Breaking Barriers 2016 - "Ashes To Gold -From Sheer Surviving To Improving Life“: Strategies and Experiences. Mutual Knowledge Transfer for the Improvement of Social Inclusion Concerning Disabled Young European Citizens in Greece and Germany"How to survive?" or "How improve life?"40 European citizens go for a mutual visit: 20 from Germany to visit Nafpaktos in june, 20 from Greece to visit Nuremberg in septembre/octobre 2016.HALCYON is a young association committed to the improvement of lives of disabled sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, friends and hidden nobodies. They are the Greek partners of the even younger German association MÜHLENKRAFT, committed to improve the personal development of disabled citizens and to promote the get-together of people with or without any special needs by accessing nature (adventurous or instructive), by education or by work.Both associations are run by personal initiative and commitment, and both are struggling to realize their "golden" ideas. But right now, social work in Greece is a fire burning down - in fact: there is no money to be spent for building up or even running an organization. Social work is not a gainful employment inmidst the deepest financial crisis of a state. Social workers and their administration are struggling for survival of themselves and their families.Leonidas Kalavrouziotis left his home close to Nafpaktos over 20 years ago to live with his wife in Altdorf near Nuremberg - two Greeks, both social workers, in Germany. In holidays Leo came across HALCYON in Nafpaktos and learned a lot about their commitment and vision as parents and friends of adolecents with disabilities. He found huge solidarity in the community of the region to establish more than basic services for the support of first steps to independent living and inclusion of handicapped adolescents. He also found the reality that there is no money left to run any service by the Greek state or Nafpaktos Community. All visions are threatened to fail. In this situation they are: The Greek partners do not know how it will go on. All reduced to ashes.As we were colleagues in the school for physically disabled, Wichernhaus Altdorf, Leo knew something about the ideas of experiential learning, of travelling, of accessing nature and public that are building the basement of Mühlenkraft's project. The analogy: We were struggling for 7 years now to start up from the ruin of a medieval mill - always short of finances but filled with ideas how to change that to the better. The idea arised: How to help, and how to learn together?Ashes... a clear substance... and underneath: some glow. How to keep that fire burning?What we will do: First we will travel for 12 days from Germany to Greece. We will arrive in Patras with the ferry and live in Nafpaktos for 8 days. They will spend the time with us and show us their world and their ideas how to make a living here - but: What does it mean to be young and disabled inmidst the deepest financial crisis of a country? What is the meaning of "special needs" if you live in a country where half of the young people will not find a perspective or at least a paid job - and what is the meaning of "special needs" in Patras where you have dozens of refugee children arriving daily without parents? - We will travel to a postcard scenery, and we will do what we must do - for the first time on the beach in my life... We will go and clean the beach! Because that is what we can do together with our hosts from HALCYON. They give a tribute to their community by doing something useful for all. Finally, we will experience the beach - go for a first swim, maybe like the salty water...At the end of September, the Greeks will visit us, and we will include them in our life in Altdorf, Nürnberg and at that ancient mill - living in a very basic camp - we will harvest tons of apples and produce juice to be sold - some kind of "gold"... We will also refer to the history of the roads we are on - from Antique Europe to Nazi-Deutschland and Post world war Europe. We will make contact and offer experiences in public life of German cities (Altdorf and Nuremberg). We will promote empowerment by adventurously journeying on and along a river, climbing on natural rock and sleeping in some very cold nights out in the green.The German adolescents, still students at school, must follow the words: "School must not make sated but rather hungry." The young Greeks should get the chance to feel a hunger for life, feeling safe and welcome and develop their curiosity and a sense of optimism for their lives.The title of the project "Ashes To Gold" tries to express two approaches from very different positions to one common aim: The promotion of acceptance, participation and welcoming of all citizens with all their special needs and special gifts as part of one open minded, selfconfident, solidaric, inclusive European society must be stronger than all egoistic national interests!