Our project started from the idea of a group of Finnish youngsters who wanted to make a youth exchange. They wished to meet new people, learn about another culture and become more brave in international situations. Some of them had positive experience from international activities before, so they wanted to do it again and offer the chance also to others who never travelled. The main objectives were: to learn about culture through practical activities, like cooking, local games, nature and traditions to support young people to express themselves and work together to meet new people and make new friends to improve English and communication skills to understand better their own limits, values and teamwork to see what is the carbon footprint of the project and how everyday choices can make it smaller Both organisations wanted that the project is really youth-led. Youngsters planned the activities, discussed together in video meetings and made decisions about the programme. Another important objective was to raise awareness about environmental responsibility. Because flying creates emissions, the groups decided to pay special attention to sustainable choices during the exchange week and learn how to calculate the footprint of the activities. The organisations also wanted to build new international connections and create possibilities for more young people to join projects in the future. The project followed the aims of Erasmus+ by supporting participation, inclusion, intercultural learning and green values. Originally the plan was to make two youth exchanges inside the same project, one in Finland and one in Italy. This was the wish of both youth groups, because they wanted to plan and experience the full cooperation together. But the budget was awarded only for the exchange week in Finland. Because of this, we had to create two separate Erasmus+ projects with the same groups and partners. The second exchange in Italy was later implemented with a new project application. Even if the projects were officially separate, the planning, youth groups, partners and goals were the same. For the young people the activities felt like one bigger cooperation, just divided into two funded parts. This meant that some goals were reached partly in the first project and partly in the second one. For example, the Italian partner’s digital competences and the environmental themes continued in both exchanges. Even if the first project did not include a funded exchange in Italy, the idea and preparation were still important steps for the whole cooperation.