Laurence is delighted to be working on the Erasmus Plus Inclusive Paths Project, it’s such an important project, as it looks at the benefits of animal assisted interventions to enhance the mental health and wellbeing of vulnerable adolescents.
Laurence was joined by Angela and Andrew from Knockvicar Alpacas, and they braved the 36-degree heat, and attended the LTTA (Learning, Teaching, and Training Activity) in Ancona, Italy, from June 23rd – 26th.
The team spent time got to meet people who are experienced in supporting young people with animal assisted interventions. One of the people they met was ‘donkey whisperer’ Damiano Biscossi, former sales manager of a large multinational company; Damiano decided to change his life completely over ten years ago and founded The Donkey Project.
The Donkey Project is an association that promotes the use of the donkey and the relationship with nature as factors of individual and social well-being throughout Italy. Attendees of the LTTA enjoyed a wonderful immersive experience with the project partners and participants getting hands-on experience with donkeys Aria and Caramello. Damiano explained how calming donkeys can be and how empowering it can be for young people to look after the animals.
The event concluded with the transnational project meeting where the team discussed the goals and progress of the project, including the planned resources:
Best Practices – Find out how to integrate our findings in your research.
Training Curriculum – A structured program equipping professionals with effective strategies to support adolescents.
Research Findings – Evidence-based insights highlighting the impact of our interventions on mental health and inclusion.
Outputs – Practical resources, toolkits, and guidelines to implement and sustain the program’s benefits.
We’d like to thank Angela and Andrew from Knockvicar for joining us on the LTTA, we look forward to seeing them again soon and finding out more about their alpacas. We’d also like to thank our project partners: Our wonderful hosts COOSS Marche Onlus S.c.p.a, and Hudiksvalls kommun, InterMediaΚT, Social Innovation LAISVĖ Cluster (SIC CLM).
Find out more about Inclusive Paths on the website: https://inclusivepaths.eu/
