Today, we are experiencing various forms of INSTABILITY, be it environmental or SOCIAL waves, MENTAL and EMOTIONAL insecurity, or anxiety and CONFIDENCE related to ENVIRONMENTAL crises. We all long for a stable, HARMONIC social structure, with CO-OPERATIVE individuals who build SUPPORTIVE, RESPONSIVE and RESISTANT COMMUNITIES (Summary from András Takács-Sánta's book, The Beginning of the World, 2024). With our project, we invite participants to an exciting SOCIAL EXPERIENCE, a GASTRO- CULTURAL EXPERIENCE by introducing a methods of healthy, natural preservation. 'We are Alive! - fermentation as community practice' youth exchange aims to understand the root causes of environmental and social crises we face today and collect together alternatives for solutions that can be implemented in our daily lives. We do this by observing and adapting the life of the micro-organisms that are involved in the fermentation process in harmonious cooperation. The link between fermentation, known as traditional, healthy and sustainable food preservation and the various small-scale community models of the future is an exciting and INNOVATIVE APPROACH. OUR GOALS - Supporting non-formal learning through INNOVATIVE LEARNING METHODS, skills development with a focus on community engagement and sustainability - UNDERSTANDING environmental and social challenges, seeking a shared vision at 'everyday' level - FOCUSING ON COOPERATION, INCLUSION, SOCIETY and CREATIVITY, UNDERSTANDING FERMENTATION and seeking parallels between community and microbial processes - PROMOTING the social, local involvement of participants for LOCAL, SUPPORTIVE COMMUNITIES. - Exploring the diverse use of a natural preservation method that offers a HEALTHY food preservation and food preparation process that is easy to incorporate into everyday life. - Understanding the value of QUALITY OF FOOD, the relationship between HEALTH AND WELL-BEING - Learning about the GASTRO-CULTURE of different countries (partners), revitalising practices that support UNITY and SUSTAINABILITY - INVOLVE LOCAL YOUTHS in long-term learning on sustainable eating. - Supporting a FUTURE COMMUNITY that brings together young initiators and facilitators of social change and supportive communities Through this innovative approach, we want to learn about fermentation, the unique properties of communities. Plus exploring the natural way of functions and cooperation patterns of microbes and translate this into our 'human' language. The youth exchange format is the perfect way to involve other young people in such an exciting activity.