EU has long been committed to promoting the development of rural areas and fight the abandonment of small towns. The bilateral project "YOUTHink Rural" aims to promote the active participation of young people in abandoned or degraded rural areas, as one element of a “smart” revitalization. The depopulation of small towns and the need for redevelopment of abandoned centers and / or rural areas are common features in different areas of the Mediterranean Countries. At the same time, in those contexts such phenomena are often accompanied by a lack of active participation of young people in the community and public spaces. In particular young people born in rural areas tend to abandon their place of origin to experience life in the city, while those who remain do not see real opportunities to revitalize the area. These elements are present in both contexts of reference of the Partner organizations of the project: Region Calabria (Futuro Digitale, Italy) and Province of Burgos (Imágenes y Palabras, Spain). The two territories have structural, demographic and social features very similar, despite experiencing substantial differences regarding the development of innovative policies to tackle the de-skilling and abandonment of rural areas. These differences have represented the key element in the design of this project. The coordinator, Futuro Digitale, intended to set up an EVS project that could have a strong and direct impact on the starting situation. The main need, linked to the mission of the Association is to provide young people of the area a real opportunity for strengthening their skills, to be used for sustainable development of the areas at risk of depopulation and / or degradation. Objectives: 1. Encouraging the active participation of youngsters through creativity; 2. Raising volunteers’ practical skills and competences regarding activities of villages’ requalification; 3. Promoting the concept, importance and advantages of Volunteering and of active European citizenship in the local communities; 4. Exchange good practices about the impact of European Voluntary Service at local level. 4 young volunteers (18-30 years) will make an EVS experience in the village of La Aldea del Portillo de Busto (Province of Burgos), in a modern laboratory collective and cultural center, known as "El Hacedor". The center, headquarters of the Association and nearly all of its assets, is an area of large, made up of workshops and showrooms both indoor and outdoor. In fact, besides having an area of approximately 300 m2 destined to the exhibition halls, it uses a space in the open air of 3.000 m2, used for the preparation of large art installations, theater performances and concerts. Planned activities: - Development and realization of a creative activity for the primary schools in the region; - Take care of the common areas around the home and art gallery. - Maintenance of scarecrowpark; - Assistance to artists who come and work in La Aldea del Portillo de Busto; - Organization of an exhibition in the gallery: memorial of one of the co founders of Imágenes y Palabras, on the 5th anniversary of his death; - Organization of a festive meeting with people from the region. - Visits to other volunteer projects in which local youth have developed alternatives to life in small rural towns.