Centrs MARTA

On the 29th and the 30th of November, the final event of the project Re-GROUP was held in Sofia (Bulgaria). The event consisted of a public conference celebrated in the New Bulgarian University about the biggest problems young people face nowadays and how youth groups can help tackle them and a partner meeting to discuss the next steps to conclude the project work. The event had the participation of all the project partners: Centrs Marta (Latvia), The Future Now Association (Bulgaria), Mundus (Spain) and The Romanian Center for Innovation in Local Development – CRIDL (Romania).

Reinforced and upgraded youth group methodology on building healthy relationships (Re-GROUP) is a KA2 project funded by the Erasmus + program that focuses on the use of the Youth Group methodology, developed by the MARTA Center in Latvia. In 2010, Centrs Marta started a prevention program – Youth Group methodology. It was created through years of piloting by young people for young people (ages 12-18) who are building their adult selves so this transition can be as free, healthy and empowering as possible. The methodology was proved to be a meaningful educational tool in the context of Latvia and now Re-GROUP has tested, evaluated and ratified this methodology in other countries (Bulgaria, Spain and Romania). The final event in Sofia was the perfect opportunity to present all the work done in the project and demonstrate the effectiveness of the methodology also in an international context.

On the 29th of November, the Bulgarian partner The Future Now Association hosted the international conference on youth well-being and violence in the New Bulgarian University facilities and it could also be followed online via streaming. The conference, that took place from 9 in the morning until 5 in the afternoon, tried to answer the following question: “How can youth groups tackle some of the biggest problems young people face?”.

In order to do so, first the results of Re-GROUP were presented. During the morning session, the partners took time to explain every intellectual output of the project and to answer all the questions that arose regarding the Youth Group Methodology, the results of the National Research and the objectives of the Policy Recommendations. After a break, the afternoon session was very participatory. Two round tables were held. The first included the participation of experts on youth issues from each of the countries involved in the project and the second had as protagonists the young people who have participated for months in the Youth Groups and recounted their learning and personal experience.

To conclude the conference, there was also time to involve all the participants in group dynamics which led to debates with very different points of view and very interesting final reflections.

On the 30th of November, the Re-GROUP partners held the last in-person meeting of the project. The session was useful to identify the last steps needed to complete the project successfully in the following months, to talk about the sustainability of the project and to plan future possible collaborations.

Stay tuned in the upcoming weeks to our website and our social networks to access the publications of the intellectual outputs and to learn more about the project work.

From the project partnership, we want to thank all the participants in our conference, all the collaborators who made it possible, and the New Bulgarian University for allowing us hold our event in Sofia in their magnificent facilities.