Erasmus+ Youth Exchange in Estonia – Clear Minds, August 2026

Particiapant and Leader Reports – Clear Minds Erasmus+ Youth Exchange 2026 

 

In the summer of 2026, I participated in an Estonian Erasmus+ Youth Exchange. Our topic was phone addiction and mental health, which I found fascinating, especially for our generation. 

I enjoyed every workshop without exception, and it wasn’t just entertainment. I became familiar with meditation and productivity techniques that I’m now implementing into my everyday life. The cultural nights were a huge part of this project as well. I had the opportunity to learn all kinds of things about different countries and cultures. 

The best part for me was hosting my own workshop. I felt anxious about it for a long time, but when the time came, it went smoothly. When I saw that my group was genuinely invested and enjoying the program, it filled me with a sense of pride and fulfillment. After my workshop, one of the participanhttps://poli.hu/wp/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/DSC08811-scaled.jpgts told me that the things we talked about are going to change his perspective on life and his everyday habits, which was the cherry on top. 

The organization was done perfectly by Kaia. We had enough free time to get to know each other, ultimately leading to crazy parties and a lot of great nights. The dynamic of the place was unusual for me, as there were no restrooms in the houses and we had to share showers with others, but it was a new experience, which is the whole point of Erasmus for me, so I didn’t mind. I was pleasantly surprised by the food because I had heard a few bad things about it from last year, but it was so amazing that I even gained a few extra kilograms. 

The only part of the trip that I wasn’t ready for was the journey. I had never traveled for more than a day in my life, so it was quite an experience, although not the most pleasant one. 

In the end, it was a fantastic first project, and I’m looking forward to any new ones during my remaining year. 

 Gyovai Zénó

 

This summer I was able to travel to Estonia and participate in an Erasmus+ project.

Our topic was about mental health, social media and phone addiction. I mainly applied because of the topic, but soon I realized this project would be one of my best experiences of the summer, even of my entire year. I was a little bit nervous and excited because I only knew a few people, even from the Hungarian team, so it was such a nice experience to get to know them. I think our team was one of the best groups I’ve ever worked with.

The way there was a little bit tiring, but I quite enjoyed it. Everyone was so kind and welcoming toward everybody. When we arrived at the camp, other people immediately came up to us to introduce themselves and start a conversation. I learnt a lot from the workshops and presentations we had throughout the week. For example, now I know how my brain processes dopamine, how it can affect me, and in the future I’ll be able to use it to benefit me instead of stopping me from doing my work, etc.

The part that surprised me was that I got to know myself better and how my way of managing work processes can be improved. I adored the culture nights because I got to learn about other nations’ history, folklore, art and their way of life. Every nation brought snacks and food from their own country, and we were able to try them out. They were very delicious, and I got to try foods that I wouldn’t have had in another way.

We got to see some Estonian cities like Viljandi and wildlife. The weather was a little bit cold, but it didn’t stop some guys from swimming in the sea. We also got free time to see the city and discover it by ourselves.

I cherish every memory from this Erasmus, the food, people, special moments like the solar eclipse. I really hope I’ll be able to participate in other projects and make new memories.

Majtényi Bóra

 

This Erasmus was full of ups and downs, but in the end, I had a really great time.

First, we started with a 36-hour trip. We stayed in Warsaw for 4 hours, so we got to see the city a little bit.

When we arrived, we immediately dove in head first to the deep water. We had workshops about social media and mental health, cultural nights, diarying, and more and more fun activities. As the days were passing by, I got to know so many new people and learned about different cultural things, like dances and foods. One night, the camp even rented a sauna, and that was so much fun. The Latvians showed me the drink “kvas,” and I think it is great. We went to two other cities, Viljandi and Pärnu. We saw the sea; it was cold…

The trip back was 39 hours. We stayed in Riga for 12 hours. By the time we got home, we were so tired, but the Hungarian group had gotten so used to each other that we had a great time.

