Developing the approaches of emotional well-being and mental health for specialists and NGOs working with vulnerable social groups in Latvia, Lithuania and Belgium

<< Background >>In Latvia and Lithuania, there is an increasing number of the socially vulnerable groups who need the resilience skills in the challenging life circumstances, f.ex. violence in the family, disease, poverty etc. The war in Ukraine has highlighted one more vulnerable group, refugees, mostly Ukrainian women and children. The war and negative life experiences can be direct or indirect, but both can have a negative impact on the people's mental health and well-being. The vulnerable groups often do not know how to deal with emotional and psychological factors in their lives. The best mediators who can help the vulnerable people to stand against different crises and problems are social workers, family specialists, NGO representatives who work with such groups on daily bases and who need the skills and knowledge not only how to support the vulnerable groups but also how not to burn themselves in this work. The project idea was not only to train the trainers but also help the social workers integrate the emotional well-being exercises in the daily work with different socially vulnerable groups so helping them to move from victimhood to the belief that everybody can have potential for resilience and strength. << Objectives >>The project had the following objectives: 1) to create NETWORK of social workers, care givers, educators, NGOs working with Ukrainian refugees and other vulnerable groups in Latvia, Lithuania and Brussels via 1 online kick off meeting, 1 online Toolkit developed by all the partners, 2 dissemination activities in LV and 1 dissemination activity in LT, 3 country briefings (pdf files) about the used emotional well being approaches in LT, BE, LV, communication activities in social media of LV and LT, project management activities, including monitoring and evaluation.2) to provide TRAININGS for social workers, care givers, educators, NGOs working with Ukrainian refugees and other vulnerable groups via 1 transnational interim meeting in LT, 1 transnational workshop in Brussels, 1 transnational dissemination meeting in LV.<< Implementation >>Preparation for project activities began in December 2023 with the signing of Partnership Agreements.January 2024: Ukrainian refugees led an introductory creative workshop in Rezekne, LV, for social workers, where the ideas for the project logo and banner were developed.February 7: An online Kick-off meeting was held, bringing together representatives from all partner organizations. Project banners were designed and created.February 26-28: A transnational project meeting took place in Kaunas, LT, attended by 31 participants from LV and LT.February 29: A dissemination event was held in Kaunas, LT, with 40 participants.April 23-26: A transnational workshop and networking event occurred in Brussels, BE, with 23 participants from LV, LT, and BE.June 11-13: A transnational project meeting was held in Rezekne, LV, for 21 participants from LV and LT.June 14: A dissemination event took place in Rezekne, LV, with 50 participants.October 22-23: A dissemination event was organized in the Riga region (Ādaži, LV), attended by 42 participants.From February to September, the Guidebook for the Improvement of Emotional well-being was developed, as well as Country briefings (Reflection book).<< Results >>There was organized 1 online kick-off meeting, 1 transnational meeting/training in Lithuania, 1 transnational workshop & networking in Brussels, 1 transnational meeting/training in Latvia; tested, approbated and prepared 1 online Guidebook developed by all the partners (in EN and LV); prepared Reflection brochure: 3 country briefings (pdf files) about the used emotional well-being approaches in LT, BE, LV, prepared by all the partners; 3 project dissemination events in Kaunas, Rezekne, Riga region (Ādaži), communication activities in social media of LV & LT. The project empowered the direct target group (25 persons): social workers, care givers, educators, NGOs that are working with vulnerable social groups in LV, LT, BE (Ukrainian refugees, immigrants, women, children, people with disabilities) with the ability to transform and inspire for change not only the vulnerable groups but also themselves by learning and developing new approaches of emotional well-being and mental health. Three transnational trainings and workshops improved high quality learning opportunities for the social workers. The involved participants increased quality in their work and built capacity to work transnationally by using different languages.