<< Background >>2020 and 21 have been disrupting years in many aspects: the COVID-19 outbreak has disrupted our economies, our mobility, and especially our livelihoods and health. But while many things have changed since the start of the pandemic, the threat of climate change has not. In fact, 2020 has seen the worsening of heat waves, ice loss, wildfires, floods, and droughts throughout the world.In addition to this, the prospects of gender equality might also see a setback due to the pandemic. A study by the EU (2020) explores the effects of COVID-19 on gender equality, including the role of healthcare workers (of which 76% are women in the EU) who are at greater risk of infection, domestic violence (which reports have spiked by 20-40% in the EU), the impact of quarantine on feminised sectors of the economy (e.g., tourism and hospitality), the additional unpaid labour upon women more than on men as a result of lockdown and additional domestic load, as well as the access to maternity, sexual and reproductive health services. All of this does not only directly harm women’s health and wellbeing, but also compromises their ability to undertake paid employment during and after the pandemic. The study further highlights that like all crises, “whether caused by disease, natural disaster, climate change or conflict”, “COVID-19 has significant direct and indirect effects on women and other genders” and may therefore exacerbate gender inequalities while threatening the progress for women and girls within the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). And, in parallel to this, 2020-1 have seen the growing concern with the threat of fake news and of polarization both related to politics and digitalization. This years have also seen the increased feeling of loneliness and the growing distance from human interaction, and of not having the opportunities for networking as well as fewer opportunities to finding jobs. When it comes to younger generations, sometimes referred to as “the lost generation”, they are bound to face hard situations, none of the least include negative effects on their mental health exacerbated by isolation and exclusion from the labour market. For this reason, young women and girls are in a position of grater vulnerability to experience oppression and negative effects from factors which are exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, while these pressing issues might make the environmental threat seem secondary, this couldn’t be further from the truth. As 2021 sees the earliest peek of the cherry blossom season in Japan since records began 1,200 years ago, it is clear that the effects of the increase in temperature associated with global warming and urbanization have not been haltered with the pandemic. In this context, this project recognizes that sustainability is strictly linked with the need to adopt concrete actions to cancel the economic, legal, social, and cultural discrimination between genders. It also acknowledges that when we talk about economic recovery, employability, and about creating opportunities for all and for future generations to explore their economic potential and achieve their dreams, we cannot forget about the environmental needs and the threat of climate change. In relation to this, it is noteworthy that there is evidence that female empowerment could mitigate the impact of economic growth through increased efficiency of environmental resources through sustainable practices (PwC, 2008), which can be boosted if we increase young women's resilience by addressing structural oppressions and vulnerabilities. That is why the project brings together younger generations, female empowerment and improved participation, and green principles as we think of ways forward. It is time for young women to explore potential vulnerabilities to build initiative, and to be leaders for their own futures.<< Objectives >>At the core of the project is the idea that young women are especially positioned to creatively and innovatively initiating processes to develop a sustainable new normal that is coped with gender equality and empowerment. But for them to achieve that, it is necessary that they have access to the right tools for them to act as leaders and as change-makers, without compromising other responsibilities and interests. Finally, according to the OECD, gender equality is key to achieving sustainable development, as it has the potential to prompt poverty reduction, public health improvement or female and child mortality rate reduction. For this reason, the project seeks to promote young women empowerment, participation, initiative, critical sense, and their means to achieve socio-economic autonomy as key aspects to collaboratively fighting against climate change. Based on this, this project aims to include young women in all its stages as both assets and beneficiaries. They will be participating in diverse activities that will give them the chance to engage in critical analysis of narratives that tend to further oppress them/sustain unsustainable practices; to build bridges among young women in different countries by sharing stories/reflections/opinions and connecting them through transnational networks; and to participate in the creation of tools that will foster young women initiatives and the development of their potential as leaders and change-makers. With this, the goal is not only to empower the young women as leaders of their own futures, but also to highlight their leadership potential and prompt their employability in a changing and uncertain world.Based on this, this project has two main goals:1)to empower young women to act as leaders in shaping the sustainable new normal and fighting against climate change, acting as change-makers, and exploring their active citizenship and socio-economic potential 2)to promote sustainable internationalization by empowering the EU to act as leader in matters of biodiversity conservation, sustainable practices, and sustainable action – the EU is particularly positioned to doing so given its transnational connections and global soft power.Additionally, it seeks to achieve the following objectives:-encourage critical thinking among the target group and build their initiative and capacity to act as leaders and change-makers and explore their active citizenship-build awareness around the role younger generations and women can play in driving changes to promote sustainability and inclusivity-build awareness around gender roles and inequalities -understand/build awareness around the effects that the changes triggered by the COVID-19 outbreak might have on younger generations and women -utilize informal/non-formal education to promote female empowerment and encourage young women to collectively start the change in themselves and in their communities-build bridges between young women among the partner countries and support the psychological health of the participants by promoting peer-to-peer connections and networking, exploring digital platforms, as well as by utilizing interactive and innovative resources such as reels videos -Explore interactive methodologies such as storytelling as an engaging manner to involve the target group in learning activities.