Inner engineering is a youth exchange program focusing on giving the participants a chance to get a better understanding of the emotional, psychological and social well-being. We want to create a space where people can exchange ideas, challenge their views, embrace the difficulties and focus on finding and appreciating inner harmony. After this project participants will be able to spread information about mental health conditions and healthy lifestyle with the tools and practices they will be given during the project.

– To raise awareness and develop understanding of the existing mental health conditions

– To broaden the knowledge of young people about mindful practices and how mental health conditions can be treated

– To make young people reflect upon their own social and cultural background regarding the topic of mental health conditions and well-being

– To explore the potential of healthy lifestyle and mindful practices in preventing risk-taking and self-harm behaviours

– To establish a network of like minded organizations and individuals who are interested in the further exchange on the topic of healthy lifestyle and mental well-being

– To raise awareness about the affect of mental health conditions, especially after the pandemics period, among different stakeholders by developing and disseminating blog posts and publications

– Age: above 18 years old
– Fluent in English
– Motivated to explore new ideas and methods
– Young people interested in emotional, psychological and social well-being
– Ready to share their personal stories
– Participants are coming in groups of five people per country
– Fully vaccinated

The project will take place in Bakuriani, which is a resort town around 180km from Tbilisi, the Georgian capital. Bakuriani is located in the mountains (around 1700 km above sea level), so there are many places to have a walk/hike.
We will stay at the Papa Noel Hotel which is fully equipped to host international projects with the appropriate equipment, working spaces, and leisure time activities. You will be sharing a double or triple room with people of the same sex, each room has one bathroom. There are towels and bed linen in the hotel. Internet access is available at the venue.
We will have meals three times a day. We made preparations and arrangements with the hotel for those of you who are vegetarian/vegan/allergic/have other dietary needs, but please make sure you did write this specifically to us before the project.
All the costs related to accommodation and meals are covered by the project.

The weather

The weather in June in Bakuriani tends to be cloudy with the average temperatures around 15 degrees during the day and 5 at the night.
As Bakuriani is mountainous please bring comfortable shoes and warm clothes.

Participants should carry out a survey in their respective home communities about the effect of social media on young peoples’ quality of life and questionnaire in their local communities about the most common mental health challenges young people have to face nowadays. They will have an opportunity to represent what kind of problems young people are facing in their countries and what can be done to empower them. After the presentations, there will be a discussion where participants will share their opinions about the existing challenges and how to solve them.
Intercultural evening: apart from bringing food and drinks please provide a small intro about your country. This should not be longer than 20 minutes. While preparing this try to get creative and DO NOT use PowerPoints or YouTube promotional videos.
Apart from the group tasks each of you individually should bring a picture that is associated with peace for you. Please print it and bring it with you to the youth exchange program.

INTERNATIONAL SWEET BOX

For coffee breaks, we would like to ask you to bring some sweets and snacks from the country you live in so that we can also have a little cultural sharing while eating.

HEALTH INSURANCE

Please keep in mind that you are responsible for arranging your health insurance for the time you will be in Georgia. Remember that if you need a doctor’s assistance and you do not have health insurance we will not be able to reimburse the costs of it.

MONEY

The national currency in Georgia is Lari (GEL). It would be good for you to check the exact rate before your departure as it’s changing. Payments everywhere in Georgia are accepted only in national currency. The best currency for exchanging is EUR.

You will have the chance to exchange money in Tbilisi on the day of your arrival. It is also possible to do it in Bakuriani. Most of the shows in the town accept credit cards as well.

Your travel costs is the money you spend for the transportation on your way to Georgia. This means your air ticket, bus/train tickets to get to your own country and bus tickets to get from the airport to Tbilisi. Please remember that we are not able to reimburse your travel by taxi or your own car, only public transportation.
You need to buy your own tickets before the project and the cost will be reimbursed to you after the youth exchange (providing you send us all the travel documents requested and fulfill all the tasks for participants, such as dissemination activities and your individual report in the mobility tool). The maximum amount of money per participant we will reimburse you is the following:

Spain: 500 EUR

NOTE:

1. The amount of money is based on the distance between Bakuriani and the city where your sending organization is based. It is possible to travel from another location but it might mean that your reimbursement will be lower (that is why it is important that you send us the flights proposal before you buy it so that we can discuss the details)
2. As you might know, the Erasmus+ travel lump sum is a bit higher than we stated here. This is because we are deducting 30 EUR per person to organize your travel from Tbilisi to Bakuriani and back.

As we mentioned, you are responsible for finding and buying your flight to Georgia yourself. We recommend you to fly to Tbilisi, but in case the tickets are very expensive we also recommend you to check the connections to Kutaisi operated by Wizzair (this is especially good for people travelling from Germany, Spain and France). You need to be in Georgia between 9th of June (arrival day) and 15th of June (departure day).

Getting to Tbilisi

Please note that we will organize a bus to Bakuriani ourselves, but it is your responsibility to get to the city center of Tbilisi on your own as we do not provide pick up service from the airport.
This is how you get to the center:

– From Tbilisi airport: the best way is to take public bus #337 which goes every half an hour from the airport to the center of Tbilisi (Rustaveli metro station).
– It is not advisable to take a taxi as usually it is very expensive. In case you decide to do so, remember to agree on a price in advance (should not be more than 25 lari). You can also order a taxi in advance using mobile application called Bolt.
– Important: please remember that if you decide to take a taxi the costs will not be reimbursed.
– From Kutaisi airport: there is a direct bus from the airport to the center of Tbilisi (Pushkin Square). It is operated by the company of GEORGIAN BUS. The ticket costs 20 GEL and you buy it at the airport (there is a ticket booth right next to the exit of the airport).
– Important: it is very hard to organize a transport from Kutaisi to Bakuriani so even if you arrive there we will still ask you to come to Tbilisi first.

Going to Bakuriani

On the arrival day (9th of June) we will have a minibus taking us from Tbilisi to Bakuriani. The exact time will be announced once all the participants have bought their tickets.
The meeting place is the Big Bicycle monument (Rose Revolution Square). It is 5 minutes walking distance from the Rustaveli metro station.

Extending your stay

According to the rules of the German National Agency for Erasmus+ who is funding the project, you are allowed to extend your stay up to 3 days in total (so you can come some days before or stay some days after or both, but not more than 3 days total). Please remember that in case you decide to do so, you will be responsible for finding your own accommodation. The costs of your extra stay will not be reimbursed.

Travel Documents

– If you are a citizen of European Union it is enough to travel with your national ID
– If you are a citizen of Ukraine, Armenia or Azerbaijan you would need your passport
– If you are a citizen of a country different than your residency that is non-EU, please let us know so we check you do not need a visa
– In any case: please make sure that your travel document is valid (not expired)