Overall, I learned a lot about mental health and how social media works. I made a lot of new friends and created a lot of memories that I am never going to forget.

Szigeti Lili

 

Between August the 9th and the 15th I parcipatated in the Clear Minds Erasmus+ Youth Exchange organised in the Joulamme campsite in Estonia. I traveled along with 8 of my countrymen, 2 of whom were my group leaders, from Budapest to the project’s venue using green travel (ie. Trains and buses). 

Besides Hungary there were students from Spain, Latvia, Bulgaria and Estonia, with each country having around 7-8 students of similar age in the project. 

The topic of the project was social media use and mental health among young people, and the aim was to teach us how we can better our lives in these ever important areas. The project lasted 7 days total, during which we did activities, organized workshops, heard guest speakers, planned and executed dissimination activities related to the project.  

Each country team had to organise one workshop around a specific subtopic chosen by us in advance, which made the whole project more inclusive and relatable as we got to hear about these topics from our own peers. I’m not going to detail out every activity but I will describe a few ones just to illustrate the nature of these activities. Our own workshop was about tools for improving our mental health and so we divided the people into different groups and performed activites with them such as guided meditation, discussing productivity or talking about how different cultures relax. 

Another interesting workshop I would like to mention is the one organized by the Latvians. Their workshop’s title was “The world in a 100 years”, and during the activity each team had to perform a little skit on how they see the future from different perspectives, such as AI or housing. 

As mentioned before, along with the workshops we also had guest speakers. With these mentors we discussed and did illsutrative games about the proper usage of social media and the often hidden workings of social media platforms and their algorithms, among other things.  

We also has so called “culture nights” during which each national team got to present their own traditions, foods, fun facts and a dance from their respective countries, which was, for me the best part of the whole project.  

During our stay in Estonia we also wanted to involve the local community in the project during our visits to the local towns of Pärnu and Viljandi. In Viljandi for example as a dissimination activity we placed QR codes with the help of the Munzee application which, when scanned lead to a link to a poster about the project and practical advice on the topic of mental health. We will also make a presentation and present it in our school as a dissimination activity so even people who didn’t partake in the project can feel the useful effects of it. 

In conclusion, I think personally for me, this was a very productive and memorable experience during which I have learnt a lot of practical information and advice. I enjoyed learning about and speaking with other people from different countries. The venue itself was very nice and relaxing. 

Kovács Kázmér Szabolcs 

 

Honestly, I still have so many thoughts about the whole project. It was my first time doing an exchange project, and I  had some doubts that I shouldn’t skip trainings because of this project, however after the whole journey, I would be really happy to go back for even only one day despite the two days travelling back and forth. The Hungarian team was amazing, so the time while we travelled and while we were in the camp was spent really well. Before that I didn’t really know most of them, but I’m really happy that I could get to know them a bit more, because they are amazing people.

About the camp, it was located in the middle of a beautiful forest in Estonia where we could just take a walk and pick some blueberries or play some sports, go to the gym…and so much more. It was a huge place honestly and the food was as good as the place, I had no days when I went out from the canteen still being hungry and not being full. It was just delicious with healthy foods all the time.

The project itself was led by a really lovely young girl named Kaia who planned the whole project, which I really respect. It was also very enjoyable with not just enough workshops to keep us busy but not so many that we did not have free time, just the right amount of everything. We could still enjoy others company while doing mostly interactive programs, which is very useful for learning in my opinion. Moreover all the countries had to do a workshop which was 90 minutes so we could also participate a bit on the program not only as a participant but a leader and I enjoyed every single moment of it.

