YES! to Participation: A Gathering with Eyes on the Future

The closing meeting of the 2024–2025 cycle of the Youth Engagement Scheme (YES) by CAMHI wrapped up a creative year full of voices, images, and new ideas. Teenagers from all over the country, educators, coordinators, and mental health professionals came together for a two-day gathering filled with creativity, reflection, and inspiration for the future.

On Saturday and Sunday, June 14–15, the YES program’s annual reflection meeting was held in Athens to celebrate the end of the school year. The meeting brought together 30 representatives from the Adolescent Advisory Groups across the five cities where YES is implemented, 15 participating educators, members of the coordinating team, and mental health professionals who supported the groups throughout the year.

The meeting marked the culmination of a school year filled with actions, games, discussions, and creative interventions in schools. The two-day event captured exactly that: the energy and joy of participation.

Day One: Memories, Imagination, and Voices for Change

The event began with a special welcome: photos from this year’s photo-project were displayed, and a guest book remained open for all participants to leave their mark and reflections on the year that passed. Once all the groups had arrived by midday, the teens took part in icebreaker activities and an emotional recap of the year. Each group presented its own superhero—a symbol of what they managed to express and change through their participation in the program.

Then, the groups were shuffled and created vivid tableaux with humorous moments from the year, highlighting the importance of joy and laughter in collective experience. The coordinating team participated actively, setting the tone for an intergenerational creative dialogue.

In the afternoon, two parallel sessions took place: the educators participated in a structured discussion led by YES Program Director Giorgos Moschos and YES Administrative Support Manager Katerina Pronoiti, exchanging insights and perspectives on the past school year and the program’s prospects. At the same time, the teens imagined and presented “YES-style Changes” through performances, poems, skits, and songs, expressing their vision of a more inclusive, collaborative, and youth-friendly school.

The day closed with a world café session, where mixed groups of adolescents, educators, and mental health professionals shared ideas for the next school year: how YES teams could function (YES-IN), what actions could take place in schools (YES-SCH), and how collaboration between educators and mental health professionals could be strengthened (YES-ED-PSY). The young voices were clear, strong, and creative. And then… the conversation continued over dinner at a local taverna!

Day Two: Color, Connection, and Open Horizons

Sunday began with a relaxed morning walk around Athens, but soon the room was alive again: games, painting on canvases, beadwork with letters, and free expression activities filled the space.

During the final plenary session, the participants watched videos from the first day and presentations from each city. Giorgos Moschos and Savvas Metaxas, Coordinator of the Athens Adolescent Advisory Group, offered a summary and highlights. They also presented findings and reflections from the current YES cycle—actions, evaluations, concerns, and proposals.

The meeting closed with a circle of shared impressions and memories—a look back on the year and a vibrant exchange of ideas and hopes for the future of the program through spontaneous conversations between teens, educators, and team members.

A special moment during the meeting was the teens’ encounter with Eduardo Vasconcelos, Director of Youth Engagement at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) Global Center for Child and Adolescent Mental Health at the Child Mind Institute. He spoke with the young people and answered their questions, strengthening the international dialogue on the importance of youth participation in decisions that affect them.

YES Momentum Continues

YES is not just a program. It’s a network of people who believe in the voice of adolescents. A community of action, imagination, and change. Since its founding in 2022, more than 330 teens have participated in regular YES group meetings, while approximately 7,000 adolescents have engaged in school-based YES activities aimed at promoting open dialogue and participatory collaboration.

This year’s two-day final meeting was another meaningful moment of connection, reflection, and planning for what’s next.

Next stop? The upcoming school year. With new ideas, new tools, and—above all—the energy of young people who shout:

Yes, we can change our school.

Yes, we can co-create a space of mental health and care.

Yes to YES!

The Youth Engagement Scheme (YES) has been approved by the Ministry of Education for the academic years 2022–2023, 2023–2024, and 2024–2025 (Ref. No. Φ.2.1/ΜΓ/96512/105996/Δ7, 17/9/2024), including the organization of school-based discussions and dialogue activities. You can find the relevant document here

The program is implemented under the Global Child & Adolescent Mental Health Initiative (GHI) of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF), in collaboration with the Child Mind Institute.

Learn more about the YES Program here.