There are projects where you learn something.
And then there are projects that stay with you.
Ready4YouthWork was the second one.
From 3–11 August 2025, 24 youth workers from Slovakia, Slovenia, Greece, Italy, Lithuania and Estonia met in Suchá nad Parnou. On paper, it was a training course about communication, AI and burnout prevention. In reality, it felt like a very honest week about what it actually means to work with young people today.
We didn’t just “talk about communication”. We sat back-to-back trying to describe drawings without seeing each other’s faces and realised how easily we misunderstand one another. We experienced what it feels like to be deeply listened to — and what it feels like when someone is physically there but mentally somewhere else. That one hit.
We navigated blindfolded as a human “snake”, and had snowball fights with questions inside the paper balls. It was playful, chaotic at times, but very real. The kind of learning that sticks because you felt it in your body, not just wrote it in your notebook.
The AI sessions were surprisingly grounding. Instead of “AI is amazing” or “AI is scary”, we explored how biased it can be, how the same question gives different answers, and how much depends on the way we ask. It wasn’t about rejecting technology. It was about using it consciously. We left with more questions than answers, and that was the point.
And then there was well-being. Breathing exercises. Journaling. Animal movements barefoot on the grass. Talking about burnout openly- not as a weakness, but as something many of us have brushed against. For youth workers, who are often the strong ones for others, that space felt necessary.
What we’ll probably remember most isn’t one specific workshop. It’s the atmosphere. The openness in discussions. The late evening talks. The feeling that everyone there genuinely cares about young people, and also started caring a bit more about themselves.
Ready4YouthWork wasn’t loud or flashy. It was thoughtful. Practical. Human.
And honestly? That’s exactly what youth work should be.
The project was supported by the European Union through the Erasmus+ programme.
And then there was well-being.
Breathing exercises. Journaling. Animal movements barefoot on the grass. Talking about burnout openly- not as a weakness, but as something many of us have brushed against. For youth workers, who are often the strong ones for others, that space felt necessary.
What we’ll probably remember most isn’t one specific workshop. It’s the atmosphere. The openness in discussions. The late evening talks. The feeling that everyone there genuinely cares about young people, and also started caring a bit more about themselves.
Ready4YouthWork wasn’t loud or flashy. It was thoughtful. Practical. Human.
And honestly? That’s exactly what youth work should be.
The project was supported by the European Union through the Erasmus+ programme.
Autor: tím FGE