The issues and needs that we wanted to address with this project were the conservation of the stork population and the preservation of the cultural heritage of Diyarbakir because they’re a symbol and the part of the cultural heritage of the city and the surrounding region since centuries. Unfortunately, their population has been declining in recent years due to habitat loss and other factors. Our passion for conservation, nature, and culture, interest in cultural heritage, desire to create cross-cultural understanding, interest in gaining practical skills, desire to make a difference in locals, and sense of adventure drove us to apply for this project because we wanted to experience something new and different, and saw this project as a great opportunity to do so while also making a positive impact. This initiative was conceived by our Diyarbakir-based partner group. In addition, during a workshop in our prior training session, our partner organization from Diyarbakir came up with the idea for this initiative. We supported our partner organization to pay debt of gratitude to their city with a sense of responsibility to protect the environment and the culture. By building stork nests, we wanted to sustain this cultural and natural heritage by the help of EU values and Erasmus+ program and to help to preserve this important species and contribute to conservation efforts in the area. In addition to this, the project also aimed to promote cultural understanding and appreciation. Our participant had the opportunity to learn about the local culture and heritage through activities such as visits to historical sites and interactions with local people. Our motivations to implement this YE were to: • be deeply committed to preserving stork populations and protecting the natural heritage of Diyarbakir, and see this project as a way to make a positive impact in this area; • be fascinated by the rich cultural heritage of the city and this exchange gives an opportunity to learn more about it and share it with others; • believe that by bringing together young people from different European countries to work on a common goal, we could foster greater understanding and cooperation between cultures; • be interested in gaining hands-on experience in conservation, habitat restoration, and nest-building techniques and to see this project as an opportunity to do so; • feel a sense of responsibility to do our part in protecting the environment and preserving cultural heritage, and this project is a way to take action on those values; • contribute to a cause that is important to us, as our YE would be an opportunity to make a difference in the world. The objectives of the exchange were to: • build stork nests in Diyarbakir to support the conservation of the stork population; • provide training to participants on stork conservation and nest building techniques; • promote cultural understanding and appreciation through activities such as visits to historical sites and interactions with local people; • raise awareness about stork conservation and the importance of preserving cultural heritage among participants and the local community; • meet the local decision makers and encouraging nature conservation policies; • foster cross-cultural understanding and cooperation among participants from different European countries; • provide an opportunity for participants to gain practical skills in conservation, habitat restoration, and nest-building techniques; • promote sustainable practices and environmental stewardship among participants and the local community; • work with local organizations and stakeholders to develop a long-term plan for stork conservation in the Diyarbakir region; • create a network of youth committed to conservation of a habitat and cultural preservation, and to promote the results of the project to a larger audience; • establish a monitoring and evaluation system for the stork nests that were built during the project, in order to track their use and success rate in breeding We believe in that our exchange project would be a valuable and unique opportunity for our participants to learn about and contribute to conservation efforts while also learning about the cultural heritage of the region. Moreover, it had a potential to make a positive impact on both the stork population and the local community.