When People Show Courage

In a world full of unpredictable changes, we need heart and courage more than ever. In recent years, Europe has experienced many turbulences - from social crises to global upheavals - that have tested our resilience. Fortunately, in this challenging context, the Coeur Courage Project was born - an initiative aimed at those who dare to change the world.

Coeur Courage (from French: coeur - heart, courage - courage) is a 22-month initiative co-funded by the European Union under the Erasmus+ program. It aimed to strengthen the personal and team skills of people working with youth and to spark the engagement of young people as active citizens.

The project’s very title says a lot: heart (coeur) and courage (courage) symbolise, on the one hand, values, empathy, and an inner motivation to act for the common good, and on the other, determination, strength, and the willingness to take on challenges even in difficult circumstances. This combination has become the project’s guiding motto. It is complemented by a third pillar - resilience. Even before “resilience” became a buzzword of our times, the Coeur Courage team assumed that strong and adaptable youth educators would be key to driving change. And they were right.

Train the Trainer

The uniqueness of this initiative lay in its dual approach: the first part of the project was aimed at youth trainers, people who want to develop themselves to work better with young people. Through a series of workshops, mentoring, and assessments, they strengthened their personal and professional skills - both individual and team-based.

At the same time, at the international level, we worked on educational materials that our trainers were tasked with testing on youth.

The program included: Values and talents – discovering inner motivations and strengths; The social entrepreneurship model - actions aimed at solving social problems; Strategy and organisational development - planning and vision for organisational growth; Volunteer and stakeholder management - effectively engaging partners and communities; Branding and digital communication - online tools as a driver of transformation.
Participants also took part in online courses on transformational leadership, doughnut economics, and the use of artificial intelligence (AI). All this was designed to connect modern tools with a social mission.

In the second phase, key trainers trained 20 new youth workers from four partner countries, as well as from Kosovo and Ukraine. Participants were selected from groups working with youth and minorities - individuals oriented toward implementing a “Theory of Change.”

Thanks to their activity, the program was further improved, gained an innovative character, and was enriched with ideas for the future. This was not just an exchange of knowledge  -  it was planting the seeds of change.

Courageous Youth

With this preparation, the trainers could begin “field tests”  -  working with young people selected for the project, youth at risk of exclusion, unable to see a future in their place of residence, feeling overlooked and unheard.

That is why we started with Values (My Coeur). In line with the MasterPeace motto: We believe that everyone has a talent. We gave them tools to help them discover their strengths - skills they didn’t even know they had. They came to understand their desires, needs, and guiding values. As a result, they saw that they had the power to change their own lives and improve the lives of others.

The next stage was Artivism, because everyone has some talent. Workshops, where participants learned how art can be a message, a cry, a protest, but also a tool for dialogue and human connection. Using art in workshops and social projects is a MasterPeace tradition. We noticed that young people crave artistic activities, as they have too few of them at school; it’s an opportunity for creative thinking, making, and relaxing - so what if my horse looks more like a hamster, as long as I had fun making it?

One of the workshop exercises was creating a self-portrait - express who you are through any form of art. This was a wonderful extension of the values sessions: now that you know more about yourself, express it through art!

In the Polish group, mural projects won the day: Zabrze 2064 - presenting visions of the city’s future, and Our Familok - a traditional Silesian tenement house inhabited by creatures from Silesian legends.

A Meeting with the Doughnut

The essence of the project was to activate young people to become participants in local community life; to encourage them to look around and start making positive change. They needed tools for this, and for these, we turned to the DEAL website.

We used the City Portrait tool (Doughnut Unrolled) to diagnose the problems that participants considered the most important from their perspective.

Our young participants pointed to issues that come up again and again in our conversations: education, transportation, and health. Surprisingly, we noticed a bit more optimism about transportation - participants appreciated positive changes introduced by the Metropolis, as well as amenities introduced by private companies, such as electric scooters. A new issue raised was access to drinking water - perhaps influenced by a meeting with representatives of the Zabrze Water and Sewage Company during last year’s GDD in Zabrze.

