🇦🇲 Erasmus+ Training Course in Armenia 🧠 Emotional Intelligence in Youth Work 💬

Description

E-Motion is an international training course in Aparan, Armenia, bringing together 24 youth workers from 10 countries to explore practical tools for emotional intelligence, including self-awareness, emotional regulation, empathy and communication.

Across Europe and Neighbouring countries, youth work is increasingly shaped by complex emotional, social and psychological realities. Young people are navigating uncertainty, rapid social change, digital pressure, polarization and declining motivation in education, while youth workers are expected to respond with empathy, stability and inclusive support to these situations. Alongside emotional distress, many youth workers report growing levels of low motivation, disengagement, apathy and lack of initiative among young people, which directly affects participation in learning, community life and democratic processes. However, the emotional demands placed on youth workers are rising faster than the availability of structured training that equips them to manage emotions, both their own and those of the young people they work with, in a healthy, professional and sustainable way. In this context, emotional intelligence is no longer an optional “soft skill,” but a core competence for high-quality youth work, wellbeing promotion, motivation, participation and democratic engagement.

"E-motion: A Practical Guide to Emotional Intelligence in Youth Work" training course is designed to respond to this gap by strengthening youth workers’ emotional intelligence as a key professional competence.

While youth work is fundamentally based on human relationships, emotional intelligence competences such as self-awareness, emotional regulation, empathy, motivation and constructive communication are often insufficiently addressed within existing non-formal education training pathways. Youth workers frequently lack practical tools to respond to emotional withdrawal, low self-confidence, reduced intrinsic motivation and fear of failure, especially among young people with fewer opportunities.

The core idea of E-motion is to treat emotional intelligence not as an abstract concept, but as a concrete, learnable and transferable set of competences that directly support wellbeing, motivation, participation and sustainable youth engagement. By strengthening youth workers’ ability to recognise emotional needs, respond empathically and foster intrinsic motivation, the project aims to enhance young people’s engagement, resilience and active participation in youth work activities.

Through self-reflection, peer learning and practical exercises rooted in real youth work situations, participants will develop emotional awareness and regulation skills, empathy, active listening, motivational approaches and supportive communication competences. Strong emphasis is placed on practical application and transferability to participants’ local youth work contexts.

Objectives:

- Strengthen participating youth workers’ emotional intelligence, self-awareness and emotional regulation competencies; - Improve their capacity to support young people’s mental wellbeing, motivation and emotional expression in inclusive and safe ways; - Develop competences in empathy, active listening, supportive communication and motivation-oriented youth work approaches; - Provide practical non-formal education methods for integrating emotional intelligence into everyday youth work practice; - Foster peer learning and exchange of good practices in wellbeing- and motivation-focused youth work between EU Programme and Eastern Partnership counries; - Co-create a practical E-motion Toolkit that can be replicated and adapted in local youth work contexts across participating organisations and beyond.

More detailes can be found in the info pack through the link below:

https://sites.google.com/view/e-motion-a-practical-guide?usp=sharing

Activity details

Activity type

Training Course

Activity dates

1-8 December 2026

Location

Aparan, Armenia

Application deadline

24 October 2026

Selection date

1 November 2026

Participants

24

Recommended for

Youth workers, Youth leaders, Volunteering mentors, Youth coaches

Organiser

Costs

Participation fee

There is no participation fee

Accommodation and food

All the costs related to accomodation, meals and training program are covered by the organisers within Erasmus+Programme

Travel reimbursement

The amounts are set by the European Commission based on the distance to the venue. 20 Euro is already deducted from the lump sum which will be used for the local transportation of participants Yerevan - Aparan - Yerevan. SPAIN - up to 1168 EUR SLOVAKIA - up to 375 EUR ITALY - up to 375 EUR POLAND - up to 375 EUR GREECE - up to 289 EUR CYPRUS - up to 289 EUR MOLDOVA - up to 289 EUR UKRAINE - up to 289 EUR GEORGIA - up to 265 EUR Armenia - 0 EUR

Looking for participants from

10 countries can apply. The activity takes place in Aparan, Armenia.