The project developed, implemented and tested a new social and emotional learning (SEL) population approach, targeting whole-school environments. This has been achieved through a collaborative effort between researchers with expertise in public health, psychology, education and service design, experts in dissemination, and school owners and policymakers.

The BOOST approach is built on research-based principles to support schools in succeeding with SEL. It consists of three guides:

• A five-step guide to organising and promoting social and emotional learning in school,
• A guide to facilitating shared social and emotional learning, and
• A guide to creating and sharing tools.

The project faced challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which disrupted its original design and implementation. However, these circumstances also provided a unique opportunity to study the effects of COVID-19 measures on children and the school climate.

BOOST, funded by the EU’s Horizon 2020 programme (GA 755175), had six partner organisations from four countries, Belgium, Poland, Spain and Norway.