8 ways to positively being is a youth exchange that will take place in France and gather 36 young participants from 6 countries : France, Italy, Estonia, Latvia, Romania & Turkey. Life in 21st Century can literally “kill you”. With how fast life demands us to be, we gradually quit appreciating life & act effectively for a better life. Modern life-style has its benefits e.g: High tech communications & Information access, but yet it has brought us to the brink of collapse. Most of us live walled indoors, divorced from nature, & under artificial lighting. We drive rather than walk, consume large amounts of unhealthy food, live busy—even frantic—lives, & face new kinds of stress. We live among millions of people & 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, & you will get a very well structured recipe for stress disorder, depression, obesity & social exclusion. Youth is not an exception from this theory. With the high unemployment rates & social pressure from one side & the need of positive thinking & motivation from another, young people are facing challenges externally & internally. Thus, comes the need of life style changes to be equipped with the strength, confidence & motive to participate in society. So what can we change? we are re-using the « Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes » (TLC) approach. It 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 & 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 & enhance psychological wellbeing. Moreover, they have the additional advantage of being enjoyable, inexpensive, free from side-effects, & easily available. We can all do them & have a good time doing them, while we make ourselves healthier & happier. Consequently, contribute more into the development of our society & even more efficiently. These activities are far more attractive to young people than regular unemployment solutions or social inclusion actions done in the recent few years. Of course other solutions are effective & well eventually reach its results, yet they definitely need complementary actions to renovate it into a positive step into better future rather than last-hope salvation from total damage PROJECT OBJECTIVES: - To Educate, Share, inspire & empower young people to start or improve lifestyle changes that can drive them into active participation & change agent in the society - Explore all elements of the concept over a non-formal, participatory & practical approach - Analyze the complications that modern life presents for humans & on contrast highlight the opportunities it offers - Evolving this approach as a tool for social inclusion & 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 & wellbeing - To promote the use of open source education (OSE) & Information & communication Technology (ICT) to research & 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 & behaviors which leads into easier understanding & general practice accordingly - Develop new youth projects in Erasmus+ around each of the elements separately, yet connecting them in a strategic partnership aiming for creating an entire program of Lifestyle changes for Youth The project contributes in the achievement of overall objectives of the renewed European cooperation in the field of youth by addressing active participation in communities & social inclusion. That is can be realized through a mixture of several cross-cutting actions that support young people like health & wellbeing, voluntary activities & social inclusion Furthermore, the project will improve key competences & skills of young people like communication competences, learning to learn competence & intercultural competence On another level, the project aims to link positive being & healthy lifestyle into employability & active participation in social life. This will transform adopting healthy habits from a luxury into a necessity Young people would have the chance to experience an alternative way of living that fits their financial abilities, free them from social pressure & enables their abilities & potential.