One of the project’s key outcomes is the MindCraft game, which helps young people explore mental health-related topics in an interactive and engaging way. The game aims to bring the topic of mental well-being closer to young people, encourage self-reflection, and promote a more open and informed approach to mental health.

MindCraft was developed through the cooperation of project partners, taking into account the experiences and needs of young people across the Danube Region. The game is available in multiple languages, including the languages of all partner countries, English, and several Roma language versions, helping to ensure broad accessibility and inclusiveness.

The game is available here: https://www.meetmindcraft.eu/en

The international conference, entitled “From Ideas to Change: Mental Health Support for Young People”, showcased the results of more than two and a half years of cooperation within the project. Participants reflected on the project journey from identifying local needs to developing shared solutions. The presentations addressed key challenges related to youth mental health, highlighted the experiences of vulnerable groups, and presented the results of pilot activities implemented by project partners. The programme also provided an opportunity to explore the tools and methods developed within the project and to discuss how local experiences can contribute to broader policy development and systemic change.

On behalf of HETFA Research Institute, Luca Szöőr-Fülöp delivered a presentation entitled “From Local Practice to Danube Strategy”. The presentation focused on the results of the project’s pilot activities, the main lessons learned from the Local Action Plans, and the policy recommendations developed for the EU Strategy for the Danube Region. It demonstrated how experiences gathered at the local level can be translated into policy proposals that support the long-term promotion of young people’s mental well-being. The presentation also highlighted the importance of cross-sectoral cooperation and the role of locally tested solutions in shaping regional and international policy responses.

A key focus of the workshop was the presentation of work carried out in the six pilot territories in Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia and Ukraine. Partners shared updates on stakeholder engagement, youth outreach activities, skills needs assessments, the establishment of Local Cooperation Incubators, and the preparation of training, mentoring and employment-support measures.

The meeting also created space for peer learning and joint reflection on the challenges encountered during the first phase of implementation. Good practice examples from Slovakia offered further inspiration, including initiatives related to entrepreneurship education, financial literacy, mentoring programmes and community-based youth support services. The programme was complemented by a study visit to the Community Centre and Clubroom in Plavecký Štvrtok, where partners gained first-hand insight into local approaches supporting vulnerable groups through educational, social and youth-focused services.

HÉTFA participates as a partner in the COOPOWER project, implemented with the support of the Interreg Danube Region Programme and co-funded by the European Union and the Széchenyi Programme Office. The project aims to strengthen employment opportunities for vulnerable young people across the Danube Region and to support cooperative approaches involving local actors, service providers, educational institutions, employers and communities. The Bratislava meeting confirmed the importance of building on local experience while developing solutions that can also inspire action in other territories.

For further news, professional content and events related to the COOPOWER project, subscribe to the project newsletter: https://interreg-danube.eu/projects/coopower.

The aim of the event was for researchers and practitioners to jointly discuss the current challenges facing the social and solidarity economy, the role of social innovation, and the results and limitations of initiatives supporting social integration.

During the afternoon session of the conference, the ESIRA project presented two papers. Luca Koltai, a researcher at the Hétfa Research Institute, presented the experiences of the ESIRA project in a talk titled “Supporting Social Innovation Through Social Enterprises in the ESIRA Project,” highlighting the role of social enterprises in strengthening the innovative capacity of local communities. Anna Szerepi, a staff member at the Hungarian Reformed Charity Service (MRSZ), presented the results and lessons learned from the domestic application of the Multi-Actor Platform methodology in her presentation titled “Local Experiences with Implementing the Multi-Actor Platform Methodology.”

The workshop addressed methodological issues related to the social and solidarity economy, the effects of social integration at the individual level, and outcomes and challenges at the community level, organized into three thematic blocks. The program concluded with a joint professional discussion and a conversation about opportunities for collaboration.

The event was organized by the ELTE Center for Social Sciences Research as part of the OTKA 147050 research project titled “The Role of the Social Economy in Promoting Social Integration in Rural Areas of Hungary.”

The HÉTFA Research Institute is organising a Hungarian event within the framework of the CARES (Caregivers Advancing Regulatory Environment and Skills) project, providing a space for professional dialogue on the challenges facing the social care sector. The event will bring together researchers, practitioners, and sector experts to exchange experiences and discuss possible solutions to some of the most pressing issues affecting the profession today.

