The project Intercultural Cross-Pollination – Youth Worker Training in Assisi aims to strengthen the quality, inclusiveness, and sustainability of youth work by investing in the competences of those who make it possible: youth workers themselves. We want to equip them with the knowledge, skills and attitudes needed to meet the urgent challenges they face today when supporting young people across Europe. Our main objective is to enhance the professional practice of youth workers in four key areas: Empathy-based facilitation, so they can create safe, inclusive spaces where young people feel heard, valued and respected. Intercultural and interreligious dialogue, so they can guide young people in navigating diversity constructively, reducing prejudice and transforming conflict into learning opportunities. Wellbeing and mental health awareness, so they can integrate practices of care and resilience into youth projects and respond more effectively to the pressures young people face. Sustainability and ecological responsibility, so they can embed green practices and ecological awareness into everyday youth work, linking care for people with care for the planet. By bringing together 25 youth workers from France, Slovenia, Germany and Italy in Assisi, the project will provide an immersive non-formal learning experience rooted in living and learning together. Participants will not only receive inputs from expert facilitators but also co-create knowledge, exchange good practices, and test methods in a supportive environment. The result will be practical tools that can be directly transferred into youth work practice: dialogue circles, reflection journals, action planning methods, nature-based learning, participatory design and safe group agreements. The choice of Assisi is intentional. Known worldwide as the city of St. Francis and St. Clare, it symbolises empathy, peace, intercultural dialogue, and care for creation. The training venue, surrounded by olive groves and only steps away from the Basilica of San Francesco, provides a unique setting where history, spirituality and ecology meet. This environment reinforces the project’s core themes: empathy and dialogue are part of the city’s heritage, while the natural setting supports reflection, wellbeing and sustainability. Assisi is therefore not just a location but a living classroom that deepens the educational experience. Beyond individual growth, the project strengthens partner organisations. Each will return from Assisi with a shared toolkit and an organisational action plan to embed new methods into their programmes. In this way, the training goes beyond theory to build lasting organisational capacity for inclusion, innovation and sustainability. The wider objective is to improve the daily reality of youth work in Europe. Stronger youth workers mean youth projects that are safer, more inclusive and more creative. This benefits especially young people with fewer opportunities, who will encounter leaders better prepared to listen, adapt, and empower them. The project also contributes to the Erasmus+ priorities of inclusion and diversity, participation, mental health, digital accessibility and the green transition, demonstrating how European values can be lived in youth work practice. By combining empathy, dialogue, wellbeing and ecology in one coherent programme, the Assisi training will create a community of empowered youth workers who are ready to multiply these competences in their organisations, communities and future European projects.