The project “Connecting Europe by Building Societies” was a one week workshop in which the participants explored the topic of how a united European society which is made up of a great variety of national societies could work. Instead of tackling such a topic as a theoretical discussion we turned it into an immersive hands-on experience by combining a creative writing approach with an established role-playing approach (ERA). The project further develops the role-playing immersion approach which was started in summer 2014 in the scope of the project 2014-1-DE04-KA105-000509. This game-based approach met with an overwhelming response so that we have held this type of event ever since, improving the approach every time and widening the network. The method of game-based learning we are using in the event is called ERA (European Roleplay Approach). ERA can best be described this way: The role-playing approach offers an environment in which a stronger European identity can evolve among young people. However, unlike other approaches, our method uses the approach of thrusting teams of young people into situations in which they can immerse themselves and in which they experience value judgements as a fictional character that needs to make difficult choices (such as the balance between individual freedom and the good of the community). The role-playing experience works on several levels. Participants play together in mixed international teams in which they make the experience of working together and facing challenges together. The challenges are created in such a way that players need to challenge their own beliefs and values in order to succeed. When a group has to come up with solutions for problems in game situations the resulting discussions are very open and free of any cultural or political baggage that would be present in discussions between representatives of different countries. Through the game participants are able to freely explore each other’s point of view and become interested in the situation of the other team members which usually results in participants wanting to explore more about each other after the game. Daily reflection rounds are held with the intention of helping the participants understand the different European values and the shared values. Going through this experience is a much stronger and longer lasting impression than simply discussing European values in a workshop and it leads to deep bonds between participants that hold for years to come. Aside from the immersive game experience the youths were involved in creative writing exercises and workshops in which they created the game world they were playing in. We encouraged them to create societies with problems and conflicts in order to explore these in the game and find solutions. This was essentially an abstraction of politics and it opened the minds of the participants to think outside the box when it comes to redefining the society they want to live in. A primary objective of the project was creating a strong group of young people who get actively involved in contributing to a better Europe with the perspective of supporting each other across borders in the sense of a true community. We wanted these people to serve as multipliers and become active in youth work, especially in supporting young people with disadvantages and those who need support. Other important objectives were the expansion of the participants' minds and their awareness of other European cultures with the corresponding understanding of cultural values. Further objectives were strengthening the participants' competences, their positive outlook, their active support of democratic values, as well as international friendship and cooperation. Apart from the focus of intercultural learning the ERA approach is very suitable for training a number of soft skills such as communication skills, creative writing skills, improvisation skills, tactical skills, empathy, as well as creativity, language skills and historical knowledge. Most of all we wanted to grow the participants into a community of friends that will last far beyond the event and encourage them to cooperate internationally. A look at the results of the event shows that we have accomplished this extremely well.