Training in Serbia for MYndtheater – Daniela’s experience
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From January 25 to 30, 2026, Belgrade hosted the first international training of the MYndtheater project, bringing together youth workers, volunteers, and practitioners from different European countries in an intensive journey of learning, exchange, and growth.
MYndtheater is a Capacity Building project in the youth field funded by the Erasmus+ programme (Erasmus Lump Sum Grant – project code 101184193), developed through the collaboration between Twoplustwoand Dreamy (Italy), together with Action Synergy (Greece), Bravo (Bosnia), Dah Teatar (Serbia), Prona (Albania), and TFL (Montenegro), with the aim of promoting young people’s mental well-being in the digital environment through the use of theatre as an educational tool. In particular, the project adopts Augusto Boal’s participatory methodology of Forum Theatre, where the audience is no longer passive but becomes an active part of the scene: they can intervene, change what happens, and experiment with different solutions.
During the training in Serbia, participants had the opportunity to apply this methodology to digital-related issues, exploring real-life situations connected to online experiences in order to develop more aware, safe, and healthy responses. In doing so, they discovered how theatre can become a genuine space for expression, capable of placing emotions, vulnerability, and relationships at the centre, transforming individual fragilities into shared resources.
An experience that left a deep mark on the participants, and one we would like to share through the words of Daniela, a young youth worker who took part in this kind of project for the first time and whose testimony truly captures the essence of MYndtheater and our mission.
“For me, Serbia was, first and foremost, about connection. It was the discovery that moving towards others actually means returning home with a new awareness. Something was ignited during this journey: that small spark of hope, which had been fading due to a monotonous routine, turned into a blazing fire within my personal path of growth, self-strengthening, and self-love. It was a full, 360-degree experience that I would live again a thousand times, because some things cannot simply be told—they must be lived.
To do this, it was necessary to step out of my comfort zone. And this, indeed, is an act of faith. It means accepting the feeling of being lost, of no longer having your usual reference points, in order to finally learn to appreciate yourself more.
During the trip, I read a book and a sentence struck me deeply:
However, the greatest awareness came from a sense of gratitude. In a world where everything often feels taken for granted, as I always say, nothing is owed. Taking part in this project was an immense honour, especially because we were chosen ‘on trust’ by organisers who placed their confidence in us before we had even proved anything.
It was a journey full of details that, if observed with curious eyes, can offer so much, allowing us to rethink, to look within ourselves, and to glimpse into others’ lives, understanding that in the end no one is truly alone in experiences such as bullying, body shaming, and shared vulnerabilities.
I return home with a new posture: that of someone who has stopped looking at the world through a peephole and has finally opened the door wide. In Serbia, I learned not to fear my wounds, understanding that it is by inhabiting our own cracks that we stop merely enduring our days and begin, with a renewed strength, to respond to life.”
We can only thank Daniela for the depth and beauty of her words.
Meanwhile, MYndtheater continues. Next stop: Tirana, Albania.
Stay tuned!
During the training in Serbia, participants had the opportunity to apply this methodology to digital-related issues, exploring real-life situations connected to online experiences in order to develop more aware, safe, and healthy responses. In doing so, they discovered how theatre can become a genuine space for expression, capable of placing emotions, vulnerability, and relationships at the centre, transforming individual fragilities into shared resources.
An experience that left a deep mark on the participants, and one we would like to share through the words of Daniela, a young youth worker who took part in this kind of project for the first time and whose testimony truly captures the essence of MYndtheater and our mission.
“For me, Serbia was, first and foremost, about connection. It was the discovery that moving towards others actually means returning home with a new awareness. Something was ignited during this journey: that small spark of hope, which had been fading due to a monotonous routine, turned into a blazing fire within my personal path of growth, self-strengthening, and self-love. It was a full, 360-degree experience that I would live again a thousand times, because some things cannot simply be told—they must be lived.
To do this, it was necessary to step out of my comfort zone. And this, indeed, is an act of faith. It means accepting the feeling of being lost, of no longer having your usual reference points, in order to finally learn to appreciate yourself more.
During the trip, I read a book and a sentence struck me deeply:
“Life doesn’t happen to you, life responds to who you are.” (Daniele Di Benedetti)In this experience, we had the courage not to ‘turn the other cheek’ out of indifference, but to go deeper. We understood that ‘showing our wounds’, in theatre as in life, is the most profound act there is. It is within those cracks, in that exposed vulnerability, that true strength is found to represent everyday life situations. Throughout this journey, we move from being passive observers to ‘spect-actors’: an evolution that places humanity at the centre of our learning process.
However, the greatest awareness came from a sense of gratitude. In a world where everything often feels taken for granted, as I always say, nothing is owed. Taking part in this project was an immense honour, especially because we were chosen ‘on trust’ by organisers who placed their confidence in us before we had even proved anything.
It was a journey full of details that, if observed with curious eyes, can offer so much, allowing us to rethink, to look within ourselves, and to glimpse into others’ lives, understanding that in the end no one is truly alone in experiences such as bullying, body shaming, and shared vulnerabilities.
I return home with a new posture: that of someone who has stopped looking at the world through a peephole and has finally opened the door wide. In Serbia, I learned not to fear my wounds, understanding that it is by inhabiting our own cracks that we stop merely enduring our days and begin, with a renewed strength, to respond to life.”
We can only thank Daniela for the depth and beauty of her words.
Meanwhile, MYndtheater continues. Next stop: Tirana, Albania.
Stay tuned!
Co-funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.
