“Mental Health for All: Awareness, Action and Advocacy”
- 19th – 25th April 2026
- Budapest, Hungary
Dear friends and partners,
We have the great pleasure to invite your organization to nominate candidates for the JECI- MIEC Study Session “Mental Health for All: Awareness, Action and Advocacy ”, which will take place in Budapest, Hungary 19th -25th April 2026 (including arrival and departure day).
What is a Study Session?
Study sessions are international youth events lasting between 4 and 8 days which bring together members of youth organizations or networks and experts for discussions on a specific subject leading to conclusions relevant to the priorities and programs of the Council of Europe Youth sector. The Study Sessions are held in non-formal education settings, which means any planned, structured, and voluntary learning activity taking place outside the formal education system. It is a learner-centered method aimed at developing a wide range of skills, competencies, and values, such as social inclusion, active citizenship, and personal growth.
What is our Study Session about?
Mental health is a shared social reality that shapes individuals, communities, and societies as a whole. This study session will explore the close and reciprocal relationship between mental health and human rights. For instance, how violations of human rights can negatively affect mental wellbeing, and how living with mental illness can increase exposure to discrimination, exclusion, and further rights infringements. The topic of mental health will be approache through an intersectional perspective, highlighting the links with migration, identity, gender, religion, social class, and generational differences, and recognising how these dynamics appear in everyday life.
It will introduce practical tools, such as Psychological First Aid (PFA), and create space to reflect on the responsibilities of young Catholic people in Europe in promoting human dignity, human rights, and inclusive, safe, and peaceful communities. Through intercultural dialogue and shared learning, the session aims to deepen participants’ awareness of mental wellbeing and rights-based approaches within their organisations and daily life.
What do we want to achieve with our Study Session?
With this Study Session, we aim to strengthen the understanding and the link between mental health and human rights, highlighting how inclusion, dignity and equality impact mental well-being in everyday life. We want to equip the participants with mental health knowledge,communication skills, and the confidence to address these topics openly. Finally, we aim to empower building inclusive, safe and peaceful communities that actively promote and protect mental health and human rights.
Who can participate?
- Young people (students), active members of their National Organizations;
- 18 – 30 years old;
- Able to work and communicate in English;
- Motivated to participate actively in the Study Session;
- Able to participate for the whole duration of the activity
- Willing to share their experience and the outcomes of the Study Session to their National Organizations.
To apply for this activity, please fill out the application form. The application deadline is 5th March 2026.
Selected participants are going to receive all additional information once their participation has been confirmed.
APPLICATION DEADLINE:
Please apply via this link until the 5th of March
Application Link
Things to keep in mind:
- There is an enrolment fee of 60€.
- The accommodation is provided by the Council of Europe and participants will be staying at the European Youth Centre in Budapest throughout the activity.
- The travel expenses will be reimbursed.
According to the Reimbursement System, the travel expenses of the participants will be 100% reimbursed, according to the following criteria:
- Participants must attend more than 80% of the activity.
- Participants are expected to travel between their place of residence and the town in which the activity takes place and back. If for personal or professional reasons participants travel to the meeting from a place other than their place of residence, or return to such a place after the meeting, preliminary agreement must have been obtained from the Youth Department Secretariat and conditions of reimbursement agreed before the meeting.
- All the tickets must be purchased before the start of the journey and sent to us via email.
The reimbursement will be done by bank transfer after the Study Session and all the data has been collected.
For any further information, please contact the Course Director via e-mail:
mmaszkiewicz@st.swps.edu.pl
All the best and stay safe,
Prep Team
- Maja Maszkiewicz – Course Director
- Chiara Simonelli
- Kuba Maszkiewicz
- Ivy Blaise Palope
- Hwan Ho Lee
- Ana Afonso – Educational Advisor
European Team 2026
- Hannah Plückhahn
- Alessandra Tiberi
- Jan Krawczyk
- Noah Albert