Thriving Schools Project Launches to Advance Mental Health and Wellbeing in Education

The Thriving Schools Project officially launched with its first transnational partner meeting in Nicosia, held on 12–13 May 2025. The initiative aims to implement a whole-school, systemic approach to mental health and wellbeing across schools in Europe.

Co-funded under the EU’s policy experimentation framework and launched in March 2025, the project brings together partners from Greece, Cyprus, Romania, and Italy. The kickoff meeting focused on aligning visions and mapping out the first steps toward creating evidence-based policies and practices that foster wellbeing and strengthen social-emotional competencies within school communities.

At its core, the project promotes holistic development and resilience by embedding mental health literacy and social-emotional learning (SEL) into every layer of the school ecosystem. The goal is to educate and empower the entire school community—including teachers, school leaders, learners, and parents—to support emotional wellbeing and adopt healthy coping strategies.

Over the next three years, the consortium will co-develop a comprehensive framework and training package grounded in positive psychology. This will include adaptable, practical tools to help schools build cultures of wellbeing and strengthen both individual and collective mental health.

Key activities in the initial phase include:

• Establishing wellbeing teams in participating schools
• Co-developing action plans with educators, students, and parents
• Delivering targeted training to teachers and staff
• Piloting school-based interventions and practices

These efforts will be piloted in 10 schools across the partner countries between 2026 and 2027, providing critical insights to refine the model and support its broader adoption.

The project is implemented by a multidisciplinary consortium, including:

• Regional Directorate of Primary and Secondary Education of Epirus – Greece
• Center for the Advancement of Research and Development in Educational Technology (CARDET) – Cyprus
• Institute of Development (IoD) – Cyprus
• International Hellenic University – Greece
• Directorate of Primary Education of Western Thessaloniki – Greece
• University of Milano-Bicocca – Italy
• University of Pitesti – Romania
• School Inspectorate Arges County – Romania
  

Each partner contributes vital expertise in mental health, education, and training, playing a key role in the design, piloting, and potential mainstreaming of the Thriving Schools model within their national contexts.

Following the successful launch, the consortium is now focusing on the co-creation of tools and resources tailored to diverse school environments. The ultimate goal is to develop a scalable and policy-relevant model that can be embedded into education systems across Europe.

By promoting emotional wellbeing and resilience across school communities, the Thriving Schools Project aspires to transform how education systems support mental health—creating lasting, positive change for both learners and educators.

Stay tuned for more updates as the project unfolds.