Finally, about the people, for me it is really hard to conclude my whole report as short as possible, mostly beacause I could write volumes on how amazing  the people I met during my time abroad were. Honestly, if for nothing else, I would still go back for only a day just to see them again. I think during ERASMUS+ the most beneficial thing you can travel for is that you can meet new people with other cultures, norms, languages, attitudes and ways of thinking in everyday life. I’m so delighted that I could meet these people, because it reminded me that there are so many amazing people all around the world and you have to feel very lucky that you were able to meet them. I’m so thankful not only to the Hungarian team, but also to the leaders for letting me live my best time of my life with them, because it wouldn’t have been the same without them. 

Tóvári Misi

I’ve been here last year as well, I think it tells a lot. Ági and Rob were our group leaders, they were very nice to us, we had a great time together. I’ve already known some members of our group but not really well, and there were some who I absolutely didn’t know, so I got to know Hungarians as well. Youth exchanges are amazing because you live together with everyone, so you can get to know them easily. For example, I was in the same room with a Latvian, Estonian and Bulgarian, so it’s a really good and easy way to get to know each other closely. The venue, the food and the community was amazing. Although we had to travel for 36 hours (the trip to Estonia felt much longer than the way back), but I think all in all it was worth it.
Every nation had to create a workshop about mental health/phone addiction. I learned a lot about how to reduce my screen time properly. Some of the workshops were held by guests, which was super nice because they could tell us their experiences. Almost every day we had a diary session, I really enjoyed reflecting to myself. There were culture nights as well (one of the highlights of the week), we got to know interesting facts about other cultures, we were able to try their national food and learn their national dance, and it was super fun. One day, we went to Viljandi, it’s a nice small nordic city, just the weather wasn’t too nice, but even so we had a great time. In an other day we went to Parnu, it’s also beautiful and it’s near the sea, so a few daring people swam a little. There was a dance festival where we could practice the Estonian national dances.
I had a great time again and hopefully I made some lifelong friends.

Kovács Eszti

 

This year I took part in an Erasmus+ youth exchange in Estonia focused on phone addiction and mental health, and it turned out to be one of the best experiences I’ve had.
Getting there was actually a new experience in itself. I’ve always flown to these kinds of things before, so taking the train and bus for over a day was something completely different for me. It made the whole trip feel more like part of the adventure rather than just a way to get somewhere.
The topic itself, phone addiction, hit close to home, so I was genuinely invested in the sessions from the start. What I appreciated most was that the discussions weren’t one-sided. We didn’t just talk about the dangers of social media, we also talked openly about its positive effects and how using your phone a lot isn’t automatically a bad thing. That balance made the whole topic feel a lot more honest and useful to me.
Kaia, our organiser, made a huge difference. You could tell she was really involved in the topic, not just running through a program but actually caring about it, and that made the sessions feel more meaningful.
We also had plenty of free time built into the schedule, which I really valued. It gave us the space to actually get close to people rather than just interacting during structured activities. I met some amazing people this way, people I hope to stay in touch with for a long time.
Food was another highlight. The vegetarian meals were great, and the kitchen was able to accommodate my intolerances without it ever feeling like an inconvenience or an afterthought.
One evening that stuck with me was stargazing. Away from city lights, just sitting, looking up, it was simple but one of the calmest and most memorable moments of the whole week.
All in all, between the people, the topic, the food, and moments like the stargazing, it was an experience I’ll carry with me for a long time.

Péteri Zsombor

 

One more great projekt put on by the Estonian NGO interEST. This is not their first rodeo and it showed. They allowed a 16 year old develop, plan, run a project. Sure, they provided the necessary background and helped her when she needed it. But the mere fact that they let her take such a huge role in the project was eye-opening, educational and very useful. We will be taking what we can from this approach in our future projekts. The more involved young people are in their projekts, the more agency they will have.

The workshops were well thought out and structured. Each partner country had to supply a workshop and the standard culture night events as well. Everything was clearly explained to us all in the planning stages. Therefore, each partner was able to bring their A game.

This was our third Erasmus+ funded Youth Exchange hosted by interEST, and we hope to work with them in the future as well. We will be inviting them to projects we host.

Rob Dawson