"The year of 2018 has been announced as the European Year of Cultural Heritage. Throughout 2018, there are various celebrations of European diverse cultural heritage taking place across Europe. The year of Cultural Heritage has been dedicated to encouraging more people across the European nations at a local, regional, national and international level to discover and engage with Europe's cultural heritage and to reinforce a sense of belonging to a common European space. The slogan of the year is “Our heritage: where the past meets the future”. The project ""Youth for Cultural Heritage"" perfectly represents the slogan of the year, as it works to promote the rich traditional and historical heritages among the young people of Europe. European nations can be proud of their unique architecture, monumental buildings; long-lasting traditions, cultural customs and natural landscape and the flora and fauna. Although, European communities have a rich cultural heritage today's youth are often not aware of their own locality's special heritage and lack belonging to their own community. The official European Cultural Heritage campaign has encouraged youth, communities, and organizations across the European Union to experience, appreciate and enjoy their local cultural heritage this year. The participating youth of the project have committed and have a keen interest in contributing to the overall campaign and identify, explore, research and promote their locality's cultural heritage. There are plenty of places across rural European areas that have been left behind and have not been identified and promoted at a local, national and European level, but have a very rich and interesting cultural heritage worth to be explored. The participating organizations of the project are groups of young people based in 6 rural areas across the European region. The project focuses on mobilizing the youth of European rural areas, identify their locality's special cultural heritage that comes in many different forms (e.g. 1.tangible - buildings, monuments, artifacts, clothing, artwork, books, machines, historic towns, archaeological sites; 2.intangible - practices, representations, expressions, knowledge, skills, language and oral traditions, performing arts, social practices, and traditional craftsmanship; 3.natural - landscapes, flora and fauna) and explores as well as does the necessary research to learn more and generate innovative ways to promote their own locality's cultural heritage. The project gathers youth of the participating organizations in order to create a ""Digital Guide on European Cultural Heritage"" - a creative material presenting youth's identified cultural heritage of their local area. The project perfectly aligns with the programme of the Erasmus+ as it is mainly focusing on developing competencies of youth; ensure the local youth are aware of their cultural heritage, that is one of the priorities of the European Year of Cultural Heritage. Also, the project provides an opportunity to youth with fewer opportunities from rural/remote areas and from low-income families to discover new cultures and habits of other European countries. The project aims at encouraging the local youth to cherish their own cultural heritage, discover the diversity of the rich European heritage and participate in an intercultural dialogue with like-minded youth from other regions of Europe."

"The project lasted 7 days (excluding the travelling days) and involved 40 youngsters (plus 8 leaders) coming from Greece, Sweden, Estonia, Romania, Slovakia, Turkey, Italy and Cyprus. The project’s main activity was ""summer camp"" which was a youth exchange that Focused on youth unemployment and its psychological effects, impact and the preventive measure. The learning objectives: It was based on non- formal education and particular emphasis was made on the learning by participation methodology and experiential learning. The exchange consisted of intense and short lived activities with innovative activities, such as team work, role- playing, artistic creation, social stories, brainstorming, movement games, behavioral rehearsal, modelling, feedback. Profile of the participants: Potential participants were youth who were above 18 years old; Able to use English as a working language; ready to fulfil an open and active role at the youth mobility; Able to attend the full duration of the seminar. Priority was given to young participants with social and/or economic difficulties."

