We prepared this project proposal together with our partners with the goal to meet the needs of young people in our and their organizations and specially to motivate young people to get actively involved and to participate in the decision-making processes to shape the society around them. With the partners we believe that participation is not just voting but it is about having the right to influence decisions that are being made and engage in actions and activities in the community, at local, national and international and to contribute to creating a society where needs of all groups are respected and considered. We believe that developing competences of young people in the field of youth participation is an essential element of building the democratic societies. Moreover, we developed competences of young people in a way that they are capable to be involved in discussion and decision-making processes on issues that are concerning to them such as youth unemployment, discrimination, social exclusion, social division in the society that is increasing. Objectives of youth exchange ‘Stories that Matter: Active Youth’ were: -to increase the skills of participants in the field of youth participation (knowledge about the importance of youth participation, the skills required for active participation and the willingness to participate in decision-making processes); -Investigation of the different forms of youth participation in the participating countries, including youth organizations, youth clubs and youth parliaments; -Support the exchange of best practices and experiences between participating countries to promote youth participation; -Exploring the concept of youth participation in the context of creating a democratic and inclusive society that ensures that every group, regardless of ethnicity, social status, respect for the rule of law and freedom, has the right to participate in decision-making processes; -to encourage and empower participants to participate in youth activities, and encourage civic engagement; -Disseminate information about the Erasmus+ 2021-2027 program and encourage young participants to take advantage of the opportunities offered by this program; -To disseminate information about youth participation via social media and to arouse the interest of young people from the participating municipalities who can be reached online in the topic of youth participation. -Creation of a series of three short videos on youth participation to promote the topic in the participating organizations during the follow-up events consisting of the video project and the exchange of personal testimonials from youth exchange participants.