CALL FOR PARTICIPANTS – ERASMUS+ TRAINING COURSES 2026

Project: 2026-1-BG01-KA151-YOU-000389266:

CALL FOR PARTICIPANTS – ERASMUS+ TRAINING COURSES 2026

WILD RHODOPA MIND GUDEVITSA 2026

Remember your wildness. Cultivate your wholeness. Bring it into your work with young people.

Age: 21+, no age limit.

Dates (choose one):

17 – 26 September 2026 (with travel days)

05 – 14 October 2026 (with travel days)

19 – 28 October 2026 (with travel days)

Something in you knows there is more.

Perhaps it has been waiting for you for a long time.

Maybe your life is full — work, people, plans, screens, responsibilities — and yet something quieter keeps asking for your attention.

When did you last spend enough time in wild nature to hear yourself again?

This autumn, people active in youth work from different European countries will gather in the remote mountain village of Gudevitsa for an intensive experiential journey into nature, the human psyche and the possibilities of nature-based developmental youth work.

For several days we will step away from our ordinary routines and explore dimensions of human wholeness through wilderness wandering, embodiment, deep imagination, the Way of Council, dreamwork, creativity, solitude, community and encounters with the more-than-human world.

But this journey is not only about ourselves.

As youth workers and educators, we frequently invite young people to become more resilient, authentic, connected, creative and engaged with the world around them.

Can we meaningfully accompany young people into territories we have never explored ourselves?

Wild Mind Gudevitsa begins with the youth worker as a human being.

We experience first.

We reflect on our experience.

We discover the principles and methodology behind it.

And then we ask how this learning can be responsibly translated into our own youth-work contexts.

What is WILD MIND GUDEVITSA?

WILD MIND GUDEVITSA is an international Erasmus+ training course exploring ecocentric development, nature-based learning and experiential approaches to youth work.

The programme draws inspiration from the Wild Mind / Map of the Human Psyche developed by Bill Plotkin and the work of Animas Valley Institute, together with methods and experience developed through European nature-based and ecocentric youth-work projects.

Rather than approaching nature simply as a setting for outdoor activities, we will explore the possibility of encountering the natural world as teacher, mirror, relationship and living community.

The programme combines personal experience, reflection, conceptual input and professional transfer into youth work.

Why this training?

Young people today are growing up amid rapid technological change, social fragmentation, ecological uncertainty, pressure to perform and increasingly mediated relationships with themselves, one another and the natural world.

Youth work needs spaces where young people can develop not only skills, but also deeper capacities for:

belonging and meaningful connection;
emotional and embodied awareness;
confidence and authenticity;
imagination and creativity;
relationship with nature;
reflection and self-knowledge;
participation and responsibility;
meaning, values and purpose.

We believe youth workers need opportunities to explore these dimensions in their own lives and practice before attempting to facilitate them for others.

The learning journey

Our process follows four complementary dimensions of human wholeness.

🌅 EAST — Presence & Sensing

Slowing down.

Encountering the world through our senses.

Wonder, innocence, belonging and direct relationship with the living world.

☀️ SOUTH — Body & Emotion

Coming home to the body.

Vitality, emotion, playfulness, instinct and our embodied participation in life.

🌄 WEST — Imagination & Inner Depth

Turning toward the inner world.

Dream, mystery, creativity, shadow, imagination and the questions beneath our ordinary identities.

⭐ NORTH — Meaning & Generative Action

Listening for what matters.

Discernment, responsibility, care, gifts and how our learning can serve young people, community and the wider world.

The aim is not to become “better” in every direction.

It is to become curious about the diversity of resources already available within us and about those dimensions of ourselves that may need more attention.

How will we work?

This is an experiential training.

Methods may include:

nature-based experiential learning;
wilderness wandering;
solo time in nature;
the Way of Council;
embodiment and movement;
deep imagination;
dreamwork;
journaling;
storytelling and poetry;
creative and artistic expression;
mindfulness and sensory awareness;
group reflection;
intercultural learning;
community living;
theoretical input;
reflection on transfer into youth work;
development/adaptation of nature-based practices for participants’ own professional contexts.

