🇷🇴 International Youth Exchange in Romania 🌱 Building Sustainable and Plant-Forward Food Systems in Eastern Europe 🥗 (Fully funded)

Build more sustainable and just food systems with young activists from across Eastern Europe! Taste the Change is a fully funded international activity in Braşov, Romania, exploring how citizens can help shape better, more plant-forward food policies. It is the entry point to a one-year programme that includes an online course, follow-up workshops, and micro-grants to turn your ideas into local action.

About the Programme

The Taste the Change training programme aims to strengthen the organisational and advocacy capacity of youth-led and civil society organisations in Eastern Europe to advance sustainable and more plant-forward food systems in their municipalities, regions, and countries. It focuses on food systems as a practical, accessible dimension of the green transition, with particular attention to plant-based transition where relevant.

Objectives

📚 Increase knowledge of food systems as a practical dimension of the green transition, and its relation to climate change, sustainable policies, and environmental democracy

🏛️ Strengthen participants' organisational, policymaking, and advocacy capacities around food systems

🌍 Understand the local and regional contexts, barriers, and opportunities for implementing sustainable policies in Eastern Europe

📝 Support participants in developing and implementing a realistic local action plan, such as an awareness-raising activity, an advocacy campaign, or dialogue with a municipality

Why It Matters

The programme addresses the specific challenges of implementing plant-based food systems in the Eastern European cultural, political, and economic context, where meat and animal products are often traditional, trust in institutions can be low, and structural economic challenges exist. It emphasises that even small changes, such as a meatless day in school canteens, need inclusive dialogue, engagement, and transparent communication so that no one is left behind. Food transition is therefore closely linked with environmental democracy, and participants gain the skills to work with citizens, politicians, and civil society and to implement community-engaging actions.

Who Can Apply

🎂 Young people aged 16 to 35 from any of the eligible countries

🌱 Interested in food systems, just transition, and environmental democracy

🤝 Willing to take part in follow-up activities and local actions in their community

✊ Especially encouraged: those active in their local communities and youth organisations, and those beginning their activist or political journeys

🌈 The organisers welcome applications reflecting diversity, including women, LGBT+ people, people of colour, people with a migration background, people with a different ability, and other disadvantaged backgrounds

Eligible Countries

🇦🇱 Albania, 🇦🇲 Armenia, 🇦🇿 Azerbaijan, 🇧🇾 Belarus, 🇧🇦 Bosnia and Herzegovina, 🇧🇬 Bulgaria, 🇭🇷 Croatia, 🇨🇾 Cyprus, 🇨🇿 Czechia, 🇪🇪 Estonia, 🇬🇪 Georgia, 🇬🇷 Greece, 🇽🇰 Kosovo, 🇱🇻 Latvia, 🇱🇹 Lithuania, 🇭🇺 Hungary, 🇲🇩 Moldova, 🇲🇪 Montenegro, 🇲🇰 North Macedonia, 🇵🇱 Poland, 🇷🇴 Romania, 🇸🇮 Slovenia, 🇸🇰 Slovakia, 🇷🇸 Serbia, 🇹🇷 Türkiye, and 🇺🇦 Ukraine

The Taste the Change Programme

This one-year programme, supported by the Green Forum Foundation, includes:

💻 An online course of 8 lessons; participants must complete three lessons before the event to gain the theoretical background

🗳️ Two follow-up activities: an Environmental Democracy Workshop (14 to 15 November 2026 in Poland) and a Policy Writing Workshop (24 to 25 January 2027 in Zagreb, Croatia, dates to be confirmed)

💶 Micro-grants of 200 EUR (one-time) to start implementing local activities, granted upon completion of 5 online lessons

Participants are strongly encouraged to take part in one of the follow-up activities.

Practicalities

🗣️ The main language is English, but not being a confident English speaker should not stop you from applying, as most participants are non-native speakers and the group helps each other out

💚 The full cost of working materials, travel, visa, and lodging (accommodation, food, and refreshments) during the event is covered

🌍 For travel, combine the most economic and environmentally friendly options; a financial and travel guide is provided upon acceptance

🤖 On AI: the organisers encourage fair and smart use of AI as a supportive tool, but ask you not to generate text to copy-paste or read out in your application

How to Apply

Complete the online application form, reading the instructions carefully, as some questions can be answered in video format. Add the programme email to your contacts so replies do not go to spam, and be ready to confirm your participation within 3 days of being informed of results.