Ireland's 2016 centenary commemoration of the Easter Rising and Finland's centenary of independence in 2017 will be the most significant commemorative years for this generation of Finnish and Irish young people. It will provide opportunities to better understand the past, experience the jubilees together and set the course for these nations' future successes as European countries.Fifteen young people from each country, aged 13-18, supported by a coach and a drama facilitator from each country, will explore themes based on their shared cultural experiences: "in spite of hard times, the people have for a hundred years engaged in the building of their country and making decisions together."This is a two year trans-national youth initiative.  Thirty mixed gender teenagers from rural youth theatre organisations in Ireland and Finland will use drama to create plays that tackle issues around independence and the creation of a republic. With the support of four coaches/facilitators they will examine European citizenship themes and reflect their ideas in trans-national collaborative performances looking at nationalism through the lens of interculturalism.Through using a drama methodology the young people will increase their basic and transversal skills and attend weekly youth theatre workshops, devise and perform plays for the public and use the Internet to collaborate with each other and deepen their conversation about project themes and ideas. They will have two trans-national meetings and together create an intercultural performance based on themes generated by exploring their history of the past 100 years from the perspective of being together in Europe.The impact will be the promotion, empowerment and active participation of young people that is visible on a local and regional platform. The long term benefits will be to upskill young people in social, civic, IT and entrepreneurial skills so that they can work towards creating more International theatre for a possible Limerick City of Culture 2020. (bid current)