Learning will happen both inside and outdoors, individually and collectively.

Gudevitsa and the surrounding Rhodope landscape are not merely the venue for the course. Place itself is part of the learning process.

What do we want participants to learn?

Through the programme, participants will have opportunities to:

Experience nature-based and ecocentric practices first-hand rather than learning them only theoretically.

Explore dimensions of their own wholeness, personal resources and patterns relevant to their role as youth workers.

Strengthen competences connected with facilitation, reflection, communication, intercultural learning, creating meaningful learning environments and supporting young people’s developmental processes.

Understand principles of ecocentric development and nature-based learning and their relevance to contemporary youth work.

Reflect critically on the possibilities, limits and ethical considerations of bringing deeper experiential practices into work with young people.

Adapt and transfer appropriate practices into their organisations, communities and youth-work settings.

Build relationships with other practitioners interested in nature-based and developmental approaches across Europe.

Who is this training for?

We are looking for participants who are actively involved in the youth field, for example:

youth workers;
youth trainers;
educators;
facilitators;
mentors;
youth leaders;
NGO and community workers;
volunteers working regularly with young people;
other practitioners who can meaningfully transfer the learning into youth work.

You do not need previous experience with Wild Mind, ecopsychology or ecocentric development.

We value curiosity more than expertise.

We especially welcome people who:

feel that conventional educational approaches alone are not enough;

want to deepen their relationship with nature and explore how nature-based practices can enrich youth work;

are willing to experience methods personally before facilitating them for young people;

are open to self-reflection, embodiment, imagination, creativity and intercultural learning;

are ready to participate fully in an intensive residential group process;

are willing to spend substantial time outdoors in autumn mountain conditions;

are prepared to contribute to community life;

and have a genuine intention to bring elements of their learning back to young people, organisations or communities.

This may be for you if…

You work with young people and sometimes wonder:

How can I create spaces of genuine belonging?

How can young people reconnect with themselves in a world of constant stimulation?

What can nature offer that another classroom workshop cannot?

How do we support authenticity rather than simply adaptation?

How can imagination, body, emotion and relationship with the living world become legitimate parts of learning?

Or perhaps there is a more personal question:

How can I accompany young people toward aliveness if I have lost contact with some of my own?

This is not psychotherapy

Wild Mind Gudevitsa includes self-reflection and may involve emotionally meaningful experiences.

However, the programme is an educational training course, not psychotherapy, psychiatric treatment or a substitute for professional mental-health care.

Because some practices involve solitude, emotional exploration and altered everyday routines, selected participants will be asked to complete a confidential personal and psychological readiness process before final participation is confirmed.

The purpose is not to diagnose or judge participants, but to support responsible participation and the safety of both the individual and the group.

Your commitment begins before Gudevitsa

The training does not begin on the day you arrive.

Selected participants will receive a short preparation process before travelling to Bulgaria.

You may be invited to:

spend intentional time in nature;

begin or deepen journaling;

pay attention to dreams and imagination;

reflect on your current life transition and motivation;

explore your relationship with the four dimensions of wholeness;

and participate in an online preparatory meeting.

After the residential training, we will continue with integration and follow-up activities supporting the transfer of learning into everyday life and youth work.

Erasmus+ and learning recognition

WILD MIND GUDEVITSA is organised within the framework of the Erasmus+ Programme in the field of Youth.

The programme uses principles of non-formal and experiential learning. Participants will be actively involved in reflecting on their own learning process and identifying learning outcomes relevant to their personal and professional development.

Participants will be supported in reflecting on and documenting their learning through Youthpass.

The international dimension of the training offers an opportunity to learn with people from different cultural and professional backgrounds and to build future cooperation in the European youth field.

Travel: Travel costs are supported/reimbursed according to the conditions and limits of the approved Erasmus+ project. Do not purchase tickets before receiving confirmation and travel instructions from the organisers.

Detailed information concerning travel reimbursement, insurance, accommodation, equipment and mountain conditions will be provided to selected participants.