COPE Project – Partners meeting
On the 30th of May, the partners of the project “COPE – Concrete PEer to peer solutions and support among youth for mentally coping with the anxiety and stress associated with the COVID-19 pandemic” met online to discuss the progress of their work and their tasks. With regard to Work package n°2 – “Mapping of the specific psychosocial challenges of youth during the post Covid-19 period and identification of state-of-the-art on psychosocial support programs for youth” led by Symplexis, 5 national reports mapping needs assessment in terms of youth’s psychosocial barriers and youth professionals’ upskilling pathways are finalised and soon the transnational report as a compilation of all national reports will be ready prepared by Symplexis. The national reports are based on desk review identifying young people’s needs and youth workers’ social and intercultural skill sets and knowledge to respond to current challenges and exploring their digital competencies in youth work, as a basis for developing capacity building training and peer-to-peer program. Based on a common research methodology and structure, tools and guidelines, the partners gathered data and information from the following sources: a) existing literature/studies/publications at a national and EU level on the needs and challenges that disadvantaged youth face in relation to most common mental health conditions that have arisen due to the adverse circumstances and the identification of best practices in relation to psychosocial supporting programs for youth in partner countries and b) focus group discussions with 15-18 young people of disadvantaged background and 12-15 youth workers or representatives of youth organisations. All gathered information and findings are compiled in national reports providing extensive analysis on the mental health issues of disadvantaged youth and the respective needs of youth workers – social, intercultural and digital skills to respond to these challenges. The National Reports will be merged into a Transnational report by Symplexis to provide a comparative analysis and the extraction of useful conclusions and recommendations at an EU level. Regarding Work Package no1 – Project Management, led by Youth Included, partners started using the AdminProject online project management and communication tool and JKPeV showed its most important features and settings so that partners become familiar with its use. Partners also discussed the visibility of the project, and how they should better disseminate its results. JKPeV that is in charge of leading Work Package no 5 – Dissemination and promotion activities, has launched the website of the COPE project which is available in all partners’ national languages including English – Czech, German, Greek, and Spanish. The social media accounts of COPE are also active – the Fb page, the Instagram and the LinkedIn accounts.
For further information about the project, you can check the website, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn