Green Stride is a 15-month international cooperation project that brings young people from Norway, Spain, and Bulgaria back into contact with nature. The project uses cycling, outdoor adventures, and ecopsychology as practical tools to support mental wellbeing, build environmental awareness, and encourage low-impact, local travel.

Green Stride officially launched on 11 February 2025 with a partner kickoff in Oslo, Norway, and runs through spring 2026.

Why it matters

Young people across Europe are spending less time outdoors and reporting more stress, anxiety, and disconnection. Green Stride answers that with a simple idea: when youth thrive in nature, communities and the planet thrive with them. The project gives young people the space, the tools, and the reasons to slow down, move their bodies, and pay attention to the world around them.

Objectives

The project works toward four goals: improving the mental and physical wellbeing of young participants, raising ecological awareness through hands-on outdoor experiences, equipping youth workers with practical skills in ecopsychology and outdoor education, and promoting Km0 tourism as a more sustainable way to travel and connect with local communities.

Activities

Green Stride combines international mobility with local action. The Learning, Teaching and Training Activity in the Basque Country (24 June – 3 July 2025) brought partners together for over 200 km of cycling, daily workshops on sustainability, bike repair, eco-cycling, and storytelling, plus ecopsychology sessions like forest bathing and mindful pedaling. Local activities in Norway, Spain, and Bulgaria continue throughout the project, including cycling events, mindful movement workshops, and youth mobility exchanges.

An online youth leaders' webinar in early 2026 will gather around 30 young participants from the three countries to share insights and shape future collaborations. Multiplier events at the end of the project will spread the results to wider audiences.

Outputs

The project produces two main public deliverables: the Green Stride Communication Plan, which sets the visual identity and messaging strategy, and the GreenStride for Youth Wellness Guide, a practical handbook collecting best practices on cycling for community connection, ecopsychology methods for mental wellbeing, and workshop formats for sustainability and storytelling. The guide is published openly so that youth workers, NGOs, and local groups can use and adapt the materials.

Target groups

Green Stride works with young people aged 16 to 30, youth workers and trainers from the partner organizations, and local communities in the three host countries. By the end of the project, more than 100 young people will have taken part in workshops, rides, or mobilities.

Partners

Furim Institute (Norway) – coordinator ABARKA (Spain) Association WalkTogether (Bulgaria)

Project details

Duration: February 2025 – May 2026 (15 months) Countries: Norway, Spain, Bulgaria Funding: Co-funded by the European Union under the Erasmus+ programme

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