At the end of 2020, when we wrote up the accreditation, Institute Perspectives (IP) was operating in a context that, at the defined historical period, provided conditions for short-term youth engagement in educational and social initiatives, mainly through the support of centralized European Union (EU) programs. In small localities, there were structural challenges that made it difficult to engage youth potential in initiatives for meaningful personal and sustainable social development. There was often a lack of understanding amongst 'influential' leaders in these places about the nature of European values and the importance of EU youth policies. The IP leadership, since its establishment, had actively participated in national and European conferences and workshops related to youth policies. Important aspects such as the need for "verification of the capacity to work with young people" of non-profit entities were argued there. Three main 'phenomena' were observed which created the conditions for the distortion of meaningful and beneficial youth exchanges for European integration. 1. Institute Perspectives had expressed constructive criticism of practices related to the 'participation fee' in European educational exchanges under Erasmus+ KA1. Sending organisations, both in Bulgaria and in other EU countries, often did not provide participants with real prior training on the nature of the exchange topic, non-formal learning methods and the importance of youth work for the full development of democratic communities in the EU. 2. Mechanisms and methods for reimbursement of transport costs were almost always a prerequisite for misunderstanding with some of the European partners. The most common practice was to reimburse the amount of money at the earliest two months after the exchange had taken place, which de facto created obstacles to the participation of young people from vulnerable groups and with limited financial means. 3.The IP had articulated its understanding that "partnership in youth projects is more than signing a mandate letter, sharing a few Facebook statuses and sending youth to an organisation with unproven capacity". Partnership, according to the IP, was a process that started with the joint development of the project and definition of learning objectives, and continued through the allocation of responsibilities, joint decision on accommodation and food, to the implementation of dissemination activities. To the great disappointment of the IPs, more than 70% of the partner organizations we collaborated with made sole decisions on the implementation processes and multiplication of the results obtained. The introduction of accreditation for youth organisations in the summer of 2020 was a clear indicator and inspiration for IPs on improving the conditions for engaging young people in youth initiatives and connecting them to non-formal learning. IP's motivation for participating in the accreditation scheme was twofold. Firstly, it provided an opportunity to deliver quality and meaningful youth activities that minimised the outcomes of individual or structural deficiencies creating limited access to participatory processes and opportunities to interact with other civil society actors. Secondly, the accreditation provided an 'access point' for young people in need of support and opportunities to enable them to take responsibility for their choices, feel confident in their abilities and contribute freely to democratic life in Europe. Furthermore, the IP was of the opinion that accreditation would enhance European cooperation at local level, which is based on diversity, understanding and open dialogue. This basic consensus was a solid basis for young people's democratic engagement and countering all anti-democratic, inhuman, sexist, racist, discriminatory and exclusionary tendencies in society. Accreditation was seen as a tool that supported the development of key skills such as problem-solving ability, critical thinking, collaboration, creativity and self-regulation. In a rapidly changing society, these skills were more important than ever for putting what had already been learned into practice, creating new ideas, new theories, new products and new knowledge.