Following the presentation of the research findings, a roundtable discussion entitled „The Cost of Caring: Workforce Shortages, Burnout and Resilience in the Hungarian Care Sector” will bring together experts from academia, professional organisations, trade unions, and social service providers to reflect on some of the most pressing challenges facing the sector. The discussion will be moderated by Gergely Katona (Baptist Diaconal Centre). Panel participants include Ágnes Dr Győri (ELTE TK), Szilvia Dr Ádám (Semmelweis University), Zsófia Dr Hídvégi (Hungarian Association of Supervisors and Supervisor-Coaches), and Erzsébet Kővári (Budapest Methodological Social Centre and Institutions).

Date: 24 June 2026, 14:00-16:00

Venue: Empathy Community Space, Arany János utca 31, 1051 Budapest, Hungary

Participation is free of charge, but prior registration is required.

Registration link:
https://forms.gle/eTgzkP3wsSuzbwrZA

An audio recording of the discussion will be made available publicly after the event.

The CARES project is funded by Erasmus+ and co-funded by the European Union.

The Hungarian invitation to the event and the detailed agenda is attached below: Hungarian Invitation

One of the key objectives of the CARES project is to support professionals working in the care sector, promote their mental well-being, and contribute to the development of more sustainable and attractive working environments. Through training programmes, self-learning resources, mentoring opportunities, and capacity-building activities, the project seeks to strengthen the skills and resilience of care workers while helping them address the challenges they encounter in their daily work.

The first Online Policy Lab organised within the CARES project highlighted that many European countries face similar challenges. Participants identified workforce retention, burnout prevention, professional recognition, and continuous skills development as main priorities for ensuring the long-term sustainability and quality of social care services.

Building on these discussions, the CARES project will host its second Online Policy Lab on 17 June 2026. This event will focus on sharing practical solutions and showcasing project results. Participants will be introduced to the CARES Online Training Platform and its training modules, while representatives of European organisations working in the social sector will present good practices that support the well-being of care professionals and contribute to a more sustainable care workforce. 

The event aims not only to present the project outputs but also to create a space for exchange and mutual thinking. Speakers and participants from different countries will have the opportunity to discuss innovative approaches, successful initiatives, and practical experiences to strengthen the support systems for care workers across Europe.

Participation in the event is free, but prior registration is required. 

Date: 17 June 2026 (Wednesday)
Time: 14:00-15:30 (CET)
Format: Online (Zoom)
Language: English

You can register via the link below:  https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/WDdnfBrHRjWLj6bi9jKE4Q

The detailed programme and information about the guest speakers are available in the event invitation: Invitation for the 2nd Online Policy Lab.

The dashboard presents the concept of territorial resilience (Conceptualization), a comprehensive, interactive statistical interface that displays indicators of territorial resilience in Europe at the regional level (Statistics), the different stories of how resilience has been manifested and interpreted in various territorial contexts (Stories), the results of the case studies conducted within the project (Case Studies), the assessment tools developed (Assessment), and related terminology (Documentation – Glossary). The further results of the research (including the Final Report) are publicly available on the ESPON website.

In recent years, the concept of “resilience” has become embedded in the policy discourse of the European Union, but there’s still no common agreement on the actual meaning of the term and its application in territorial governance practice. The aim of the ESPON TERRES project was to fill this research gap and develop a conceptual framework for “territorial resilience,” outlining a measurement methodology that could potentially help guide EU cohesion and other sectoral policies, particularly at the subnational level.

As a result, the project team defined a comprehensive concept of territorial resilience, reviewed its current policy applications and possibilities, compiled a set of indicators suitable for measuring territorial resilience, and developed recommendations for future data collection. Analysed and mapped territorial inequalities in resilience; formulated recommendations for future research and methodology; and prepared an online dashboard to support the interpretation and measurement of territorial resilience.

Six case studies were also prepared within the framework of the project: HÉTFA staff addressed the challenges of the Budapest functional urban area, including intensive suburbanization and urban sprawl, overburdened infrastructure, public services and natural environment, and fragmented governance. To address these challenges, the project proposed a framework to strengthen cooperation and commitment among governance actors. The Budapest case identified valuable new initiatives, promising forms of cooperation, and the high added value of informal relationships, highlighting the role of proactive actors in resilience.

