The objectives of our project were to encourage civic engagement and responsible citizenship using creativity and cultural activities through EU awareness, citizenship and democracy. We wanted to highlight the importance of the youth voice and encourage youth activism, using as a basis the long-term international youth arts programme, The Complete Freedom of Truth, (TCFT) which Opera Circus founded in 2008 in Srebrenica, BiH. Our aim was to provide experiences of other cultures to learn tolerance and understanding using the EU's central motto "Unity in Diversity". We wanted to encourage activism by helping young people to find their voices within their communities and civil society. Working inter-generationally we planned to co-design a method of working which embraced social integration with youth work at the heart. Inclusion, diversity, multi age conversations, fairness, democracy, freedom and kindness have always been at the heart of our work and this project gave us a chance to deepen these values in line with those of the EU. We set out to continue to create opportunities for work though job shadowing and skills sharing, enhanced by peer-to-peer learning. This Erasmus+ programme of work, our last as a UK organisation as a result of the devastation of Brexit, was based on the ethos, values and principles of TCFT founded within young people’s voices over 14 years of collaborative engagement. TCFT has been built up since then with the strong support of EU funding through the values of the EU; Democracy, Civil Engagement, Inclusion and Human Rights. Although no longer part of the EU officially, we continue to uphold these rights and are part of the ongoing movement to realign with the Erasmus programme and EU citizenship. In this project our objectives were to support young people to become activists within their communities, to engage in civil society and, in particular for the young people from the UK, how to build an international network for themselves and others to become proactive in developing future opportunities that they have been denied as a result of the UK leaving the EU. What shone out was the strong long lasting and supportive relationships that developed creating a network of solidarity and support. The project created work and study opportunities, invitations to other Erasmus projects, and at the heart the understanding and tolerance of difference. Through the Erasmus programme, we aspire to ensure unquestionable inclusion for race, gender, religion, culture and language using the arts to communicate these values and principles. One of our objectives is always to have legacy of the work we do and not be satisfied with one off project. This programme has led to a youth inspired research project to determine future opportunities for this TCFT/EU programme. We planned multi-age conversations to explore the issues of cultural and racial diversity. Leadership roles were encouraged amongst the more experienced participants to ensure that new young people could participate fully. Artists, facilitators and project managers would encourage and develop skills sharing and job shadowing through activities. We had 4 partners, with 3 partners new to Erasmus+, one of our objectives was to introduce new partners. Each partner brought 5 participants, a group leader and a youth leader and a youth care worker to support those with additional or different needs. As part of our care and safeguarding process, we provided a mental health and well being carer, due to the places where the exchanges were held, a post war environment and one of the worst areas of deprivation in England. This proved vital as a result of the mental health Pandemic caused by COVID. Recognising that all young people have fewer opportunities than previous generations, unlikely to ever own a house, health and future life expectancy reduced through pollution and resulting climate change, life chances reduced for the UK participants due to Brexit, many deciding not to have children due to climate change and an all pervading sense of “solastalgia” Solastalgia a new concept developed to give greater meaning and clarity to environmentally induced distress. The two UK partners are both based in rural West Dorset where as one young person said on Portland, “this will be the first time some young people on Portland will have met and talked with a young person from another country, and probably the last.” The young people from Kosovo come from a post conflict country which denies freedom to travel, study in less formal ways and to participate in the cultures of the EU and wider Europe. Participating in Erasmus projects is vital to their futures. In both countries real democracy is questionable. TCFT won the UK Charlemagne Youth Prize in 2016 and Tina Ellen Lee founder of TCFT and Artistic Director of Opera Circus, lead organiser for this project, the European Citizen Prize in 2015 for her work with young people across borders.