The armed assault of the Russian regime against Ukraine is a historic turning point. The attack on a nation striving for more connectivity to Western countries forms the peak of the Kremlin’s attempts to abolish the roots of the Ukrainian movement towards democracy. In the end, the war against Ukraine is also a war of the systems - it is democracy vs. autocracy. The war against Ukraine stresses what has been known for so long: democratic values need to be defended each and every day. They depend on the active citizenship of their societies and it is especially young European citizens who need to raise their voices and stand up for values they find important and for a future they desire. However, the young people of today are rarely included in shaping this future, although they and their children will be the ones most affected and will hold the biggest burden, since current and previous generations have put young people’s future at risk through unsustainable practices with little regard for future consequences. To empower young people to participate, the project #Demokratie und Du strived to achieve the following objectives: The project aimed at bringing together juvenile energy with participation possibilities, strategies, and tools. In doing so, the project aimed at realising three general objectives, which correspond to the three key areas of the EU Youth Strategy: First, the project was set to ENGAGE young people in the democratic participation in European society. They should be able to form opinions, identify areas and problems to engage with and should be aware of channels and procedures to participate in the political debate. The project was set to further ENGAGE young people in an open DIALOGUE with a political decision-maker. This dialogue should enable a direct communication between the youngsters and the political sphere and was intended to strengthen their 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 should become encouraged and inspired to take the interests of future European citizens and their children at heart in their political decisions of today. Second, the project aimed at CONNECTing young people by showing them how to foster solidarity and how to join forces in collective action towards a common goal in contrast to singular individual action, which is most often far less effective than organized collective efforts. Third, it was set to EMPOWER youngsters to shape their own future by claiming their needs and to become politically and societally involved. Therefore, the youth should acquire knowledge about how to articulate their interests and how to start a democratic debate which can eventually lead to political action. Through the #Demokratie und Du project, youngsters were expected to discover the full range of democratic participation possibilities that go well beyond voting and demonstrating and utilize them for the democratic Europe of the future. This transforms the notion of a “laboratory for democracy” and takes it much further into a real-life action-oriented application of democratic possibilities.