Through this project we wanted to bring qualitative preventive education closer to the beneficiaries of the partner organizations, as a mean to reduce the factors that trigger and sustain social exclusion and harmful behavioral patterns. We wanted to enlarge the national and international network of youth workers who work with preventive education on a current basis and to boost their organizations’ capacity on this topic. The partners expressed their need regarding a proper preparation on preventive education for their staff and collaborators, and this matched with IPTA plans on promoting this concept on long term. This project is a follow-up originating in previous youth initiatives of IPTA in the last 6 years, mainly related to preventive education and healthy relationships (E+ KA2 projects as partners and coordinators). Preventive education on substance abuse is one of the main areas of work for IPTA, hence making this project an opportunity to bolster the partners’ work and to expand our practice to other countries. The project had a multi-activity format with 5 countries (Romania, Turkey, Latvia, Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina), with a Training Course for 18 youth workers who conducted local activities, followed by a Youth Exchange for 24 participants who were involved in the local sessions. The project focused mainly on tobacco, alcohol and NPS (New Psychoactive Substances). We based our intervention on the European Drug Report (EMCDDA 2019) which indicated that 18% of the youngsters aged 16-24 tried cannabinoids in 2019. Despite that consumption of some substances slightly decreased in the previous years, the combined substance consumption has increased as the main pattern. In addition to this, a higher number of youngsters engage in drug-related crimes, as the organized crime gangs are targeting teenagers to become their dealers and future members (EMCDDA, EU Drug Markets Report 2019, p.48). One of the highest prevalence of the crimes committed by clients of probation in Romania and Latvia are drug-related, a high part of them including also violent actions. During the pandemic, the tendency of abusing addictive substances increased rapidly and maintained a clear trend among teenagers, as an easy-to-grab alternative to healthy indoor activities, and as a solution to fill the socialization gap created by the lockdown and online education. Actually, the pandemic triggered a vast spectrum of emotional disturbance among teenagers and young adults, causing low self-esteem, shame, weirdness, socially maladaptation, anxiety, hate speech, paranoia and, probably the most common one, multiple facets of depression. That led to a high reluctance towards healthy habits such as sports, reading, studying in general, mindfulness practices, spirituality, but channeled attention and resources towards addictive substances and habits, a phenomenon that has ongoing effects at this moment. In this view, the project promoted a methodology that connects in the same working tools a topic related to addictive substances or addictive behavioral patterns and at least another topic that is familiar for the youngsters and explores the roots of substance abuse disorders: lack of socialization, poor education, gender inequity, professional perspectives, family context and ACE (Adverse Childhood Experiences), limitations in using leisure time, toxic entourage and misusing social media. We followed three educational dimensions: assimilating, exchanging and creating content for teenagers. We focused on visualising, verbalising and preventing the source of addictions. The need of equipping the youth workers was justified by the profile of their beneficiaries. Most of the youngsters were facing situations that are fueling the risk of social exclusion: poverty, poor family background (exposure to addictions and domestic violence), low school performances, geographical remoteness or living in communities with limited social and cultural offers for their leisure time. Project’s objectives: • Proved capacity of work with preventive education for 18 youth workers within the end of project, by delivering local actions and preparing the Youth Exchange. • Activating 90% of the participants in the Youth Exchange as ambassadors of the preventive education in their communities by the end of project implementation. • 18 youth workers motivated to work at international level with preventive education initiatives, by the end of the project, by involving in at least one common follow-up initiative. • Bringing preventive education to a European dimension by expanding to three regions outside the EU: Balkans, Turkey and Caucasus.