountains of Bansko, mindful and outdoor youth work in Czechia, journaling by Lake Balaton, and two Sicilian trainings turning game mechanics and escape games into stigma-free mental-health conversations — these are not calls you'll see grouped together again.
The rest sharpen the harder edges of the job: an AI practice lab in Germany for a field being reshaped in real time, career guidance and psychosocial support for NEET young people in Narbonne, fighting disinformation face-to-face with decision-makers in Bucharest, and a masterclass in planning and facilitating youth exchanges in Italy. Portugal and Italy each offer two courses, and the three youth exchanges (Hungary, Greece, Romania) are open to young people generally rather than just youth workers. Four calls move as soon as possible, including both Sicilian trainings, and the calendar runs to the German AI lab on 2 August. Choose yours.
