The objective of the Need to Connect (NTC) project is to fight loneliness, empower and connect young mothers, aged 18-30 years of age, through art training and build a sustainable national community platform in all partner countries. With partners from Iceland, Slovenia, Italy, Bulgaria, the Netherlands, Spain and Lithuania the project focuses on giving the young mothers the opportunity and capability to impact and help other mothers in similar situations. The overall objective is to raise awareness of issues among young mothers in Europe, to develop a curriculum and training program that can be used as a tool for empowerment and connection by all interested parties, and to build up a national sustainable community of young mothers.

Throughout the project, the partners are working on creating the following results:

• NEEDS ANALYSIS

A needs analysis and networking report, raising awareness about the issues and isolation of young mothers in all partners countries and to present stakeholders and other organisations with art as a tool for empowerment and connections between young mothers. The needs analysis will include information on the current situation of young mothers in each partner country and what kind of support they receive. It will also include an analysis of their needs and concerns to guarantee the development of a suitable training programme in the other results. 
You can download the full document "Need to connect - Desk Research Comparative Report" here, and its Resume: here.

• TRAINING PROGRAMME

A curriculum, training programme and open educational resources, focusing on the ideas of using art as a tool of empowerment for young mothers in the partner countries and to enhance their employability. The curriculum will cover both in-person training and teaching materials as well as provide all its content on the platform and will be adapted to an online training for future use. The training will be implemented with young mothers, aged 18 to 30, in all countries.

• COMMUNITY PLATFORM & GROUPS

A community and training platform for young mothers, one for each partner country. Young mothers will interact and be able to contact each other, as well as find general information on the project, project news, support links and information on common challenges and obstacles in their lives and all videos and training materials on the platform.

Access the training and community platforms.

The project partners are:

• Einurð, Iceland
• Happiness Academy Ltd., Bulgaria
• CESIE, Italy
• VILNIAUS UNIVERSITETAS, Lithuania
• STICHTING DUTCH FOUNDATION OF INNOVATION WELFARE 2 WORK, Netherlands
• Education Centre Geoss, Slovenia
• Consultoría de Innovación Social, Spain

                    

The European Commission's support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents, which reflect the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.