Youth Exchange

Being involved in the project process is one of the main goals of any Youth Exchange, thus as organizers, we want to provide young people with as many opportunities to be involved in as many duties as possible. Since the beginning of the application process, we have been in direct contact with the organizations, who assembled a team of four teens to discuss every aspect of the program and make judgments regarding the level of the finished product. Therefore, we settled on defined duties for each participant's participation in each project phase, including planning, preparation, activity implementation, and follow-up.

Prior starting the project, participants will get an online form on which they must indicate the level of participation they are interested in taking. By offering a variety of task groups, we will provide participants the chance to demonstrate, grow, and master new skills and techniques:

The following groups will be in charge of different aspects of the project: digital (they will be in charge of posting information about it on social networks throughout the week and producing photo and video content); activities (they will be in charge of team-building exercises and energizers); reflection (they will be in charge of fostering a supportive environment among participants and assessing the efficiency of the work process).

- Eco-group (their duty is to keep the area clean and make wise use of all resources).

Each participant will be encouraged to get ready for their work on the project by reading articles about how to take good photos and videos, playing entertaining games, creating effective social media advertisements, and other relevant topics. Participants can also forecast whether they will require particular tools or supplies to complete their activity more quickly, easily, or at a higher level. We will anticipate and set aside some of our supplies, such as our cameras, in case participants require them. We will also provide ongoing assistance and guidance for each group job.

Implementation of activities: Participants will need to form task groups for the project and actively cooperate starting on the second day in order to complete the specific tasks that are required. As a result, we will start distributing projects even before the project has officially begun. However, the main dissemination will be a brief diary blog that will be put on all of our major social media accounts, our website, and we will invite all participants to share our project dissemination on their accounts.

The project groups will carry out the duties they agreed to carry out before to the project during its execution. Each group will be in charge of a particular task, as was described before. All participants will be involved in establishing and creating the online platform. There will be open tasks during its creation to give young people who may exercise self-initiative for the results.

Follow-up: After the project, we will perform broad dissemination because every participant from the previous day will be doing it every day, which means there will be a lot of stuff completed in a fairly detailed manner. We will decide together, create general announcements, and blog entries for the diary with the assistance and suggestions of the participants. It will be the host organization's responsibility to produce one general video regarding the projects. We also hope that one of our primary methods of transmission will be a general movie about the project, as videos are currently quite popular on social media. Additionally, participants will share on their social media profiles and update the web platform. They will host the event in their community to promote Erasmus+ for young people.

Tools of the Youth Exchange:

Project Name: "Sport and Mental Health: Don't bury your emotions let it flow" SPORTY MENTAL

Duration: From 1/02/2024 till 31/12/2024 (11 months)

Activity: Youth Exchange in Cyprus for 60 participants and 12 leaders + 2 stakeholders at Hylatio Tourist Village in Pissouri for learning how to improve your mental health through sports and healthy lifestyle. www.hylatio.com.cy

Activity dates: 13 to 24 of October 2024 (12 days, including traveling dates)

Throughout the activities of the youth exchange, special attention will be paid to obtaining knowledge through informal learning methods. Informal learning methods will take various forms throughout the activity through various methods, some of which will:

• Get to know each other: Activities that will support participants to get to know each other, explore the cross-cultural group, and feel comfortable to enjoy the rest of the project.
• Secret Friend: This activity is beneficial for the target group who may have little experience living and functioning in a positive environment. This is a great opportunity to help young people learn to give back to make others feel good.
• Local Visit: Visit to the Golf Course. Golf builds self-confidence and patience. By keeping the brain active and in "thinking" mode," participants focus more on the game and less on the things they think of.
• Local visit: Animal shelter. Animals provide the kind of relationship that can help participants develop social skills and are a great source of comfort and motivation.
• Group discussion: About mental health, exercise, positive thinking, active lifestyle and more.
• Journal writing: By embracing the power of journaling, participants can strengthen their resilience, promote self-discovery, and improve their overall mental well-being.
• Team-building activities: The goal is to create a positive and good working environment by encouraging interaction among participants and strengthening relationships between them
• Art therapy: Participants can develop their creativity, promote self-discovery and emotional stability.
• Meditation and breathing exercises: Promote relaxation and stress reduction, improve concentration.

Methods used: Ice breakers and energizers, brainstorming and discussions, skill-building workshops and activities, cultural exchanges, team-building activities, local visit, reflection groups, journaling, presentations, and more. The main aim is to focus on "practice makes perfect".

Participant groups include:

• Young people and students at a critical stage of their personal development who want to have new experiences and learn more about themselves and others.
• Sports enthusiasts who have a strong interest in sports and physical activity.
• Young people who are already interested in and engaged in mental health issues. They may have had personal or peer experiences that inspire them to fight mental health stigma and promote wellness.
• Young people with fewer opportunities face different barriers and come from different backgrounds, people who want to get out of their comfort zone.
• Young people from diverse backgrounds, different nationalities and contribute to a multicultural and diverse environment.

Program of the Activity