Another new concern was the availability of renewable energy sources and the introduction of new, cheaper solutions. Both topics show an awareness of the dangers of climate change.

The fact that from the start they knew they would be seeking practical solutions suited to their knowledge and abilities meant they approached their research in a practical and detailed way, looking for examples from Poland and abroad.

We used the expanded Canvas provided by DEAL , so their searches were broad and detailed.

From Diagnosis to Action

Diagnosing a problem is just the beginning - you also need a solution. A solution tailored to young people finishing their education and thinking about their future, including financial stability, and hence, social entrepreneurship.

This was the final stage of the workshops and the introduction to Social Projects and Great Mind Meetings. With a problem and a diagnosis in hand, they could consider how to put solutions into practice - within their means, using their knowledge, and keeping financial limitations in mind - in a way that would benefit the local community, hence the idea of a social enterprise.

Of course, no one expected a group of teenagers to create and register a business! We used a comprehensive online tool - the Social Business Model Canvas. By discussing each box to fill in, deciding what was important and feasible, we arrived at social enterprise projects that addressed parts of the diagnosed problems in ways that generated income and supported local needs.

The results were fascinating.

One team identified education as a key issue, listing among its main problems: an overloaded curriculum, poor lesson quality, lack of individualised approaches, and too few opportunities to develop interests. The educational offer does not meet 21st-century needs. What business solution did they propose within their means? A Student Educational TV Channel  -  youth creating short educational videos, podcasts, and infographics (e.g., on mental health, studying for the high school final exam, scientific curiosities), published on TikTok and YouTube. A channel created by young people, based on their needs and language.

Another team went in a different direction, identifying barriers to renewable energy development. Their diagnosis was specific: “Structural barriers to the development of citizen renewable energy in Zabrze and the Silesian Voivodeship”. This referred both to a local shift from “dirty” coal-based energy (in a city built on coal mines) to renewables, and to a social transformation: new jobs, especially for young people, a sense of community, and self-governance.

Some barriers exist at the national level, some locally. How can teenagers about to finish school help? Through a Citizen Energy Advisory Office, whose task would be to find, analyse, and help change electricity supply conditions for homes and micro-businesses. Advice might seem like a small thing, but from the resident’s perspective, finding a cheaper energy offer makes a big difference.

Can We Use Artificial Intelligence?

This question came up every time we started work. Our answer was: yes, but… Artificial intelligence is a tool that - when used consciously - can significantly speed up and facilitate project implementation. But it requires a critical approach.

During the workshops, we discussed with participants the basics of responsible AI use: how to phrase questions to get precise answers; how to verify source credibility; how to avoid repeating false information; and how to recognise biases and limitations in models. We also touched on ethical issues, such as copyright and data privacy.

AI became a real support at several stages of the project. We used it, for example, to quickly find good practice examples from around the world, analyse social and environmental trends, create preliminary descriptions of social projects, and even plan communication strategies. Young people enthusiastically tested tools for generating text, graphics, and infographics - making it easier for them to visualise their ideas and present them in attractive form.

As a result, the City Portrait workshops became not only a diagnosis of local problems but also a practical lesson in the digital skills of the future.

Summary

The Coeur Courage project showed that combining heart, courage, and resilience can truly change reality - both in individual lives and in entire communities. Thanks to the joint efforts of trainers, educators, and young people, we created a space where young people could discover their talents, develop skills, and test innovative ideas in practice.

From the first workshops to international exchanges, from discussions about values to artistic actions and social projects - each stage was a step toward greater self-awareness and agency for participants. Modern tools, including artificial intelligence, played an important role in this process, supporting problem diagnosis, inspiration seeking, and action planning.

Coeur Courage is proof that investing in young people’s skills and engagement brings lasting results, and that courage combined with empathy and creativity is the force our future needs most.