{"id":167,"date":"2026-05-26T07:30:39","date_gmt":"2026-05-26T04:30:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.uef.fi\/sulle\/?p=167"},"modified":"2026-05-26T07:30:39","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T04:30:39","slug":"new-eu-funded-support-y-project-launches-to-strengthen-youth-mental-health-across-education-training-and-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.uef.fi\/sulle\/2026\/05\/26\/new-eu-funded-support-y-project-launches-to-strengthen-youth-mental-health-across-education-training-and-work\/?lang=en","title":{"rendered":"New EU-funded SUPPORT-Y project launches to strengthen youth mental health across education, training and work"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A consortium of twelve partners from eight European countries will co-create, pilot and scale mental health interventions for young people aged 12\u201325, backed by a five-year Horizon Europe grant.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A new five-year research and innovation project, SUPPORT-Y (Supporting the Mental Health of Youth in Education, Training and Work), is launching this autumn with funding from the European Union\u2019s Horizon Europe programme. Coordinated by the University of Eastern Finland, the project brings together twelve partners from England, Belgium, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Malta and Portugal to address one of Europe\u2019s most urgent and underserved challenges: the mental health of young people navigating school, vocational training and the transition into work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Almost one in two Europeans reported experiencing an emotional or psycho-social issue in the past year, and an estimated one in four young people aged 12 to 25 is at risk of depression, anxiety or another mental health condition. Despite this, support inside vocational education and training (VET) and early workplaces remains scarce: only five EU member states currently mandate mental health provision in VET, and many young apprentices receive no employer support at all. The economic cost of mental ill-health across the partner countries is estimated at roughly 350 billion euros each year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SUPPORT-Y is designed to close that gap with interventions that are co-created with young people themselves \u2014 including those most often left out of research, such as marginalised girls, young people with disabilities, and those from lower socio-economic backgrounds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What the project will deliver<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Over five years, SUPPORT-Y will develop and test two complementary, evidence-based interventions:<\/p>\n\n\n\n