Erasmus+ project · 2025-2027
WellNext
A wellbeing system for youth organisations: guidelines, tools and trained people who help prevent burnout and make the workplace somewhere youth workers feel good.
- 24 months, until 2027
- 4 organisations: Latvia, Spain, Romania, Italy
- Free, open-source results
Why WellNext
Burnout is not solved with one-day fixes
Youth workers look after others every day, and that can wear them out. When an organisation’s culture does not support them, tiredness builds up, motivation drops and good people leave.
WellNext is not looking for a temporary remedy. We want a change in the system, one that stays in organisations after the project ends.
Our vision is a future where every youth organisation is equipped to prevent burnout and foster a truly supportive workplace.
The WellNext team
What we aim for
- a better workplace culture that lowers the risk of burnout;
- long-term support systems that strengthen organisational health;
- youth workers who are more satisfied with their work and more effective in it.
The partnership
Four organisations, four perspectives
ISMA
Latvia · coordinator
Gamification, project management and wellbeing, building on the experience of its earlier “Exit Burnout” project.
EXPERIENTIA
Spain
Adventure therapy: nature and experiential learning in the service of mental health.
POINT OF VYOU
Romania
Personal and professional development, community building and easy-to-use tools.
Wild Routes APS
Italy
Environmental education and youth work in rural areas, with a close view of the wellbeing challenges outdoor educators face.
By 2027
What we will build together
All results will be open-source and free, so any youth organisation can use them.
- A best-practice guide, based on research, with case studies and tested solutions.
- An easy-to-use digital platform and an offline game that help organisations put wellbeing measures into practice.
- A network of wellbeing ambassadors, trained people who support their colleagues and raise awareness of mental health.
The WellNext catalogue
Browse the project catalogue right here.
The WellNext catalogue
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The first meeting
Two days in Bucharest
The WellNext team met for the first time in Bucharest, at a transnational project meeting. We shared each organisation’s vision, agreed on roles and timelines, and made sure wellbeing sat at the heart of how we work together, not only of what we work on.
Between working sessions we danced (contemporary dance), relaxed at Therme, did some team building and talked for hours at Seneca Anticafé. To close, a brainstorming session gathered more than 100 ideas and concrete steps for wellbeing, in our own lives and in the project activities.
The second meeting · 16-19 February 2026
A cozy hut in the Latvian woods
From 16 to 19 February, the WellNext partners met in Latvia, where we presented the results of our research and the project catalogue. We brainstormed the next steps in developing an evaluation tool and talked through risk management. And we did all of this in a cozy hut in the beautiful Latvian woods, with -29°C outside.
The third meeting · 13-16 October 2026
Our tools start to take shape
From 13 to 16 October, our WellNext transnational meeting in Spain brought partners from Romania, Italy and Spain together for four days of work, walks and plenty of laughter, in a setting that reminded us why wellbeing matters in the first place.
The best part? Seeing our tools start to take shape. We got a first look at the early versions of both the online and the offline tool, and we were the first to try them out on ourselves. What began as research and ideas is turning into something real you can hold, test and use.
That’s a huge boost for all of us as we keep working to help organizations care for the wellbeing of their youth workers and employees. We have big plans for what comes next, and we’re genuinely excited about what we’ve created together.
Co-funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the national agency that awarded the funding. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.