From the 18th to the 25th of July, the youth exchange "Intercultural Crossroads in Europe" take place in the Salesian Centre WDM in Krakow. It is organized by Don Bosco Youth-Net and sponsored by the EU "Youth in Action"-Programme. The youth exchange is a 7-day programme focussing on the topics of Intercultural learning and European citizenship through a series of non-formal and creative sessions. 40 participants and 8 group leaders from 8 countries came together to learn many intercultural aspects, which is a basic competence for international youth work. This mixture of people and cultures brings the learning experiences forward.

Through the programme the group leaders install mutual understanding amongst the participants. We planed to do this which giving the participants a taste of the cultural diversity which exists within Europe: getting to know their traditions, their languages, their habits. This is the reason why the participants themselves are key-persons in the exchange: the group leaders create the frame and moderate the activities, but the real actors of the exchange are the young participants with their enthusiasm and ideas.

On Sunday evening and Monday morning the group played many games from the different countries to get to know each other. The games of the countries were lead not only from the group leaders but also from the participants. In the evenings there were intercultural evenings where the participants did presentations of their countries and shared typical food and drinks.

On Monday afternoon the whole group was introduced to an intercultural game which consisted of two groups with different cultural back grounds. Basically, one of the groups was called Alpha and the other was called Beta. Alpha was a very happy group of people who played a particular game which is called Rafa Rafa. They took their game very seriously but their main objective was to make sure that everyone around them feels secure, loved and happy especially the elderly people. On the other hand, the Beta people were more serious and only had only one thing on their mind: Trade. They hated contact with other people as oppose to the Alpha people. At one point some people from Alpha, switched places with the Beta group to get an idea of their culture and had to inform the rest of their group about what was happening in order for the next visitors to try and be part of the other's culture. At the end of the game the groups were divided in two, having half the Beta with the Alpha group, and had to express their thoughts and feeling in a discussion about the game and to make sure that they understood the opposing culture. It was clear in the end that the most of the participants preferred to remain in their culture as they felt safer in their own atmosphere.

On Tuesday we planed an outdoor day with a boat trip and rafting. At the rafting the participants had much fun and learned how all people, who are sitting in one boat have to work together to reach the goal.

At the same time working on mutual understanding by showing cultural diversity also helps to develop solidarity and promote tolerance among young people taking part in the youth exchange. The group leaders scheduled specific sessions on conflicts and values to work on this issue.

The next days the participants will learn more about the intercultural communication, conflicts and how they can become creative and active as a European citizenship.

Aim of Don Bosco Youth-Net ivzw and of the partner promoters is to let this young people become active in future activities we are promoting in Europe. At the end of the youth exchange, each participant received a personal "Youth Pass", recognized by the EU.