From 4 to 12 July 2026, Association Petite Graine welcomed young people from France, Germany, Spain and Hungary to Bagnères-de-Luchon for Bien-être en Mouvement, an Erasmus+ youth exchange dedicated to well-being, movement-based learning and healthy lifestyles.
The project brought together participants and youth leaders from Association Petite Graine, Next Level e.V., TE IS and Amigos de Europa for a week of non-formal education in the heart of the Pyrenees. Through mindfulness, breathing, movement, hiking, outdoor cooperation, reflection circles and intercultural activities, participants explored one central question: how can we take better care of ourselves, each other and the environment around us?
The goals of the project were clear: to strengthen young people’s mental health and stress-management skills, promote healthier and more sustainable lifestyles, and create an inclusive space where young people could build confidence, cooperation and leadership through movement and shared experience.
By the end of the exchange, these goals had become visible in the participants’ own words. One participant wrote that well-being is “an important part of our everyday lives” and that “small changes and finding balance can make a big difference.” Another described the week as a reminder that “movement is not only physical but also mental and emotional.” For others, the main lessons were simple but powerful: “slow down,” “step out of your comfort zone,” “communicate your needs clearly,” and “kindness speaks every language.”
Nature played a central role in the learning process. Hikes, mountain landscapes, forests and waterfalls became more than a background: they became spaces for reflection, connection and calm. Participants described feeling more grounded, more present and more aware of the importance of taking time away from the rush of daily life. One participant summed it up beautifully: “Nature reminded me that the best journeys also transform us from within.”
The project also created a strong intercultural community. Participants arrived from different countries and backgrounds, but through shared activities, group challenges and everyday life together, they built trust and mutual support. As one participant wrote after a hike to a waterfall: “We weren’t just separate people anymore - we officially became a team.”
A key result of the exchange was the co-creation of practical well-being resources, including exercises, reflections and ideas that will feed into APG’s multilingual Well-Being Toolkit. This toolkit will make the project’s learning accessible beyond the group itself, supporting young people, educators and youth workers who want to integrate simple, low-cost well-being practices into daily life and youth work.
The impact of Bien-être en Mouvement can be seen on several levels:
- For participants, the project strengthened self-confidence, intercultural communication, emotional awareness, connection to nature and motivation to continue healthy habits after the exchange.
- For the partner organisations, it reinforced cooperation between France, Germany, Hungary and Spain, while developing new non-formal education methods around well-being, movement and inclusion.
- For the wider community, the project created open resources, stories and testimonies that can inspire other young people to take care of their mental and physical health in accessible and sustainable ways.
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Bien-être en Mouvement showed that well-being is not only an individual practice. It can also be collective, intercultural, joyful and deeply connected to the places we inhabit.
The project was funded by the European Union through the Erasmus+ programme.
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