In the first half of July a group of about 20 young people from Romania and the Netherlands will meet in Zwolle (NL) for a youth exchange. They will be hosted by Youth Centre 't WasdoM of the Dominican monastery and participate in a week working with the method of Theatre of the Oppressed, a familiar working method for Asociatia D.E.I.S. The youth centre on the outskirts of the Zwolle city centre offers young people a place for a time out from their daily lives: be it for a weekend, a week or for 10 months. In this time, they are offered tools and activities to reflect on what is essential to them in life and to act from that. Hence, the time out is not a time away: it is rooted in daily life and the society they live and want to live in. Jongerencentrum ‘t WasdoM of Stichting Dominicanenklooster Zwolle aims to be an open and safe space. A place for reflection, critical exchange with the world you live in, to find silence and to have fun. The Youth Centre is rooted in Dominican tradition on the one hand and on the other in the noise and business of the city. We want to bring these two - reflection and action - together. Everybody, no matter their background or religious convictions – or the absence thereof – is welcome to participate in our activities. Asociatia D.E.I.S unites the forces of professionals and youth in order to bring a change in the life of the civil society, focusing on young people’s needs, by significantly contributing to their continuous development and education. The mission of DEIS Association is to facilitate the access of young people to non-formal education and to promote active citizenship as basis for the development of civil society, citizen’s involvement in the democratic process. Our programs and projects concentrate on contributing to the personal and the professional education and development of young people, promoting cultural diversity, promoting European values, promoting and encouraging voluntary work, helping young people to get involved in public life, developing partnerships with European youth organizations. Our activities include trainings, workshops, seminars, conferences, round tables, information and consultancy services, outdoor activities, international exchanges, We want to carry out this project because one of our main aims is to make young people critically reflect and engage with their context and the ways in which power structures are embedded in it. How does prejudice, racism, inclusion/exclusion impact the lives of young people? Through theatre they can playfully engage with these issues and practice solutions. The international dimension of the project ensures that things that may seem self-evident within a context are questioned. The encounter with those that are different incites reflection on the own identity and the many dormant aspects therein. After the group has become acquainted with one another, they will engage in theatre exercises to limber up their creativity. They will sit together, reflect on their contexts and where/how discrimination and exclusion function in it. They will challenge each other to think outside the box. We aim to come to several short interactive plays in which the group addresses issues they face in their contexts, to rehearse those and to perform those in relevant settings, firstly in Zwolle and consequently in the own contexts. The methodology of Theatre of the Oppressed asks not only the youth to engage with these themes, but also those that at first may consider themselves audience. As such, one of the objectives is to engage people in various local contexts on the issues the youth in the exchange have deemed most relevant when it comes to the way power structures (large and small) work. As a result, the participants in the exchange will practice their own agency in cases of exclusion and discrimination. Theatre plays with reality, but through the practice in performance, young people become better equipped to practice their own solutions for justice and inclusion in daily life in their own context. The intercultural setting aids the participants to not take what they consider normal for granted and to exchange views, opinions and ways of dealing with discrimination. Through participating in the exchange, the participants can pay their increased skills and awareness on justice issues forward to their peers by performing the plays and in turn raising awareness in their own contexts. The more abstract long term benefits of the project lie in the development of the skills of the participants and those they impact through their performances: the becoming senstive to how discrimination and exclusion work and what individuals and groups can do concretely to change oppressive and unjust situations.