It was our idea to discuss the most prevalent challenges in the field of environment protection the EU faces today with a focus on waste management and sustainability. According to that we aimed at: • providing better information about the current environmental realities in Europe by improving the knowledge base of the young participants • teaching the youth on how to safeguard from environment-related pressures and risks to their health and wellbeing; • educating the participants about a resource-efficient, green, and competitive low-carbon economy on the examples of the initiatives in Erfurt (e.g. Food Sharing, No Waste Cafe); • making the European Union's cities more sustainable by having the follow-up activities on the topic of the youth exchange, organised by the participants back at their local communities. We wanted to encourage the youth themselves to formulate suggestions on how to live within the planet’s ecological limits and contribute to our shared sustainable future. These learning outcomes and recommendations were then translated into best-practice daily life guide, made during the youth exchange, which can be used as a great resource for further environmental education in the partner organisations. Moreover, the follow-up activities in the participants’ home cities contributed dramatically to the wider dissemination of the knowledge gained and the recommendation compiled during the youth exchange.