Meeting the Odyssey is an itinerant social and artistic theatre project with 12 EU partners and one associated partner from Russia. The project will promote mobility and excellency for artists by coproducing 4 theatre productions. It will raise awareness of today’s Europe and enhance social communication and reconstruction of a European identity among the citizens by organizing workshops for the people of 14 places and create 14 instant performances that will tour with the symbolic Odyssey ship. The project will connect people and artists from South and North by sailing in the Baltic and Mediterranean Seas, 3-4 months every year, and sharing the stories and experiences.In times of financial crisis, the main purpose of the project is to to decrease prejudices and to create a shared narration that comes out of the stories of the people in Europe today, as well as of the legend of Odysseus; to put focus on our common ground and explore the Europe beyond economic interest; the culture, the identity and the history. The productions and workshops will aim to answer questions like: What is everyday-life in Europe today? Who are the people living in Europe compared to who they were? What is their personal Odyssey? Through the means of social theatre processes, of high-quality performing arts using many different languages, and of the Odyssey as a source of inspiration, the project will work on the contemporary reality of Europe in an artistic perspective.The ship will be hosted by theatres and festivals from St. Petersburg to Rhodes, and the performances will be staged at the hosting theatres and on the ship, in combination with workshops and instant performances. Meeting the Odyssey will include hundreds of artists and reach at least 18 ports. The project will be object to external research and evaluation, from which models of working and ideas for new projects and directions will grow. The project will also lead to a network of artists.