KidsLikeUs
In the project KidsLikeUs, educators, public authorities and NGOs explore how contact with nature and appeal to all senses can improve mental well-being of children with traumatic experiences.
Project summary
In 2022 a huge migration tsunami hit Europe again. This time, in comparison to the Mediterranean migration crisis 7 years ago, it has been much bigger, reaching over 5 MM people that have fled Ukraine by the 20th of April. One of the most vulnerable groups in the migration process are children – they often don’t know the language and their mental health is not ready to cope with such big traumas and changes in their surroundings. The concern of the mental health of children is much wider indeed. Since 2020 children and adolescents have been deeply affected by the mental health impacts of the pandemic. Experts indicate that they can feel the trauma and anxiety long after the war, pandemic or any other trauma triggering factor ends. So, what if the volunteers, educators, public institutions and NGOs learned how to create quickly small “Superhero sensory gardens” and got the instructions how to use them for the benefit of the young citizens? What if that could be helpful to improve the mental health not only of the refugees, but actually people of all ages and nationalities? Children are the future of every society. They will build a new world for the generations to come. Imagine we can take a good care of them now so that they are equipped with strong mental attitudes and belief that despite the traumas, they are valuable and welcomed no matter what EU country they happened to live in. Children‘s mental health and well-being are borderless issues thus we all need to act now.
Project partners
LEAD PARTNER: Poznan University of Life Sciences (Poland)
- Assication YogaYou (Sweden)
- Satakunta University of Applied Sciences (Finland)
- "Smarter step" public institution (Lithuania)
- Saue Municipality (Estonia)
- Art Academy of Latvia (Latvia)
- Võru County Vocational Training Center (Estonia)
- Østfold University College (Norway)
Total budget of the project
Total financing of the Project: EUR 1 650 000
Financing for the activities implemented by the Art Academy of Latvia: 130 000.00
Project period
January 2023 – December 2025
The project is co-financed by the European Union (European Regional Development Fund and European Neighborhood and Partnership Instrument) within Interreg Baltic Sea Region Programme 2021 - 2027.
