Humble Beginnings
Hidden in plain sight lay the quaint town of Bartninkai, in Lithuania, where our adventure began.
Forty-five of us came together from Portugal, Czechia, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, and Lithuania this April for eight days, with one mission: to learn more about balancing our mental and physical health.
Our first two days were dedicated to building a team, after all, how can you set out on any adventure alone, let alone one of such magnitude? Between quick-fire icebreakers and a team challenge hunt we called Crazy 29, we went from strangers to allies, and from there set out to explore the intricate world of balance and emotions.
We also met the European Key Competences early on. Splitting into small groups, each of us took on a single competence and, rather than treat it as an abstract idea, gave it a face: a character whose looks and actions embodied that skill, drawn out together on a flipchart. It was a playful first look at the abilities the week would help us grow, and a gentle introduction to the Youthpass that would recognise them at the end.
Learning as We Go
Over the following days, we engaged in different activities to better understand our emotions. Non-formal education methods let each of us embark on this quest in our own way. United by a common goal, yet distinguished by our individual approaches, we explored the topic through games, challenges, and quests!
To build a shared foundation, we first dove into the topic itself. Splitting into international teams, we researched different facets of mental health, from how society’s view of it has shifted through history, to its relationship with technology, to the close ties between mental and physical well-being. Each team turned its findings into a presentation, leaving us all with a common language for the days ahead.
From there, the topic came alive through hands-on sessions. In Theatre of the Oppressed, we tested out different emotional regulation techniques while trying to de-escalate comical and exaggerated situations. The session didn’t just test our understanding of emotions, it tested our adaptability, creativity, and teamwork!
During another session, we signed up for different sports such as volleyball and yoga. After exhausting but fun hours of movement, we reflected on how we felt before and after, and agreed that movement and group activities can cheer up even the grayest of days.
In “My Struggles, My Resolutions”, we named the well-being topics we most wanted to dig into and then built our own sessions around them. Over the following days we explored how to read emotions through facial cues and mood meters, how art and music carry feelings, and the way people-pleasing and even our native language shape what we feel.
To pin down something as slippery as a feeling, we leaned on simple tools like the mood meter:
People-pleasing got its own creative treatment in a session we called Beyond Yes. Before anyone reached for a camera, we talked through our own experiences with it: the times we said yes when we meant no, or put everyone else first until there was little left for ourselves. We then split into small teams and turned those reflections into short, reel-style films, each one showing how people-pleasing can quietly shape the smallest everyday choices. Watching them back opened up an honest conversation about where the habit comes from, how it can wear on our well-being, and what setting healthier boundaries might look like. One team turned the idea into a short explainer:
People-Pleasing, Explained
Cultures Shining Through
Our cultural mosaic was proudly displayed across three intercultural evenings, where national teams took turns in pairs to shine. We showcased dances, food brought from home, and fun facts about our countries, connecting over both similarities and unexpected differences! As hosts, our Lithuanian team shared its evening alongside Portugal, giving everyone a first taste of local traditions, flavours, and stories from right where the adventure was unfolding.
Bringing a piece of home with us made us beam with pride as we displayed our flags in the session room, laced tables with diverse foods, and answered each other’s curiosities.
The Little Things
Beyond the sessions, two quiet traditions ran through the whole week. A Compliment Box sat in the session room, collecting anonymous notes and small drawings that were read aloud each evening, filling the room with warmth. Alongside it, the Secret Friend game had us all secretly looking out for one another through little gestures and kind notes, with identities kept hidden until the final night. When the reveal finally came, it brought a flurry of surprised laughs and heartfelt hugs. Evenings left room for lighter moments too, like a karaoke night where we belted out each other’s favourite songs long after the sessions had ended.
Glowing Up Forward
On our last day, squeezed tightly between goodbye hugs and feelings of sorrow, one idea dominated the atmosphere: this would not be the last time we would see each other, as the bridges we had built had become stronger than any geographical distance.
Each journey was celebrated as we received our Youthpass certificates, and we each thought of ways to bring what we learned home, into our own friend groups and communities. Before the goodbyes, we turned our reflections outward, mapping out how we would share the experience back home and writing a collaborative piece about the week together.
As we each reflected on our learning journey and on this adventure, we asked ourselves one final question about emotions: how can the ending of such a happy time cause such heartache?
Results
Glow Up was a hands-on week, and much of what we explored took shape as something we could keep. Flipcharts, presentations, and short films all grew out of the sessions, each one a small record of what we learned about mental and physical well-being. Here is a little more of what came out of it.