<< Objectives >>Due to industrialization and urbanization in the globalized world, the sources are used unconsciously, and as a result of this, the waste materials occur. The pressure of human activities on the environment is increasing both in our country and around the world. This process makes the intense use of natural sources inevitable, and the waste materials resulted from the increasing tendency of consumption pose a threat to the environment and human health due to their quantity and harmful ingredients. Naturally, this reveals the need for recycling. Recycling means that the waste materials are re- used in production as a benefit for the economy. Thus, it is contributed to the economy explicitly and to environment implicitly.The troubles experienced due to the waste materials are as follows:Environmental pollution increases; the diversity in sea life reduces due to air pollution; the waters from the garbage areas due to rains are absorbed in the soil and this causes to the contamination of underground waters; throwing out the waste batteries in the soil, seas, rivers and drainage systems or burning them causes to the environmental pollution due to the heavy metals they include; and, the waste oils reduces the level of oxygen in water.To prevent the troubles above and leave a more livable world for future generations, it is required to increase the consciousness of people regarding the importance of recycling. Thanks to recycling, the reduction of natural sources will be prevented, the reduction of greenhouse gas emission will be ensured, the contributions will be made to the economy, and environmental pollution will be minimized.In addition, if the dangerous materials found in the waste materials are not collected appropriately, recycled, or eliminated, they will be spread to nature unrestrainedly and cause irrevocable damages to the environment. Through this project, we wanted to raise awareness of people about the use of waste materials and the benefits of recycling for the environment and living beings. The goals of our project, which was designed through this objective, were as follows:-Instilling the consciousness of environmental responsibility,-Developing positive behaviors regarding the products recycled,-Increase the number of studies about minimizing the dangers of waste materials for the environment, health, and economy,-Offering an idea for people about how to re-use the waste materials that can be recycled,-Raising awareness of people in order to leave a cleaner environment for future generations,-Raising awareness of consumers about the things they need to pay attention before/during/after they buy products, -Increasing the preference of people about buying recyclable products and packages,-Enabling people to comprehend the importance of recycling in terms of sustainable consumption and environmental protection,-Enabling children to raise awareness about the importance of recycling, and increasing their sensitivity to the environment,-Increasing the recognition of the Erasmus+ programme and the participation in the project,-Raising awareness about the concepts of equal opportunities and gender equality,-Developing tolerant attitudes towards different cultures and lifestyles,-Raising awareness of youngsters about global issues,-Enabling youngsters to increase their creativity and improve their skills,-Raising awareness of people about the importance of volunteering activities more,-Contributing to the elimination of prejudices and raising cultural awareness.In addition, we designed activities that promoted the Erasmus+ programme’s priorities:-We enabled youngsters to reveal or improve their personal skills and creativity. That goal converged with the Erasmus+ priority of supporting the development of creativity among youngsters included under the title of Creativity and Culture.-We paid attention to having the same number of male and female participants and including participants with fewer opportunities in the project in order to highlight the importance of equal opportunities and gender equality. This goal converged with the Erasmus+ priority of equal opportunities and gender equality.-Our goal of increasing the interest in the volunteering activities and highlighting their importance converged with the Erasmus+ priority of volunteering activities.-By conducting cultural activities in the project, we aimed to eliminate prejudices and develop tolerance towards different cultures. This goal converged with the Erasmus+ priority of social inclusion, fighting against prejudices and intercultural awareness.<< Implementation >>There were 10 participants from each country in the project. In other words, there were 60 participants in total with age range was between 18-30 years. While selecting our participants, we paid attention to include participants with fewer opportunities in the project as well. Therefore, each country provided 3 participants with fewer opportunities for the project. These participants had geographical, economic and cultural obstacles. Some of the activities that we implemented were:Erasmus Plus and Youthpass activities: Those who participated in the Erasmus+ projects before took active roles in that information activities. There were 2 with cultural obstacle and 1 with geographical limitation among our participants with fewer opportunities, who participated in an Erasmus+ project before. Therefore, by considering their experiences, we ensured that they were included in these information activities. Thus, their skills such as appreciating themselves, taking responsibility and presentation were enhanced.Team work: That was conducted by being divided into 2 groups. The groups discussed two different topics. There