An integral part of youth work practice is to provide orientation and to empower youngsters in political and societal issues. According to this notion, youth work shall provide “laboratories for democracy” as well as knowledge and the means to participate in political debates on varying topics like for instance climate change and sustainability. It is further expected to realise European ideals of youth work like revitalising democracy, access to rights, access to decision-makers and dialogue with the EU. This is even more crucial in a time of an aggravating climate crisis and ever worsening environmental conditions. The political decisions made today determine if the Europe of the year 2050 is a future worth living. However, the young people of today are almost excluded from shaping this future, although they and their children will be the ones most affected and will hold the biggest burden by the developments put in motion by the ongoing climate crisis. Current and previous generations have put young people’s future at risk through unsustainable practices with little regard for future consequences. Consequently and to empower young people to participate and shape a sustainable future of the Europe of the year 2050, the project Europe2050 and You (hereafter: EU2050+You) aimed to achieve the following objectives: - The project aimed at bringing together juvenile energy with the cause and purpose of a future worth living on one hand and knowledge on participation possibilities, strategies, and tools on the other. In doing so, the project aimed at realizing three general objectives, which correspond to the three key areas of the EU Youth Strategy: 1) First, the project aimed to ENGAGE young people to participate in European climate and sustainability issues. They should be able to form fact-based opinions, identify areas and problems to engage with and to be aware of channels and procedures to participate in the political debate. The project further aimed to ENGAGE young people in an open DIALOGUE with political decision-makers. This dialogue should enable a direct communication between the youngsters and the political sphere and was intended to strengthen the youngsters' confidence in the responsiveness of the political system and to build trust and the feeling that youngsters are taken seriously. On the other hand, political decision-makers were to be encouraged and inspired to take the interests of young European citizens at heart in their political decisions of today. 2) Second, the project aimed to CONNECT young people by showing them how to foster solidarity and how to join forces in collective action towards a common goal. This aim is in contrast to singular individual action, which is most often far less effective than organized collective efforts. 3) Third, the project aimed to EMPOWER youngsters to shape their own future by claiming their needs and to become politically and societally involved. Therefore, the youngsters should acquire knowledge about how to voice their interests and how to start a democratic debate which is leading, eventually, to political and societal action. Through the EU2050+You project, youngsters should discover the full range of democratic participation possibilities that go further than voting and demonstrating and utilize them for a sustainable Europe of 2050. This transforms the notion of a “laboratory for democracy” and takes it much further into a real-life action-oriented application of democratic possibilities.