Friendship Week in Sweden: friendship, nature and being yourself

From 21 to 27 June, a group of young people from Bildung Nijmegen took part in Friendship Week in Haninge, Sweden. This Erasmus+ Youth Exchange focused on friendship, community and connection.

Together with young people from Sweden and Italy, our participants spent a week in and around Haninge, about 30 minutes south of Stockholm. The programme was all about getting to know each other, doing activities together, spending time in nature, sharing cultures and discovering how quickly you can feel connected to people you had never met before.

What made this exchange extra special was its focus on neurodivergent young people, including young people with ADHD or autism. Not as a label, but as a starting point for creating a space where young people could feel more comfortable being themselves. A week where things did not have to be loud, fast or perfect all the time. A week where there was room to join in, but also room to take a break when needed.

And that is exactly what happened. Friendships were built during activities, walks, conversations, meals and small everyday moments. Because sometimes connection does not come from big talks, but from laughing together, eating together or playing football.

Aryaan said it beautifully:

“Friendship will last longer with Fika 🇸🇪, pasta carbonara 🇮🇹 and stroopwafels 🇳🇱!”

Football also showed, once again, that some languages do not need many words. As Dennis put it:

“Football connects cultures in Erasmus ⚽”

The Dutch group also travelled as much as possible by train. This made the journey more sustainable, but also turned the travel itself into part of the experience. Marijn summed it up nicely:

“Green Travel by train is how you see more with more travel budget.”

For us, this week showed once again why international youth projects matter. Young people step out of their usual environment, meet others, learn more about themselves and come back with stories you cannot get from a classroom.

Friendship Week was not about making things complicated. It was simply a beautiful week with young people from different countries, built around friendship, nature, culture, calmness and the freedom to be yourself.

And sometimes, that is exactly enough.

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