Naming What We Feel
A whole session went into a deceptively simple question: how do we even know what we are feeling? In teams, we each picked apart a different method for reading emotions, from Plutchik’s wheel to the self-assessment manikin and the small tells in someone’s eyes, then shared them back as flipcharts.
The Competences, in Character
A few more of the characters our groups dreamed up to bring the European Key Competences to life:
Digging Into the Topic
Alongside the presentation further up, our research teams put together a few others, each taking on a different corner of mental health:
Beyond Yes, on Film
And two more of the short films the teams made about people-pleasing:
Giving Until There's Nothing Left
After You, No, After You
Photo Gallery
A few more moments from this activity :)
Check these and more photos in the activity’s photo album.
Dissemination Events
Eger, Hungary, April 2026
Kira presented Glow Up to around 13 classmates at her school in Eger, introducing the programme and the countries that took part, walking through the workshops, the trips and the venue, and sharing her favourite activities and why they should apply.
Madrid, Spain, April 2026
While waiting at their departure gate, Alexandra, Leonor, Simão, João and Carlota shared their Glow Up experience with fellow travellers at Madrid Barajas Airport, reaching around 13 people. They explained the goals of the youth exchange and the non-formal methods behind it, and spoke about their own growth and what the intercultural environment had given them.
Porto, Portugal, April 2026
Tiago shared his outcomes and experience from the project in a post on LinkedIn, encouraging others to take part in initiatives like this one.
Trnava, Slovakia, April 2026
Adam and Maximilian presented the project to their classmates during an English class at their high school, reaching 16 students.
Budapest, Hungary, April 2026
Dorka shared her experience during a youth-work training alongside fellow students at Eötvös Loránd University, reaching 16 people.
Vilkaviškis, Lithuania, April 2026
Milda, Agnė and Armandas presented the project together at Aušros gymnasium, reaching around 30 students. They explained what our projects offer, the competences young people build through Erasmus+, and how the application process works, sharing their own Glow Up experience and showing the audience how to find more of our projects online.
Pitești, Romania, April 2026
Rareș, David-Costin, Irina, and Bogdan presented the project to their class, reaching over 20 students. They spoke about their experience and answered questions about how to apply for future projects and the opportunities currently open.
Náchod, Czechia, April 2026
Agáta and Darina presented the project at their grammar school, Jiráskovo gymnázium, reaching around 25 classmates. They talked about their experience, the location, and what they had learned, drawing questions from both classmates and their teacher.
Náchod, Czechia, May 2026
Samuel and Borek presented the project during their English class at Jiráskovo gymnázium, reaching around 14 people.
Košice, Slovakia, May 2026
Olivia shared her Erasmus+ experience with 18 students at Gymnázium Park mládeže in Košice, explaining how to apply for Erasmus+ opportunities, how the group travelled and the activities they took part in, and how the exchange helped her become more independent, confident and open-minded.
Online, Slovakia, May 2026
Goran and Natália presented the project online over Google Meet, reaching 12 people. They introduced what a youth exchange offers young people and shared photos and lessons from their own Glow Up experience.
Szombathely, Hungary, May 2026
Nora presented the project at her school, reaching 22 students. She explained what Erasmus+ and youth exchanges are about, shared her own experience, and answered plenty of questions about the travelling, the learning, and what made the group so special.
Prešov, Slovakia, May 2026
Martin, together with Adriana and another classmate who had joined other youth exchanges, presented to their underclassmen at Gymnázium Jana Adama Raymana, reaching 40 students. They explained what a youth exchange looks like, shared their experiences, and pointed the audience towards Erasmus+ opportunities such as DiscoverEU and how to apply.
Kladno, Czechia, May 2026
Krystof and Martina gave a presentation during a geography class at Sportovní gymnázium Kladno, reaching 22 classmates. They walked through the daily routine of the project, the topic, and our other projects, explained what a youth exchange is, and showed everyone how to find and apply for them, before answering questions and earning a round of applause.
Bučovice, Czechia, June 2026
Adina presented the project to her class at Gymnázium a Obchodní akademie Bučovice, reaching 25 students. She shared how she had discovered the project and what her experience was like, then answered all of their questions.
Online, Romania, June 2026
Daria held an online session on Discord for around 10 people, screen-sharing the project’s final video and talking through the activities and the knowledge and skills the group gained during the mobility.
