By implementing this project, we wanted to correspond to the request and need of our youngsters to take the lead and the initiative to organize a youth exchange on their own, focusing on non-formal education, inclusion and multiculturalism, and theatrical practices. It was important for us to support them in this action, as this idea came up after their participation in a similar project in Romania where together with other youngsters participating in the project they had started creating a draft and because through activities like this our region and local community would also be benefitted and empowered (as rural areas and young people living there do not have the same access to opportunities as youngsters living in big cities have). The need of supporting youngsters living in rural areas and provide them with opportunities was also embraced by our partners, as we were all facing the same problem, especially the partners from Slovakia and Romania due to the Roma minorities they have, who have been usually pushed away from the community due to prejudice and discrimination. This project was the creation of a common effort as the application was written together with our partners and our youth teams and it tackled the issues of tolerance, non-discrimination, multiculturalism, and provision of equal opportunities within the new European cultural context. Along with participants and partners from 6 different countries we wanted through non-formal and informal education to give them the opportunity to understand better the prejudices and stereotypes in their communities and learn how to overcome them. Since we had participants with different cultural backgrounds, our priority was to create a safe learning environment, where they could without fear express themselves, share ideas and points of view, learn from each other, and all together discover the best ways to combat exclusion. To achieve all the above, we used interactive methods and approaches, based on non-formal education tools such as teamwork, brainstorming, role plays, debates, simulations, forum theatre, and of course reflection and evaluation. In this way, participants learnt how to be open-minded, how to be tolerant and accept diversity, and how to behave in conflict situations and especially in multi-ethnic/ multicultural communities. The objectives of the project were the following: • to raise participants’ awareness of personal and cultural identity and its importance. • to help participants recognize prejudice and all forms of discrimination. • to develop participants’ empathy, critical thinking, and communication skills. • to create an inclusive and safe learning environment for participants, supporting their personal and professional development. • to provide the space and time for participants to develop actions that were combating discrimination. • to enable and promote among participants the usage of theatre as a tool for education, communication, and combating discrimination and exclusion. • to increase participants’ self-empowerment and self-esteem. Through these objectives, we aimed to empower and equip with the necessary skills and competences youngsters from Italy, Slovakia, Greece, Spain, Bulgaria, and Romania enabling them to: • speak up for and support the rights of minorities and develop their public speaking skills • be more aware of discrimination and prejudices in their everyday life, the local community, and the society they live in, and be able to take initiatives to tackle it • learn to accept diversity, be empathetic and open-minded, and better understand other youth groups in their community, especially youngsters belonging to minority groups (e.g., Roma, refugees, migrants, etc.) or youngsters with fewer opportunities in general (coming from rural areas, facing economic and social/ cultural obstacles, etc.). • use forum theatre as a tool to fight discrimination, • become promoters and multipliers after this experience of tolerance, empathy, understanding, intercultural dialogue, and human rights. What helped in the achievement of the objectives of our project, was our decision to include young people with fewer opportunities representing the above-mentioned minority groups. Consequently, all participants by living together, communicating, socializing, working, and cooperating, and with the help of the educational methods we used could (through interactive and experiential learning) experience in practice how it is to be in one’s shoes. At the same time by creating this safe learning environment without judgments, youngsters (especially the ones who belonged to marginalized groups) could finally develop their self-confidence and feel the appreciation and support that our communities should be giving them.