was an equal number of participants with fewer opportunities in these groups. The leader of the activity ensured that everybody would share their opinion by assuring their equal rights to speak. Thus, we ensured that participants with fewer opportunities would also take active roles in the activity.Meeting game: This activity was useful for participants with fewer opportunities in terms of adapting to the environment and communicate with others. In that activity, their duties were to communicate with other participants and to overcome their shyness.Every Waste Is Not Garbage: Participants had information about what recycling means, the waste materials that can be recycled and the goals of recycling. Participants developed skills such as presenting what they knew, expressing themselves accurately and verbally, providing information in front of the others and working in coordination. They will act more consciously about the usage of waste materials that can be recycled, and participate in the studies conducted to contribute to recycling. Recycling Starts With You: In that activity, participants learned how to make paper. There were 2 participants with fewer opportunities who were experienced in making paper at home. They conveyed their experiences about it to other participants who contributed to the project with their manual dexterities. Participants' awareness about the benefits of recycling the waste paper increased. They developed skills such as acting in coordination, socializing as a team, creating synergy, producing creative ideas and acting collaboratively. They won’t throw out paper at home and put it in the recycling boxes. They will inform people around them about this. Social Awareness Questionnaire: The fact that there were participants who conducted questionnaires before increased the quality of this activity. There were 1 Turkish and İtalian participants with fewer opportunities who were experienced about it. Therefore, participants contributed to the project by asking questionnaire questions. Participants learned to what extent the local people were aware of recycling. The local people learned about the importance of recycling to the economy and the living beings and they will make more efforts to recycle the waste materials. Waste Glass Information Activity: Participants were aware of the environmental damages caused by the waste glass. They recognized the environmental and economic damages caused by the energy spent on producing glass. Participants developed skills such as asking questions, building cause and effect relationship, healthy communication, presenting their achievements effectively and so on. They won’t throw out the waste glass, separate it for recycling and make the waste glass at their homes sustainable. In that awareness-raising activity, about how to recycle waste glass, there were participants who drew pictures and had experiences about the topic in each group. Our participants with fewer opportunities who could draw pictures, had manual dexterities and were skilled at designing, performed their competencies in their own groups. They helped those whose manual dexterities were not that good. Thus, the interaction between them was reinforced.Waste Plastic Warehouse: Participants raised awareness about the damages to nature, seas and living beings caused by the waste plastic. Thanks to that activity, participants developed competences such as obtaining new perspectives, presenting their ideas, making associations, showing respect towards different opinions and so on. They will reduce their usage of plastic materials and make efforts to recycle them in their daily lives. They will also tend to inform people around them about the damages to the environment and living beings caused by this waste plastic. Waste Metal Information Activity: Thanks to that activity, participants will raise awareness about the damages to the environment and living beings caused by the waste metal. Participants developed competences such as speaking in front of the crowd, effective communication, focusing, creative thinking, speaking and understanding in English and providing information for the audience from different cultures. They won’t throw out the waste metal, and they will make efforts to recycle it. They will warn those who throw out this waste metal and raise their awareness about the damages to the environment and living beings caused by it.Also, participants with fewer opportunities who were skilled at photography took photos and recorded videos were used in the dissemination of the project.<< Results >>The impact on our participants:-They raised awareness about what recycling means, its goals, and its benefits for the economy, environment and living beings.-They developed skills such as recognizing the problems, producing relevant solutions and discussion.-Their consumption practices altered, and they started to use environmental-friendly products.-Their linguistic skills improved by communicating in foreign languages.-They showed more tolerant and respectful towards different cultures.-They raised awareness about equal opportunities and gender equality.-They participated more in volunteering activities.-They became more sensitive individuals about global issues.-They obtained information about the waste materials that can be recycled.-They learned how to recycle glass, paper, plastic and metal.-They gained such habits about the environment and will use them to achieve success during their lives.-They raised awareness of the protection of natural sources.-They discovered their creativity and skills.-They gained experience in the Erasmus+ programme and they will be more willing to participating in such projects.The impacts on organizations and institutions:-These organizations and institutions gained new perspectives.