Humanity has always been concerned about the environment, including here in ancient times. Although, in more recent times, the concern for the environment has widely increased because of growing awareness of the ecological crisis. The modern environmental movement began in the 1960s when concerns about the negative impact of humans on the environment began to increase. Yet, an important turning point when it comes to protecting our surroundings, our environment and our planet, is when the 3R principles were introduced and became a daily practice especially in the western societies. We, together with our partners came up with the idea of implementing this project in Turkey as the reality comes to be a little different due to the low awareness especially at societal level. Although Turkey adopted a series of regulations first in 2019 for zero waste policies to curb the use of plastics, food and textile waste and set up recycling points, still these policies haven't been fully embraced by the population. Further, a ‘Zero Waste’ project was firstly introduced back in 2017, also gathering momentum in Turkey, with most public institutions, municipalities and some private companies adopting the recycling scheme. Based on some facts and figures, these practices in Turkey have led to recycling 24.2 million tons of waste and saved Turkey $2.1 billion (TL 30 billion) “Daily Sabah”. This means that positive change is possible and who other than the young people can better raise their voice and start this change. Our project had at its core the 4.R because the youngsters attending this project got orientation and became more aware of the following: - Reduced the amount of waste they produce - Reused items as much as they could before replacing them - using the materials again, instead of throwing them after a single use - Recycled items wherever possible - converting one form of plastic into another usable form - Reproduced items with/from other items and put them in use – upcycling If conveyed in other words: By refusing to buy items that they didn’t need, reusing items more than once, and disposing of the items that were no longer in use at appropriate recycling centers, they could contribute towards a healthier planet. Participants of this project learned more about these principles and directly intervened in the local communities, as was also foreseen in the timetable of the activities. Having said all the above, through this project, we made young people more aware of the importance of environmental protection and more specifically: - Increased the knowledge of young people coming from Romania, Macedonia, Bulgaria, Greece, Spain, Germany, Turkey, Italy, Czech Republic about the adverse effects climate change had on our lives and the fact that some groups were more susceptible to it than others. - Empowered young people to take a proactive role and take actions in their own community to raise awareness towards the 4R practices as an essential pillar for environmental protection and well-being. - Gave young people a space to exchange thoughts, experiences, and reflect upon policies their countries had taken to tackle climate change and where non-EU countries stood. - Fostered sustainable development: Sustainable development in this case was an advancement that met the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. This project lasted 9 days (including travel days) and brought together 50 youngsters divided in (5 + team leader + 2 extra participants from Turkey) coming from Romania, Macedonia, Bulgaria, Greece, Spain, Germany, Turkey, Italy, Czech Republic, with the age limit 18-28 and no age limit for the leader.