Through Shifting Paradigms, our aim is to spread a culture where conflicts are a chance to learn and meet the other, to grow and express views and needs, to dialogue and appreciate diversity. Youth is a crucial target group for us in this sense: young people are building their identity, and therefore they are very exposed and sensitive to the cultural input they receive from their background. And youth-workers have a key role in empowering them in their ability to acknowledge different opinions and positions, and to look at situations from different angles. As a foundation with solid experience working with different kinds of conflicts, cultural differences, vulnerable groups, and non formal learning, we want to exchange our expertise and contribute to the work of youth-workers, encouraging their multiplier effect and to the empowerment of youngsters as active peace-builders in their communities. The main aim of the project can be broken down into the following objectives: • to conduct 9 researches about the current guidelines and mindset for conflict handling in the practice of schools and universities in their countries • to train 24 youth workers on key competencies to handle conflicts • to disseminate and spread the outcomes of the TC through 9 workshops that participants will organize inside their own organisations (1 per partner) • to disseminate and spread the outcomes of the TC through 9 local activities for youngsters on the topic of peace education (1 per partner) • to involve 54 youngsters in a youth exchange, empowering them as active peace builders in their societies • to disseminate and spread the outcomes of the YE through 9 local activities, initiated by the young participants, on the topic of peace education (1 per partner) • to ensure that evaluation of the learning happens during the project through 78 Youthpasses and 78 questionnaires We see our project as highly coherent with the objectives and priorities of E+: -”reaching out to marginalized young people, promoting diversity, intercultural and inter-religious dialogue, common values of freedom, tolerance and respect of human rights (...) critical thinking and sense of initiative of young people. -equipping youth workers with competences and methods for their professional development (...) needed for transferring the common fundamental values of our society, particularly to the hard to reach young people and preventing violent radicalization of young people” All partners selected are working with vulnerable segments of society, and some of them directly with migrants, asylum seekers and refugees, promoting the value of an inclusive society as a fundamental basis for peace. To this regard, we dedicate a special attention to the prevention of violent radicalization: we see violence not as a consequence of the escalation of a conflict, but as a lack of competence to address it. Therefore we equip with those specific competences youth workers, and empower youth to develop and spread them. We believe that in the context of education, this can have a direct impact against the violent radicalization of youngsters, allowing them to be seen and heard, while seeing and hearing the needs of others. Ultimately, we intend to actively and concretely contribute to create a culture of dialogue, as a privileged way to acknowledge and appreciate diversity.