-By presenting the activities in the project as a model, we enabled the participating organizations and institutions to make use of this model. -They gained knowledge about the studies and organizational identities of the institutions in different countries, and expanded their organizational capacities. -They are more willing to be partners of the studies conducted about the project topic.-They raised awareness about the damages to the economy, environment and living beings caused by the waste materials.-They gained more experiences in the planning, implementation and dissemination stages of the Erasmus+ projects.-They raised their awareness about the disadvantageous groups and comprehend the importance of equal opportunities.-By gaining the international collaboration experience, they are more willing to international organizations and institutions.-They recognized the cultures of different organizations and institutions.-They obtained information about dissemination and sustainability activities.The impacts on target groups-Youngsters raised awareness about the Erasmus+ youth projects.-Youngsters and children learned that the waste materials are not to be thrown out randomly and that every garbage is not invaluable. Through the project, we enabled them to alter their consumption practices. They raised awareness about the damages such as environmental pollution, increasing consumption of natural sources and reduction of biological diversity caused by the waste materials.-We ensured that they would show respect towards cultural differences and make cultural exchange.-Our target groups raised awareness about the negative sides of the waste materials and contribute to recycling these materials.-Children who were included in our target groups possessed environmental consciousness and avoided behaviours which cause damages to the environment.-We experienced what kinds of solutions can be produced as a result of the volunteering activities.-We enabled youngsters to comprehend the importance of the Erasmus+ programme.We achieved all these impacts through the dissemination, workshop, discussion, information and cultural activities conducted during the project.

<< Objectives >>Nowadays many people over the world are isolated from nature. They often do not notice any connection between their way of life, behavior, consumption and those negative changes that occur in the environment at all levels - from local to global. Everyday ecology of our planet is deteriorating.Few people are interested to preserve and protect the natural environment. The main focus of this inter-cultural exchange was to work together as a group and raise the awareness of this problem first between peers and participants of the project and afterward to our local societies. Despite the fact, there are a lot of projects addressing to environmental problems, still it is not enough. People who live in deplorable conditions need support and involvement in solving environmental issues. They need to know the harmful effects of human activities on the biophysical environment.We worked on raising public interest in the environmental challenges of our planet. At the same time, among young people who were working into the environmental sector and NGOs, we found many youngsters with leadership qualifications, able to independently carry out environmental projects or to work successfully with local communities in the area of environmental advocacy and environmental education.The project aimed to promote environmental inclusion and building network among youth from different countries, through youth exchange. The aim of the project also was encouraging youth to prevent pollution and spread the information about environmental problems to the local community.The networking is one of the most efficient processes that one organization or a person has to be involved in order to achieve and change something.Having as its core objectives:- To provide participants with the necessary skills, knowledge, and attitudes on the inclusion of young people in activities which are connected to environmental issues;- To share experience and examples of good and bad practices by methods of non-formal education and learning from each other;- To make awareness of youth about pollution;- To find ways how to solve environmental problems in each country;- To spread the information among young people how to prevent pollution;- To share opinions, approaches, experience, and information on environmental situation and issues among participating countries;- To promote healthy lifestyle activities for young people, in terms of environmental protection;- To raise awareness about recycling through artistic activities and workshops among young people;- To increase the awareness about environmental pollution and its effect on our health;- To empower young people in active citizenship taking responsibility in their countries and participating in the decision-making process regarding the protection of the environment;- To give young people an example of cooperation on the international level and encourage them to undertake similar activities in the future;- To involve rural youth in active social environmental activities back to their hometowns spreading eco-thinking.