The Art of Helping: new training tools for frontliners
Ziņa publicēta 30.09.2026
How can we support refugees and other vulnerable groups without burning out? In 2025 and 2026, this question was tackled by the Nordplus Adult project "The Art of Helping", led by the Diaconia Centre of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia, in partnership with the Foundation for Diaconia and Social Work of the EELC in Estonia and the Deaconess Institute in Finland.
Building on grassroots collaboration, engaging contributors with lived experience, and attempting to bridge theory and frontline reality, the project team developed an instructor's guide and five workshop guides covering mentoring and peer support, group facilitation, mental health, integration process, and future orientation.
These ready-to-use PowerPoint packages are now delivered in English, Ukrainian, Latvian, Estonian, and Finnish; with detailed facilitator notes and printouts for practical exercises.
"The Art of Helping" is a continuation of an earlier Nordplus collaboration which focused on supporting refugees from Ukraine. The follow-up project addressed the need for practical training for staff and volunteers supporting refugees, immigrants, and other groups facing integration difficulties.
"It isn't just about mentoring refugees; these principles strengthen any organisation working with vulnerable groups. And the practical tools can be used across professional and everyday situations. Helpers often lack structured guidance on mentoring, setting boundaries, managing group dynamics, preventing burnout, and supporting their own well-being," noted Inese Bulava, project coordinator.
The challenges faced by frontline support staff and volunteers demand more than good intentions—they require structured, evidence-based, and compassionate frameworks. "The Art of Helping" resources were developed collaboratively and tested through transnational and local pilots: refinement of workshop guides was informed by feedback from adult education, social work, and psychology professionals, volunteers who lead groups in community centres, and experts with lived experience from Latvia, Estonia, and Finland.
"We needed everyone—developing, discussing, and piloting together. Hearing that our materials are meaningful creates a wonderful feedback loop," shared several project team members during the final evaluation meeting in September 2026.
Below, you'll find several insights from the pilot seminars:
We must prioritise managing boundaries and burnout. 70% of participants said personal resource assessment is vital for establishing healthy boundaries (e.g., setting time limits) to prevent emotional exhaustion.
Let's strive to normalise the integration journey. Many participants who were themselves refugees from Ukraine discovered that adaptation challenges are developmental stages rather than personal failures. 100% of them identified with post-growth upon choosing to rebuild their futures locally.
Active hope is powerful. Utilising Charles Snyder’s framework, 100% of pilot attendees with refugee background recognised the value of goal-setting and pathway-mapping to combat uncertainty.
"The Art of Helping" workshop guides teach that integration can progress at different speeds even within the same family, and difficulties should not automatically be understood as personal failure. They also remind that helpers need to recognise their own limits and know when further support is required.
All educational materials will be used in the partner organisations' existing social programmes, yet these resources are intended for wider use by adult educators, social workers, mentors, and volunteers, and will remain freely accessible online.
Explore the workshop guides and other tools at mentoring.diakonija.lv and nastavnik.diakonija.lv.
The project has received funding from Nordplus Adult. This publication reflects only the views of the author(s). The Nordplus programme and the Nordic Council of Ministers cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
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