Advanced Planning Visit 16-17 July 2015

1 participant per partner Youth Exchange

24-29 August 2015 6 participants per partner : 5 young people (2 at least with fewer opportunities) + 1 youth leader The exchange is foreseen to take place in a rural place in the Provence area, around Marseille, France PROJECT RATIONALE: Life in 21st Century can literally “kill” you. With how fast life demands us to be, we gradually quit appreciating life and act effectively for a better life. Modern life-style has its benefits e.g: High tech communications and Information access, but yet it has brought to the brink of collapse. Most of us, live walled indoors, divorced from nature, and under artificial lighting. We drive rather than walk, consume large amounts of unhealthy food, live busy—even frantic—lives, and face new kinds of stress. We live among millions of people and may see more people in a single day than our ancestors saw in a lifetime. Put all these conditions in one pot, like living in a million inhabitants’ populous city, and you will get a very well structured recipe for stress disorder, depression, obesity and social exclusion. Youth is not an exception from this theory. With the high unemployment rates & social pressure from one side and the need of positive thinking and motivation from another, young people are facing challenges externally and internally. Thus, comes the need of life style changes to be equipped with the strength, confidence and motive to participate in society. So what can we change? Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes (TLC). This approach that contains 8 elements has been used for the past decade to treat depression, high cholesterol levels or Chronic Disease. What’s innovative about this project is that we will use this concept for maximizing active participation of youth. The 8 pillars are: 1. Time in nature

2. Relaxation and stress management

3. Service to others

4. Relationships

5. Recreation

6. Nutrition

7. Exercise

8. Spirituality Each of these healthy ways of living can both reduce psychological problems and enhance psychological wellbeing. Moreover, they have the additional advantage of being enjoyable, inexpensive, free from side-effects, and easily available. We can all do them and have a good time doing them, while we make ourselves healthier and happier. Consequently, contribute more into the development of our society and even more efficiently. PROJECT OBJECTIVES: - To share, inspire and empower young people to start or improve lifestyle changes that can drive them into active participation and change agent in the society.

- Explore all elements of the concept over a non-formal, participatory and practical approach.

- Analyze the complications that modern life presents for humans and on contrast highlight the opportunities it offers.

- Evolving this approach as a tool for social inclusion and youth empowerment.

- Discuss this approach in an inter-cultural environment resulting in a richer conclusion.

- Facilitate good practice exchange between youth from program countries regarding healthy lifestyle and wellbeing.

- To promote the use of open source education (OSE) and Information and communication Technology (ICT) to research and learn about topic in-depth.

- To motivate young people to engage in social service as a part of the 8 elements of TLC.

- To materialize the terms like “inner-peace” , “positive thinking” or “solidarity” into a set of activities and behaviors which leads into easier understanding and general practice accordingly. Learning outcomes: Here the participants will gain a vital hands-on understanding of lifestyle Changes, 8 habits for social empowerment and tools to increase knowledge about them which manifests itself and will result in the active engagement of the young people in social life. Methodology: This youth exchange will expose participants to all 8 steps in a mixed order. We will use different methodologies for each element that we think fits its purpose. This design will provide space for participants to express themselves, to discover their abilities and references and to enjoy their time in a productive way that can contribute to their life in a positive way. 1. Spirituality (Meditation and yoga) Activities related to this element will be based on outdoor meditation activities, self-awareness and using all 5 senses to connect with the surrounding environment. 2. Time in nature (Outdoor activity – Camping) The program includes a camping activity which will give a time to connect to nature and appreciate its

beauty. Also, most of sessions of the project will take place outdoors to reduce energy consumption and

absorb a significant – yet useful- amount of sunlight where we highlight the importance of these activities

daily to maintain a healthy amount of Vitamin D in our body.

3. Relaxation and stress management (Non-formal presentation & Reflection) The content will be based on knowledge on stress management and the well-known ways to find inner peace and reconnect with your dreams and self-motivation. 4. Service to others (Field Visit) There will be a field visit to a local charity center or an orphanage where participant can provide a certain service based on their experience and background as 1 day volunteers.

They will experience doing a service for someone who needs it for nothing in exchange. 5. Relationships (Peer coaching and Sharing) This will be reflected on in pairs and groups. They will have the chance to share their personal experience with relationships with families, friends, partners , etc. They will assess their own wealth of people they care about and have the same feeling for them. 6. Recreation (Dance and Singing – Intercultural Night) This will be achieved by cultural nights of arts, singing and dancing as recreation activities. Also including cultural nights where all the above activities will take place. 7. Nutrition (Presentations and group work) This issue will be discussed through an expert's input in a non-formal session that will provide participants on certain healthy nutrition tips and habits. This knowledge will be manipulated into non-formal education activities (e.g. participatory presentation) More, the food served during the exchange will be considerably healthy and nutrient. 8. Exercise (Morning sports routine) Morning outdoor sports activities will be held to energize participants and give them the feeling of being active in the beginning of each day. PARTICIPANTS’ PROFILE: The participants will be youth aged between 18 – 25. The participation of young people with fewer opportunities should be supported by all partners.