- To give participants information on the beneficial effects of reusing materials instead of throwing them into the garbage and increasing a big amount of waste.The main purpose of the project was to bring together youth, to exchange knowledge about environmental problems in their home countries and to share ideas of how to protect our nature, our health and reduce pollution by recycling, converting waste materials into new products, preventing waste of potentially useful materials, reducing the consumption of fresh raw materials, reducing energy usage, reducing air pollution and water pollution etc.The program also aimed to promote tolerance, pluralism and respect, to exchange ‘best practice’ experiences of multicultural societies and to encourage cross-border cooperation. The project encouraged youth on how to prevent pollution and spread the information about environmental problems to their local community. The Youth exchange in Cyprus offered the participants opportunities to become familiar with different countries' interethnic coexistence, to make valuable contacts, to exchange useful examples and to replicate them back home.<< Implementation >>The project was implemented in a duration of 9 days (7 days for activities and 2 days for arrival and departure) and all activities were held in 4 sessions per day, with coffee breaks in the intervals.The project involved 30 participants from Spain, Lithuania, Italy, Poland and Cyprus.Each organization sent 6 participants (5 participants age 18-30 and one team leader without age limit). All partners had already shown their interest and were actively involved in the discussion of the topics which were present during the project.Each session was followed by presentations, lectures, and workshops led by an experienced facilitator, experts and motivated participants as well as the leaders from each participating country with the facilitator's support.In all activities and sessions, non-formal learning methods were used, work in groups as well as collective work.The environmental issue is a very sensitive topic and unfortunately, different types of environmental problems, every day, affected a large number of people all around the world. For this aspect, project activities and project results had an equal impact at all levels: local, regional, national and international.By gathering youth from different countries together to discuss, to share their experience and ideas and to work together, they became the source which disseminated all the gained information in their community. The project supported the integration of youngsters from different background, nations and culture, too.Cross-cultural learning and dialogue between the participants from different countries were implemented with a view to promote mutual understanding and tolerance.Main principle and methodology during the deployment of this action were the norms of non-formal education.During this project, the participants had a chance to learn that they are able to do something just having the willingness to fight for the common cause. All the participants of the project realized that they are a part of Europe where each person is important for the well-being of the whole world and the future of world lays in the hands of each individual.Besides, during the YE, the daily reflection groups helped participants to observe their learning process and make their learning dairy. Leader Team Meeting which was held every day after Reflection meeting, was useful to evaluate the project and solve any kind of obstacle raised during the YE. Cultural evenings, city tour and communication with each other as well as with locals aimed to increase youngsters' knowledge about different culture/ history/religion.Additionally, we prepared a session related to possibilities given, for youth mobility around Europe.All conclusions, suggestions, and ideas of participants were shown through the different style of arts such as video, theatre, art workshops with paper & plastic trash, bottles, reusing clothes etc. Furthermore, a short theater performance, handcrafted creations from recycled materials, a photo exhibition were also conducted by the participants of the project. Thus, proper use of the project's outcomes assisted us to have more local people engaged and also disseminated our concerns and potential solutions about the environment, specifically young people.The participants had the opportunity to volunteer during their participation in the YE, bringing them into contact with organizations and individuals dedicated to improving the lives of others. Volunteering is well-established in some participant countries, but still developing in others, so sharing experiences and best practices did not only offer participants an enriching and satisfying experience but also improved the capacity of volunteer organizations.Regarding the participants with fewer opportunities:Each participating country had different target groups, which included youth with Cultural differences, Economic obstacles, Geographical obstacles and Social obstacles.- The team from Italy– 2 participants faced Geographical and Economical obstacles. They lived in the mountain region and they moved to the capital to study.- The team from Poland – 2 participants faced cultural differences and geographical obstacles. Male and female coming from rural areas, they were students and they were ethnic minorities in the country.- The team from Spain– 2 participants faced Geographical and Economical obstacles. They were last class school students/graduate students from rural areas, who didn’t have a chance to participate in Erasmus+ projects. Most likely – both female participants. The project for them was a great chance to get international experience. They had never left their country before.- The team from Lithuania – 2 participants from cultural differences.- The team from Cyprus – 2 participants faced Economical obstacles, after graduating their studies they couldn't get a job.