Background: Youth participation in Brandenburg, Poland and the EU The EU has set the goal of strengthening the participation of young people in all areas. (EU Treaty Article 165/Charta of Fundamental Rights Article 24 / EU Youth Strategy). Research generally regards youth participation as a win-win situation for society as a whole. Since June 2018, the Brandenburg local constitution has called for increased municipal youth participation. Although there are often youth councils in Polish municipalities, these are often aimed at social commitment and less at the special social and political interests of young people themselves. This gives us a socio-political background for mutual learning, exchange of experience and cross-border action. A central problem, however, is that young people often lack the knowledge, skills and opportunities to participate in shaping their own lives. This lack is exacerbated by demographic change and the structural weakness of rural areas. Through empowerment and the development of new projects geared to the needs of young people, we want to use the German-Polish youth agora to strengthen youth participation in rural areas in both countries in the long term and to breathe life into the Treaty objectives of the EU. The method: Youth-friendly community Our project is based on the concept "Youth friendly community" (www.jugendgerecht.de), which we have adapted for our German-Polish setting with the help of the methods "Zukunftswerkstatt" and "Planungszelle". It consists of 4 phases. 1. preparatory meeting and study phase 2. German and Polish young people work together in Trebnitz (as in an ancient Greek agora) on expert reports on youth-specific and relevant problems and submit proposals for solutions with regard to their respective communities and local level. (3) They implement these proposals for the creation of a youth-friendly local community with the help of political sponsorships. At the final meeting in Poznan (Poland) (4) the results and processes will be evaluated internally with regional actors. The young people thus work closely with local politicians over a longer period of time. Youth participation between Germany and Poland The participating regions are structurally weak rural areas affected by social problems such as an ageing society, brain drain of qualified young people and unemployment. Language barriers, lack of knowledge and interest, prejudices, racism - these are the social challenges that youth projects between Germans and Poles have to face. With more participation and the identification of relevant youth issues, we want to make a contribution to the structural strengthening of rural areas and encourage young people to help shape their homeland. They should be given the opportunity to become more involved locally/regionally and transnationally and to refer specifically to the problems and challenges of the region. European citizenship Europe provides the framework for cross-border cooperation. Thus, the topic of "European citizenship" plays an important role throughout the duration of the project. The participants will learn and understand that as responsible citizens they have the opportunity and the obligation to have a say in politics - in keeping with the motto of EX Federal President Joachim Gauck: "Don't be indifferent - Don't be comfortable - Recognize your creative power". We want young people as European citizens to be able to interfere in the political discussion in their everyday lives and to recognise a common canon of values. Youth participation in rural areas Rural areas suffer from the consequences of demographic change and are particularly affected by the departure of young people. Studies show that it is crucial for the sustainability of regions how much they involve their inhabitants (soft factors). Active citizenship thus contributes to demographic stability in rural communities. The more inhabitants can get involved in the communities, the more stable the villages are. However, political participation needs to be learned, civil society needs to be developed and social commitment needs to be promoted. The personal foundation for the social competence of social co-responsibility are laid especially in childhood and adolescence.