This project was a part of an Erasmus+ Accreditation in the field of Youth, aiming at cross-border co operations, exchanges and learning mobility opportunities. The organization and implementation of this accredited project was based on a strategic development plan with specific objectives and planned activities. The following activities were implemented as part of this accredited project: -Staff Mobility: Professional Development Activity (PDA) - Training Course (TC): “Activating Youth Workers in Social Inclusion”. - Learner Mobility: Youth Exchange (YE): “Art Activates Youth in Social Inclusion”. The aim of the PDA was to strengthen the Youth Workers’ personal and professional development through non-formal and informal learning mobility activities and reinforce them with competences, because they need to have more qualifications for the challenges of our EU society. Thus, using the acquired knowledge and competences, Youth Workers would be able to support other young people and disseminate the gained experience in their communities. The aim of the YE was to improve, enhance the skills set of young people, especially those with fewer opportunities and develop their key competences, via art sessions/workshops, in order to be socially included, empowering them for being active European citizens. Our innovative accredited project seeked to enhance and promote social inclusion, diversity, intercultural dialogue and the values of solidarity, equal opportunities and human rights, among our EU youngsters, especially those with fewer opportunities. We ensure that this project progress aligned with our vision and the roadmap of our accreditation activity plan, as there was connection between project objectives and the strategic development plan. It revealed new issues and challenges that we may not have anticipated, we empowered our staff, the Youth Workers and our team to reach common goals, building trust and transparency among those directly involved with the project. The objectives of this project were achieved through the planning and implementation of the PDA and YE activities: - First of all, via the PDA activity, we set as our priority to foster quality development of youth work at local, regional, national, European and international level by building the capacity of our Institute to be active in the field of youth and supporting the professional development of Youth Workers. We wanted to offer, train and reinforce the Youth Workers, to foster their empowerment, their active citizenship and participation in democratic life, in order to support other young people and disseminate the gained added value and experience in their communities. - Secondly, via the Youth Exchange, we wanted to break down the boundaries of social exclusion for young people, especially those with fewer opportunities. Our objective was to include mainly young people with financial, social, geographical and cultural barriers in all aspects of social and civic life, youth with health problems or any other kind of disabilities or any other youngster that is facing any kind of discrimination in his/her everyday life. It was vital to empower, equip young people and youth workers with necessary competences, life-skills to successfully manage and support diversity, to interconnect them and engage them in our societies to be active EU citizens. This contributed to positive interaction to youth with diversity, regardless ethnicity, religion, sexuality, skin color, socio-economic background, educational level. Supporting young people with fewer opportunities to be included is a benefit to our society, ensuring that all young people take part and focus on diversity, recognizing the value of differences. Objectives of PDA: • Improve the preparation of youth workers, to be able to support participants with fewer opportunities during the mobility activities. • Enhance and motivate youth workers’ awareness about social inclusion of youth with fewer opportunities via non-formal learning methods. • Set the basis for the creation of an international network for the inclusion in Erasmus+, in the framework of our Erasmus+ accreditation. • Create common standards for the involvement, preparation and follow-up of participants with fewer opportunities. • Make agreements about mutual cooperation in future projects in the field of inclusion. • Develop social skills, team spirit and attitudes of youth workers, share experiences, exchange ideas and establish quality partnerships with European peers. Objectives of YE: • Enhance and motivate youngsters’ awareness about social inclusion via non-formal learning methods, using art as a non-formal tool for enhancing social inclusion. • Foster the social, communication skills, team spirit of youth, sharing experiences, exchange ideas and empower them with intercultural awareness. • Cultivate youth’s perception, imagination, creativity and initiative, broaden spiritual horizons, as they focus on artistic work.