This was the second “Future Lab Young Europe” (FLYE) project that we carried out. In the short time of 12 months since the application for the first FLYE, “Fridays for Future” developed from an activity of a single then-15-year-old in Stockholm to a global movement – proof that individuals can make a different, that youth can significantly contribute to global political agenda-setting, and that future is a key topic for European and global youth today. Due to the pandemic, it needed to be postponed by one year, thus of course also changing name from #FLYE20 to #FLYE21. With the project “FLYE21 – Future Lab Young Europe”, ROOTS & ROUTES Cologne e. V. and our partners in the international ROOTS & ROUTES network and beyond created an international artistic laboratory space for young people, empowering them to exchange, experiment and think out-of-the box: 39 young people from 6 countries (including the international team leaders that were not in a paid position) got together on a remote North-sea island with no car traffic in a self-contained house at the edge of a nature reserve. There, starting from their experiences and from discussing today’s crises and challenges, they developed visions and ideas, and, by artistic means, articulated demands for the future. In small internationally mixed creation groups, they created topical short films, live performances, installations, songs, spoken word texts, music videos or other art forms, calling to action for a liveable future for everyone. On the level of participants, FLYE21 linked to the following ERASMUS+ objectives: – increased self-empowerment/self-esteem, improved learning performance: participants were supported in self/mutual empowerment processes by the project team, consisting of professional artists and non-formal education experts; they gained essential life skills from living, cooking, eating and working together in transnationally mixed groups, and self-esteem from creating artistic pieces and presenting them to a live audience. – enhanced intercultural awareness: most national groups in this project had a high level of internal diversity. In this project, participants connected with others from countries with very different situations; they worked together in small, internationally mixed groups on sensitive topics, carefully guided by the project team – more active participation in society: FLYE20 provided the participants with room for exchange and reflection on present and future challanges for our societies, and with tools to express their analysis, dreams and demands in an appealing way to the public – better awareness of the European project and values: dealing with present and future challenges to European societies supported the participants in developing an own perspective on the European project and values, and visions for a future Europe – improved foreign language competences: English was the main working language, supported by non-verbal artistic communication and by additional connecting languages spoken across national groups. In our experience, cooperating towards common goals helps overcoming language barriers and gaining confidence in foreign languages – increased sense of initiative and entrepreneurship: working in small creation groups under professional artistic conditions requires (and evokes) lots of initiative and entrepreneurial mindset On organisational level, the project linked to the following ERASMUS+ objectives: – the project deepened relationships between the project consortium and thus increased capacity to operate at EU/international level; especially for the new partners in this project – increased quality in international projects; and more modern, dynamic, committed and professional environment inside the consortium partners: This project was part of the international ROOTS & ROUTES network’s constant pursuit for quality and improvement in our work, building on elements from previous projects like the first Future Lab Young Europe (FLYE19, 2018-3-DE04-KA105-017178) and “Art4Act – Diversity Dismantling Discrimination” (2016-3-DE04-KA105-014694), with new partner organisation “House of Knowledge” (Rotterdam) on board. This project was also our first cooperation with the new partner organisation “Empreinte” (Lille), an interested young organisation that we chose to support in their strive to becoming an experienced organisation for international and European exchange by including them in their first international exchange project.