International Mental Health Day 2025

As part of International Mental Health Day (October 10), the HEARTS project team – Higher Education Action Response for Trauma Support project team, funded by the EU (2023-1-ES01-KA220-HED-000158841), is launching the HEARTS Activity Handbook, a guide that brings together the results of the collective planning of all partners and makes them available in a free handbook for all universities, translated into four languages.

Designed to promote mental health in universities, the manual was developed through local trials in Turin, Cagliari, Valletta, Lisbon, and Barcelona, with the participation of hundreds of students, teachers, and staff. The manual gathers the results of collective work and transforms them into practical and innovative tools for mental well-being in academic contexts.

The HEARTS Activity Handbook offers five learning paths for professionals and policymakers to foster inclusion, trauma prevention, and mental health promotion on campus. Rooted in participatory and creative methods — including promoting diversity and inclusion, photovoice, theater, mindfulness, and creative approaches — it provides ready-to-use group activities adaptable to any university context. By sharing this resource openly, the HEARTS project contributes to building healthier, more resilient academic communities across Europe. The HEARTS handbook has been translated into English and Spanish, and will soon be available in Italian and Portuguese. It is available on the official website and can be downloaded free of charge, along with all the project results: https://heartsproject.eu/results

At Iscte, the HEARTS Project has collaborated with the institutional project BeWell-Iscte in a series of initiatives that seek to raise awareness about the importance of mental health, reduce stigma, and promote various strategies for promoting well-being. In October 2025, this institutional project will organize a series of workshops to promote mental health among university students at Iscte.