# THE MOTIVE Looking at and reflecting on the problems and challenges of today's society with young people is an urgent step. There is an urgent need to work and intervene with young people so that they can jointly explore new alternatives and solutions and invest in social change, and there is an urgent need to equip and empower young people so that they can recognize their potential and ambition and adopt active attitudes to reverse the growing scenarios of exclusion. This urgency takes on even greater form when we look at the disparities between young people and their access to opportunities because of territorial disparities. When a young person has fewer opportunities, they are at a disadvantage compared to their peers. Young people from rural or socially or economically disadvantaged geographical contexts face fewer opportunities for training, empowerment, and interpersonal development, which in turn reduces their ability to adopt more proactive and entrepreneurial attitudes. According to the report "Young people in rural areas: diverse, ignored and unfulfilled", "Young people in rural areas face barriers related to access to appropriate education opportunities, to a sluggish employment process, barriers to social inclusion, reduced participation opportunities and lack engagement in civic life, while struggling to get access to basic services and infrastructures.". This lack of opportunities for young people's development has had consequences throughout their lives. According to Eurostat (2015) "(...) a higher proportion of the population living in rural areas (25.5%) in the EU face the risk of poverty or social exclusion, compared to those living in cities (24.0%) and towns and suburbs (22.1%). For young people (15-29 years) specifically, the percentage of those at risk of poverty or social exclusion is 29.8%, an increase of 3.9% from 2014." Firstly, they will be young people with fewer learning experiences, especially non-formal ones to complement technical learning, and, as a result, they will be less resilient, less entrepreneurial, and less creative in their search for new ways of thinking and acting. Secondly, they will be young people with less life experience, which will be less attractive to the job market. Thirdly, without a job or in a situation of job instability, they will become young people excluded from the social sphere, lonelier and more disconnected, eradicating social and community ties (and not contributing to the development of the community itself). Another effect is that young people will leave rural areas in search of new opportunities and a better quality of life, taking their potential away from rural areas and leading them into situations of desertification, low competitiveness and attractiveness, loneliness, and exclusion. # PROJECT IDEA So, faced with the social problem of the social exclusion of young people, especially those with fewer opportunities, due to the lack of learning and training opportunities, we decided to go ahead with the Empowering YOUth project. We wanted to provide learning and interpersonal development opportunities for young people and their communities, so that they can learn, explore, debate, and pour their talent and ambition into promoting alternatives and solutions for the sustainability of youth and communities. # NEEDS In light of the above and according to our experience with young people and with the technicians and teams who work with young people, we have identified a number of needs such as: - Promoting activities to empower, connect and involve young people in developing key skills for lifelong learning that will enable them to consolidate their future goals and projects; - Promoting mobility and learning activities in an intercultural context and using non-formal methods to gain experience; - Increasing the recognition and appreciation of non-formal European opportunities as a means for the integral development of young people and communities; - Promote the sharing, reflection, learning and transfer of knowledge and experiences between parties in order to strengthen transnational collaborative action and create innovative responses to youth challenges. # OBJECTIVES a. General - Promote the social inclusion of young people for greater participation in participatory and community systems (especially rural ones). b. Specific - Empower, involve and connect young people with a view to developing skills and knowledge that will have an impact throughout their lives; - Develop mobility opportunities for non-formal learning purposes to improve young people's skills; - Promote the involvement of young people with fewer opportunities in personal and social development activities; - Encourage interculturality, diversity and tolerance among young Europeans; - Stimulate the dynamization of rural and social environments through youth action.