"ONCE UPON A TIME THERE WAS SOMETHING CALLED EUROPE"is a Youth Exchange that will allow to tackle the gap between youngsters and decision-makers due to the fact that in many places youngsters if not entitled to vote are disregarded as not useful and in many places they accept is a fact. This exercise will allow youngsters, some of them with great difficulties of several types, to realize their importance and value and impact in the construction of the idea of Europe and empowering them with a very specific set of tools to disseminate their voices and be heard Europe wide, starting from their local communities. We have realized the importance of media in youngsters’ lives and how it influences their opinions, decisions, understanding of different cultures and backgrounds, perspectives and expectations towards Europe and how it shapes their involvement in public and european life. We do believe that to run this project connecting topics related to European Citizenship (history of europe, european institutions, mobility and learning opportunities in Europe), Rights & Democracy ( exploring the possibilities that exist for youth to participate in decision-making & public life at local, national and european level, identifying stereotypes and prejudices and their potencial risks), and the role of Media in promoting transparency, tolerance, mutual understanding and democracy is definetly a coherent and important step to empower youth to act as engaged citizens. The YE will allow for 20 participants plus 5 youth leaders from 5 different countries can share their knowledge, improve and gain new skills and competences in the field of Media by starting with the origins of Europe, designing their own map of Europe (because only by knowing their territory and creating connections with it, they can be related to it) , de-constructing stereotypes and being able to desmitify them. Having this process concluded, participants will be able to set their voices free and actively manifest their concerns and solutions for narrowing the gap and understand the fact that non-participation will never be a form of participation. In the long term, the best of impact is that youngsters have the courage to continue their learning process and activism in their local communities and be the change makers that we need.