Background: Youth participation in Brandenburg, Poland and the EU The EU has set itself the goal of strengthening youth participation in all areas. (EU Treaty Article 165/Charta of Fundamental Rights Art. 24 / EU - Youth Strategy). Youth participation is generally regarded by researchers as a win-win situation for society as a whole. Since June 2018, Brandenburg's municipal constitution has called for increased municipal youth participation. Although there are often youth councils in Polish municipalities, these are often aimed at social engagement and less at the specific social and political interests of young people. This gives us a socio-political background that offers ideal conditions 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 living environment. This lack is exacerbated by demographic change and the structural weakness of rural areas. With the German-Polish Youth Agora, we wanted to sustainably strengthen youth participation in rural areas in both countries through empowerment and the development of new projects geared to the needs of young people, as well as to bring the treaty goals of the EU to life. The method: Youth-friendly community Our project was based on the concept of "Youth Friendly Communities" (www.jugendgerecht.de), which we adapted for our German-Polish setting with the help of the methods "Future Workshop" and "Planning Cell". The project consisted of 4 phases. 1. preparatory meeting and study phase 2. German and Polish young people work together online (as in an ancient Greek agora) to develop expert opinions on youth-specific and relevant problems and propose solutions in relation to their respective communities and local levels. 3. they implement these proposals for the creation of a youth-friendly local community with the help of political support. 4. At the final meeting in Poznan (Poland) (4) the results and processes were evaluated internally with regional actors. The young people worked closely with local politicians over a longer period of time. Unfortunately, due to Corona restrictions, we were not able to carry out the project entirely as planned. Parts 1 and 2 could only take place online. (More on this under 2.2.) Other goals of the project were: - A strengthening of youth participation between Germany and Poland. - A strengthening of European citizenship - We wanted young people to be able to get involved in the political discussion in their living environment as citizens of Europe and to recognise a common set of values. - A strengthening of youth participation in rural areas - An active citizenry contributes to demographic stability in rural communities. The more residents can get involved in the communities, the more stable the localities are. However, political participation needs to be learned, civil society needs to be developed, social engagement needs to be promoted. The foundations for the social competence of social co-responsibility are laid especially in childhood and adolescence.