This youth exchange sought to strengthen democracy by giving participants the opportunity to consciously and voluntarily engage in local communities. In our opinion, the involvement of young people in various communities strengthens civil society, which is a sign of a healthy democracy and a means of maintaining it. During this project, we sought to include exchange participants who live in small settlements in both Lithuania and Finland, thus ensuring equal opportunities for young people to engage in democratic debates. We aimed to give young people from isolated areas the opportunity to spend time in a safe and stimulating environment and to increase their interest in getting involved in local communities, including school structures, and not the other way around - abandoned educational institutions. Through the informal activities of this exchange, we tried to create a common positive attitude towards the education system, thus aiming to reduce the number of early school leavers. During the exchange, we encouraged young people from two different parts of Europe to voluntarily get involved in democratic life: share cultures and traditions, and solidarity with each other and local communities. During the project, young people were also encouraged to realize that they are the architects of their lives, that they are the ones controlling it, and are responsible for what happens in it, so they can take action at any time and make a change in their community and the world. With this project, we also represented people with fewer opportunities (living in rural areas with poor transport communication) and minorities (the Åland Islands represent the Swedish-speaking minority in Finland). Project objectives: - discuss the importance of communities and involvement in them for democracy; - with the help of experiential direct contact, to better understand the stories and realities of local communities; - exchange perspectives (similar and different) about democracy and the place of communities in it on an intercultural level, thereby strengthening intercultural awareness; - contribute to increased initiative and self-empowerment of young people; - encourage youngsters to participate more actively in public life and raise their interest in participating in democratic processes by joining local communities, such as local geographic communities, NGOs, school youth councils, etc. as volunteers, members, contributors, or otherwise.