On November 22, the results of the Fit2Belong project were presented at the Marijampole Education and Culture Center. More than 50 specialists working with children and youth participated in the event.
The Fit2Belong project was inspired by the BBC Loneliness Experiment. This is an Erasmus+ funded project exploring strategies used by young people experiencing loneliness. The BBC Loneliness Experiment explored the role of belonging in different cultures and age groups. The large-scale study raised several important issues of loneliness that have not been addressed before by researchers, policy makers and professionals who work with people experiencing loneliness. This study found that lack of belonging (also known as loneliness) is most common among 16-24 year olds.
This project united 7 countries for a common goal: Lithuania, Poland, Turkey, Great Britain, Portugal, Serbia and Belgium. The project covered 8 topics: mental health, loneliness, communication, community, self-knowledge, creativity, friendship, nature. Based on these themes, a number of activities were developed and tested by young people in the partner countries. All the tested activities were compiled into one publication – the Fit2Belong guide, which was distributed both in electronic and printed format to all interested parties during the event. Several specialists have already managed to try some activities with young people in their workplaces.
We are glad that the publication created within the framework of the project has received many good reviews, is and will be widely used in all partner countries.