The partner meeting provided an excellent opportunity for the consortium to jointly review the progress achieved so far in the project and to coordinate the tasks for the second phase. Discussions focused on the finalisation of the online training modules, the further development of the online platform, and knowledge-sharing and dissemination activities.

Within the activities led by HÉTFA, two online international policy labs are organised on European challenges affecting the social and care sectors, as well as a national multiplier event. The first online international policy lab took place on 13 May 2026; you can read our previous article on the event. The next online international policy event will be held on 17 June 2026, with further information to be shared soon.

The project’s multiplier events will be organised in all partner countries – Lithuania, Italy, Romania and Hungary. The Hungarian event will take place on 23 June 2026. Its aim is to present the project and share the results and lessons learned with professionals in the social and care sectors through a presentation and roundtable discussion.

The latest updates on our upcoming events will be published on our website, and on our Facebook and LinkedIn pages.

The keynote presentation was delivered by Martin Lichte, the senior policy officer at the European Social Network (ESN), who provided an overview of workforce trends and structural challenges affecting social services across Europe.

The presentation highlighted that social services workers represent approximately 5% of the total EU workforce, while the sector remains significantly undervalued, underfunded, and characterised by difficult working conditions. It was also emphasised that 80-90% of the workforce is women, the average age of workers is above 45 in many countries (somewhere 55+), and the demand for long-term care services continues to rise across Europe.

Several innovative European good practices were presented during the keynote session, including community-based preventive care models, respite care programmes supporting family carers, and examples of digitalisation and artificial intelligence in social services. The presentation stressed that technological developments in care services must remain accessible, ethical, inclusive, and human-centred, while reducing administrative burdens and supporting independent living.

The second part of the event featured a presentation by the lead partner of the CARES project, Claudia Petrescu (Center for Not-for-profit Law), who introduced the main findings of the project’s transnational benchmark research examining social and health care systems in the project’s partner countries – Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, and Romania. The research highlighted that population ageing, increasing care needs, and workforce shortages are placing growing pressure on care systems across all four countries.

One of the main findings of the research was that social care workers remain highly dedicated to their profession, while burnout, emotional exhaustion, and secondary traumatic stress are reaching alarming levels in several countries, including Hungary. Survey participants identified excessive workload, low salaries, staff shortages, administrative burdens, and insufficient organisational support as the main sources of stress.

The moderated breakout discussions also provided an opportunity for participants to share national experiences and formulate recommendations. In the Hungarian discussion group, participants highlighted the lack of social recognition for social work, the need for stronger cooperation between organisations within the sector, and concerns regarding the weakening of professional qualification requirements in social services. Hungarian participants also stressed the importance of strengthening university-level social work education and improving coordination between the social, health, and education sectors.

Among the recommendations formulated during the discussions were improving salaries and working conditions, strengthening institutional support for workers’ mental well-being, expanding mentoring and training opportunities, and increasing the social recognition of care professions.

The outcomes of the event will contribute to the CARES project’s further professional development and the preparation of future policy recommendations.

The project will continue in the coming months with additional professional events and a second Online Policy Lab to strengthen international exchange and share good practice through individual presentations by professionals working in the social care sector.

Regarding the upcoming events, more information will be shared with you soon.

You can find the CARES project’s Benchmark Report on Social Care Sectors at the National and EU Level here: CARES_Benchmark_report_on_social_care_sectors_Transnational.

The modules themselves form part of a broader digital learning ecosystem, offering flexible, self-paced training aligned with the European Competence Framework for Research Managers (RM COMP) launched last year by the European Commission. The EARMA Academy is structured across different proficiency levels – from foundational (RM1) to advanced (RM3) – and combine conceptual knowledge with applied learning elements such as case studies, practical exercises, and assessments. This design enables learners to build competencies progressively while maintaining a strong connection to the operational realities of managing research and innovation projects in diverse institutional settings. The result is a set of e-learning modules that not only support continuous professional development but also contribute to the broader professionalisation and recognition of the research management and administration field in Europe.

You can discover the online learning hub here: https://formation-rma.eu/earma-academy/ 

You can learn more about the EARMA Academy here: https://earma.org/earma-academy/