Mental Health Europe’s Youth Leadership Programme has started!

The Mental Health Europe’s Youth Leadership Programme has officially launched!  

On Tuesday 9th of July, the 26 selected candidates met online for the very first session of the Youth Leadership Programme – a two-year initiative by Mental Health Europe funded by Selena Gomez’s Rare Impact Fund.  

The Youth Leadership Programme aims at mobilising a movement of young leaders who will be drivers of cultural and social change to transform the narrative around mental health, breaking stigma and advocating for concrete support for young people’s mental health in educational and care settings and beyond. The work in 2024 will focus on building the young leaders’ capacity for immediate action, but also for planned advocacy initiatives to be carried out in 2025 and 2026.  

Each of the young leaders brings with them a unique story, education and experience. The diversity of the participants’ backgrounds is at the core of the Programme which wants to engage with young people from diverse life experiences who are at the beginning of their mental health advocacy journey.  

In the upcoming sessions, the leaders will have the chance to exchange with Youth Advocates already active in the mental health field, as well as with experts in human rights, advocacy and co-creation. 

The activities will be carried out in Co-Creation, a comprehensive framework developed by Mental Health Europe aiming at engaging diverse stakeholders on an equal basis for the development of policies, projects and practices. Co-creation is a dynamic journey that redistributes power among participants, valuing diverse expertise equally. This will ensure that the young leaders will be truly at the center of the action plan that will inform the Youth Leadership Programme’s activities in the upcoming two years.  

The launch of the Mental Health Europe’s Youth Leadership Programme marks a significant step towards empowering young leaders to reshape the conversation around mental health in Europe. We look forward to witnessing their growth and active engagement in shaping the European mental health landscape.