"YWRA", YOUTH WORK IN RURAL AREAS is a bilateral youth exchange intended to two groups of unemployed young people, 18-25 y.o., from different European rural areas (Italy and Romania), for a total of 20 + 2 group leaders. The activity takes place mainly in Santa Maria di Leuca (Southern Italy) from the 18th till the 26th of October 2014 and aims to involve the participants, struggling with economic, geographical and educational obstacles, in a process that, starting from their needs and the discovery of their own peculiarities, makes them the authors of their social, personal and cultural growth. Through the adoption of an informal and non-formal methodology, they will acquire or develop soft and specific skills, core competencies. They will feel closer to th European Union and its youth policies, by learning and taking advantage of the opportunities offered by the new "Erasmus+" Programme and the EU “Youth on the Move” flagship initiative. In this way the young participants will give a strong contribution to the development of their rural areas, starting from the implementation of their ideas for the self-employment. During the exchange, the young people will be involved in different activites based on the principles of non formal and informal education (such as round tables, brainstorming, evaluation sessions, workshops) but they will also visit innovative start-up farms born from ideas of local Italian youths and granted by the the Local Action Group "Capo Santa Maria di Leuca" (agritourisms, farm houses, agri-nurses, organic productions, alternative energies productions,...) . These best practices will stimulate the initiatives of the young participants, who will be supported in their entrepreneurship ideas by the the group leaders and the local stakeholders involved.