As described already in the application, what triggered us to suggest a project like this has been the double social crisis European democratic societies are facing in our times: the rise of populist, anti-immigration, anti-feminist, anti-queer theories and consequent acts of violence on the one hand; at the same time, the impact of the pandemic, with people forced to refrain from social interaction, group activities and encounters, thus violently deprived from the natural group dynamics processes. The lack of participation in open dialogues, group activities, rational conversations, concerns and emotions sharing has been minimized, allowing for and contributed to the growth of conspiracy theories, isolation and lack of care. Young people were severely affected by this lack of socialization and lack of caring environments. It is well acknowledged in the psychology field that, as Winnicott highlighted, the lack of bonding and attentive care in all ages leads to emerging radicalization attitudes. In this context, the need for youth hubs of self-care and community care development and promotion is urgent. With the project “Sci-Fi” ROOTS & ROUTES Cologne e. V. and our partners in the international ROOTS & ROUTES International network and beyond wanted to create an international artistic laboratory space for young people, in which they can empower each other, assessing their needs, reflecting on their own position within the global structures they live in and engaging in self-expression and collective expression artistic experimentation. Our objective has been to explore and understand -through the perspective of 30 young people from 6 countries and their group leaders and facilitators- what care means to nowadays EU youth and to facilitate dialogues, interactions, collaboration as a holistic way to achieve this care, both self-care and community care. Taking their experiences as a starting point, and after discussing today’s crises and challenges through art-based workshops, we wanted participants to reflect on their own take on self-care and community care and finding a common ground, regardless of their national or cultural background. By inviting and guiding them through the creation process of artistic results in small internationally mixed creation groups, we wanted to encourage them to make use of art as a powerful tool of self-expression, collective expression, to effectively conveying the messages they wish to address our (post)covid19 society. More specific objectives have been, regarding the young participants: -enhancement of intercultural awareness -improvement of foreign languages skills and intercultural communication competences -development of self-esteem and peer-based empowerment Regarding the participating organisations: - further development -and update according the current situation- of the youth leaders and trainers intercultural competences, -deepening relations, exchange and networking among the organisations, thus enhancing their sustainability, - promoting and increasing the quality of EU funded artistic exchange projects, as a constant pursuit of the ROOTS & ROUTES International network (SciFi youth ex-change was connected to the Strategic Partnership “OASES for Change – Organising Artistic Self Empowerment Spaces” (2020-1-DE04-KA227-YOU-020841): We have tested and further developed OASES Intellectual Outputs there.