On 15 March 2025 our RECOVER project team gathered 15 young people aged 18–23 and five youth workers in a bright Vienna community hall for a one-day, participatory workshop on mental health. Guided by the creative Healing Dragons manual, and powered by coloured markers, clay dragons and open conversation, the group explored personal "dragons" (stressors), shared strategies for taming them, and left with concrete action plans. The full story is now captured in our new Austria National Summary Report, and the highlights below show why this pilot matters.
Why we ran the workshop
- Rising need: Austrian surveys show only 7% of young people feel "happy and satisfied", while nearly half rate their emotional health as negative.
- Urgent pressures: academic overload, online comparison loops and a sense of powerlessness top the list of daily stressors.
- RECOVER's aim: equip youth workers with practical, youth-centred tools and give young people real ownership of their wellbeing journey.
What happened in one day
Session 1Trust-building
Set the tone and co-create ground rules.
Anonymous "dragon" notes revealed shared challenges and immediate empathy.
Session 2Self-analysis
Draw or model personal dragons and reflect.
A gallery walk sparked brave stories of self-doubt, loneliness and exam anxiety.
Session 3SWOT and solutions
Map strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, then brainstorm fixes.
Sticky-note dragons filled flip charts with ideas, from campus peer circles to TikTok myth-busting.
Session 4Reflection and pledges
Write a personal "Hero's Pledge" and evaluate the day.
The satisfaction thermometer hit 9–10 out of 10, and the #HealingDragonsAT WhatsApp group was launched.
Five fast outcomes
- More self-awareness: 90% felt more confident talking about mental health afterwards.
- A new peer network: participants formed a WhatsApp support chat before leaving the venue.
- Toolkit proof of concept: youth workers took Healing Dragons exercises back to their centres and schools.
- Action plans in motion: one attendee booked a counselling visit; another is pitching a campus mental-health club.
- Policy potential: insights feed directly into the Austrian youth-health strategy recommendations included in the report.
Voices that stuck with us
"I came in sceptical and left with hope, and actual friends who check on me."
"Listening more than speaking let me see what youth really face. I'm taking these methods home." A youth worker
These quotes, and many more, remind us that safe spaces plus creativity lead to breakthrough conversations.
What's next?
- Scale-up: repeat workshops in Graz and Linz, with Vienna alumni as co-facilitators.
- Peer circles: support monthly meet-ups run by the original group.
- Policy briefs: share the report's findings with schools, municipalities and national youth-health bodies.
- Digital outreach: launch #MyHealingDragon on Instagram and TikTok to keep the dialogue alive.
Read and share the full report
Curious about the detailed SWOT analysis, facilitator reflections and step-by-step agenda? Download the full Austria National Summary Report and the Healing Dragons: Manual for Youth Workers to see how participatory, youth-led methods can transform conversations about mental health. Feel free to cite, adapt and replicate them. We'd love to hear how your community heals its dragons!
Together, we can shift from silence to support, one creative conversation at a time.
This international project is realised thanks to the support of the European Union through the Erasmus+ Programme. It is coordinated by Zdrowy Kształt Życia S.C. (Poland) with partners from Austria, Croatia and Latvia.
Project reference: 2024-1-PL01-KA220-YOU-000243430
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