SchoolChanger is an international project that aims to promote mental health and wellbeing among students in secondary schools across the Baltic Sea Region. It seeks to transform schools into supportive environments where students feel safe, engaged, and empowered to take an active role in shaping their learning spaces and daily experiences.
The project responds to a growing concern: around 20% of EU teenagers face mental health challenges that affect both their personal lives and educational outcomes. Recognising the crucial role of school environments in influencing student wellbeing, SchoolChanger explores how schools can be redesigned to strengthen students’ emotional and social well-being.
Inspired by stories shared by young people, the project introduces a model of cooperation between students, teachers, school management, and professionals in design, furniture, welfare technology, and medicine. Through this model, students learn to redesign their school spaces to support well-being and then implement the changes they envision.
The model embraces the principles of sensory design, design for all, and social and ecological responsibility, aiming to cultivate long-term habits of participation and involvement. By engaging diverse groups of students, the project reinforces inclusion and ensures that every student’s voice can be heard.
NeuroLandscape’s contribution
As a partner in the project, NeuroLandscape develops an assessment framework that combines neuroscience and participatory design approaches. The framework employs EEG-based measures to capture brainwave activity linked to relaxation and emotional response, together with self-report tools exploring identity, agency, and perception of the school environment. This evidence will guide the design of interventions that enhance students’ wellbeing and support healthier learning environments.
Partners
- Poznań University of Life Sciences – Poland (Lead Partner)
- Satakunta University of Applied Sciences – Finland
- Puuts Interior AB – Sweden
- Secretariat of the Northern Dimension Partnership in Public Health and Social Well-being (NDPHS) – Sweden
- Children’s Clinical University Hospital – Latvia
- Saue Municipality – Estonia
- Axevalla Folk High School – Sweden
SchoolChanger is funded by the Interreg Baltic Sea Region Programme 2021–2027