<< Results >>Our project had a great impact on participants as they now have more competence in areas of NonFormal Activities and Education Methods and creativity. The main purpose of the project was to bring together youth, to exchange knowledge about environmental problems in their home countries, to share ideas how to protect our nature and our health and to reduce pollution by recycling, converting waste materials into new products, preventing waste of potentially useful materials, reducing the consumption of fresh raw materials, reducing energy usage, reducing air pollution and water pollution etc.Returning knowledge to their homes, they positively influenced the work of their organization. In addition, they continued to positively affect the long-term and support European society, its societies, its peers, its environments because of its, empowering and creative minds. The project, also, helped youth in the development of skills and knowledge. That helped in building the confidence and abilities among the youth of today. It helped in the development of personal relationships and interpersonal skills among the youth, as well.Our participants will inspire their local communities to be more active. The project itself and then the sharing results raised awareness about the recognition of youth work in the society. Skills and experience gained during this youth exchange helped the young participants to get motivated and take a part in similar projects under the Erasmus+ programme.In addition, our project increased the tolerance of our participants to different languages, cultures, and cultural-linguistic values. Our participants also understood the importance of the concept of richness in diversity in Europe and providing unity in diversity. With our project, they saw themselves more closely as a part of Europe. By finding the opportunity to learn about different cultures and languages, they experienced the phenomenon of multilingualism and multiculturalism. During their conversations, they learned new things from each other and even planned joint studies for the future. All participants increased their ability to be active. Our individuals with limited opportunities acquired new skills to eliminate their disadvantages, especially the risk of being excluded from society, too. The project had a positive impact on the participants' involvement in social activities and empowered them with new skills and competencies necessary for nowadays.Likewise, the participating organizations developed links with other European partner organizations and gave to their curricula an international focus. Now, they are more willing to appreciate new ideas coming from other European countries and have a better understanding of collaborative work in a European context. They will also use the competencies of the participants to solve environmental problems in their communities.

"The project ""Undertaking actions= making changes"" is an international training course for youth workers under the Key Action 1 of the Erasmus+ Program. The proposed project aims at achieving common understanding of the concept of entrepreneurship so that it could be used for initiating social actions in view of bringing sustainable society changes.Objectives of the course are:*) To inform the participants about the potential of youth entrepreneurship and the ways it could be used*) To develop entrepreneurial competences and pro-active attitudes of participants in view of the initiation of social actions as key youth work elements *) To practice different project management tools in order to plan actions for sustainable development at individual, organizational and society levels via future joint transnational actions and entrepreneurial projects*) To develop international teamwork abilities of participants and stimulate their sense of initiative*) To present the concept of entrepreneurship through examples of successful entrepreneurs which could be seen as role models *) To share best practices in the field of entrepreneurship and empower the target group to act as multipliers within their organizations and communitiesThe project was held in Lille and will gather 32 youth workers coming from 8 Program countries. The participants which the project gathered were all members of the youth partner organizations, interested to develop their competences and to multiply the effect of the project within their local communities. The target group was composed of youth workers, trainers or project managers all working in the youth sector. The training course was held through a highly participatory approach and non formal educational methods which combine theoretical and practical components. The experience of the participants was valued as a ressource for the whole group in order to achieve transfer of competences and best practices sharing. Therefore the course was based on the specific learning needs of the participants. The team of trainers created a learning space, where participants are encouraged and coached to go beyond their comfort zone and in this way achieve development at all levels personally and professionally. The project equiped participants with entrepreneurial competences such as sense of initiative and encouraged pro-active civic attitude, to be transferred later to the target groups with which the participants work on a daily basis and within their local communities in order to achieve multiplying effect. The local communities benefited of an increased number of opportunities to get involved in civic and social initiatives and actions which the participants are better able to organize after their participation in this training course. Therefore, on a long term basis the project brought an increased level of youth participation in society and sustainable social changes might be expected."