-Capacitate youth workers to keep on transferring the knowledge and experiences initiated within the project to other young women<< Implementation >>This project brings together the power of young women to act as leading forces, the promotion of green and sustainable practices, interactive and innovative methodologies, and collaborative methods to produce results that will be relevant, useful, and empowering for young women and for youth workers. The project targets young women who will be involved in all its stages so that they can speak for themselves and build their critical thinking and their sense of initiative. The implemented activities will be the following:1) social media content analysis and development of reels. In this result, each partner will conduct a limited content analysis exercise of selected post/sources through interactive activities/discussions with 50 young women/representatives of supporting organizations in their national context. The project team will also conduct at least one transnational roundtable with a minimum of one representative of the target group from each partner country. During the second part of the activities/discussions, the partners will support the participants to creatively transfer their opinions and reflections into 5 reels. The main findings will be cross-nationally analysed, and findings will be compiled. 2) development of a toolkit that will provide a step-by-step process with methodologies, theoretical modules for empowerment, and exercise for young women. Part of this result will be the Co-creation phase, composed of meetings/surveys with at least 125 participants, which will create a space for collective knowledge to emerge. The toolkit will also be tested with 50 individuals in each country before being finalized and made available in digital format. Prior to the testing phase of the toolkit, a training activity will take place, which will serve to capacitate the 10 participants with necessary knowledge and experience. This will be crucial for them to have the confidence to use the toolkit and to successfully engage the participants of the testing activities and to provide them with adequate support. 3) development of an e-booklet for youth workers. Related to this result, the partners will develop a first draft of content based on the results and experiences collected in all partner countries throughout the project, followed by feedback sessions/trainings with 25 young women/representatives of supporting organizations which will be additional opportunities to collect and improve the content of the e-booklet before it is finalized and made available in digital format.Additional project activities that will be implemented during the project are:-two transnational project meetings. These will be important to strengthen collaboration and cooperation among the partner, as well as to support project management, implementation, and coordination.-five multiplier events (one in each country). These are part of the dissemination and visibility aspect of the project and will also provide an opportunity for the participants to build connections and network.-dissemination and outreach activities. these will be key to inviting participants for the project activities; share information related to the project; and disseminate final results-monitoring & evaluation activities. These will be crucial to ensuring that the project will be implemented in accordance with the timeline, objectives, and final results it seeks to achieve.-Sustainability activities. These are key to ensure the long term impact of the project beyond its lifetime<< Results >>Through the process of co-creation and in close collaboration and with the active participation of young women, the project expects to initiate a process that will place them as the leading forces in the process of creating a more sustainable and inclusive future both as change-makers and as a work force. The project also assumes that, especially in youth work, investing in engaging and interactive learning methods is key. Therefore, as a main result, the project seeks to develop and inspire interactive, engaging, and innovative methodologies/approaches to address young people and to include them in knowledge and content creation. It also expects to result in the creation of collaborative networks among the partners, participating young women and their peers, and youth workers/organizations. Through the activities described above, this project expects to have the following results/outcomes:1. carried out a critical analysis of social media content with 50 young women/representatives of supporting organizations and a transnational roundtable with 5 young women that will lead to the identification and establishment of critical thinking around oppressive/unsustainable narratives and around the main struggles faced by young women mainly connected to the COVID-19 pandemic context and social, economic, psychological and environmental factors. This will result on 5 reels that will create direct peer-to-peer connections and have an innovative outreach among the target group, encouraging broader critical thinking and sharing a sense of identification and belonging; and on a text file that can be resorted to by young people themselves and other interested parties to prompt questioning of gender roles and oppressive/unsustainable narratives, as well as support the built capacity of the partner organization.2. developed a toolkit that will be a collective effort from young women (125 young women/representatives of supporting organizations will be involved in this in total) to other young women that will provide a step-by-step process with methodologies, theoretical modules for empowerment, and exercise for young women, including a storytelling method/approach. This will include selected topics targeted at building a collective effort to promote the socio-economic empowerment of young women and to inspire them to actively support their communities and themselves through sustainable practices and initiatives. The testing of the toolkit with 50 young women/representatives of supporting organizations will result in an improved and provenly relevant/useful material. 3. developed an e-booklet organized in chapters to capacitate youth workers and encourage sustainable impact of the project’s experience. The feedback sessions/trainings with 25 young women/representatives of supporting organizations will support the further collection of content and improvement of a resulting resourceful e-booklet. This will enable youth workers to use storytelling as a learning method; use the toolkit in their activities encourage critical thinking; encourage the promotion of active citizenship and civic participation specially in gender and environmentally related matters; and provide insights for the target group to address and try to overcome the struggles they are faced with. 4. trained 10 members of the staff of the partner organizations to use the developed toolkit and with the project methodologies/approaches.5. disseminated methods and skills for young women build their sense of initiative and become future sustainability and community leaders in shaping the sustainable new normal.6. promoted sustainable internationalization by empowering the young people in the EU, creating a multiplying effect.7. inspired young women to critically observe information and to take the lead in initiatives related to climate change and gender equality, thereby acting as driving forces in their communities towards a more sustainable and inclusive future.