The international youth exchange titled "Following the North Star" will taking part at Sea. It combines learning to sail a vessel with cultural exchange activities. We have chosen for the stay on board of the Tall Ship Morgenster for many reasons. For a long time, the Tall Ships, being the primary vehicle for trading, was the only way to transport goods, cultures around the world. Europe's leading position in the world (aldo declining) is based on that history. It also made our societies so multi cultural. The project will take the participants back in time; living at sea, without internet or mobile phones, working as team to sail the vessel and living in close quarters. They will discover cultural differences in real life tasks. This experience will be enhanced by additional exchange activities, where there is time to go into the details of a specific part of our history, a political discussion or a lesson learned. Because we will experience the cultural differences as much as talk about, we all expect to come back with new attitudes and insights. As we explore the North Sea, we will learn from each other's cultures and discover new places in Europe. The 36 participants are coming from the Netherlands, Norway, Denmark, France and Hungary. We have specifically chosen to invite partners from 4 regions of Europe, as it varies a lot where you grow up in Europe, what your culture is like, what the expectations of life you have and which opportunities you have (or think you have). We expect to learn a lot from each other. Sail Training (one of the activities in the exchange) teaches the participants the ancient, traditional knowledge of sailing. The participants will be involved in all aspect of operating the vessel, from setting the sails, steering, being on the lookout, navigating and housekeeping. The tasks are challenging and all participants will cross personal boundaries and being all together in this new, challenging environment enables the participants to develop themselves in a lot of different ways. They will take on challenging job for example climbing the rig with 6 people to prepare the sails) and /or acting as the mate or captain during the ship take over . This will enhance the perseverance and self esteem of the participants. Exploring the North Sea and its surroundings is also an excellent scenery to develop the theme "Light". In the summer, the days are longer and it is of common knowledge that in Northern Europe the light can be very scarce for many months in the wintertime. The 36 participants will have 16 days to sail north from Harlingen, the Netherlands to Frederikstad in Norway and back south to Aalborg in Denmark. Traditional navigation does involve following start, the sun or the moon as the Norsemen enabled their fleet to go further thanks to astronomy and physics, but the theme is also large enough in meaning to explore other aspects of the "Light" as it can be interpreted. Following the light may mean following a set path to a destination or the future. It may have a more emotional and mental meaning than the mechanical physic of it and lead to more philosophical discussions about traditions, cultures, societies, sustainability of the environment our world is living in... "Following the North Star" should be an enlightening experience in many aspects of the word. Participants will learn about them-selves, others, the world they evolve in and how to adapt to our modern society in a respectful way.