Political Picassos - The Arts 4 Political Change (PPAPC) aimed at promoting young people’s participation in democratic life, social inclusion, and self-improvement through the arts as a form of political engagement and a tool for self-expression and activism. The project was motivated by the approaching 2024 European elections as well as the desire to involve local youth in the democratic sphere and increase their social inclusion and feeling of self-empowerment. From consultations with young people during partners’ daily work, as well as from the extensive data at European and international level, there is strong evidence of a lack of interest in European politics among young people due to their little awareness of its importance on the country’s socio-political status and on the opportunities available to them. Other common reasons across all involved countries and at an European level were dissatisfaction and frustration, as young people felt that their voting and actions had no influence on the decision-making process. Driving from a common gap in knowledge and trust among their cohort, partner organisations aimed to increase awareness of the importance of European politics, engagement in European initiatives, and democratic participation of young people through the arts. The reason for choosing the arts was due to evidenced benefits of art-based activities from scientific and partner’s data. The proven benefits of using the arts are improved self-esteem and social inclusion, sense of accomplishment, and enhanced communication and opportunities for socialisation. When such artistic and cultural activities took place in a community rather than a formal education setting there was very considerable potential to build local social networks that benefited the individual young participating and the local area. It also created a neutral space where people felt safe to express themselves without fear of being judged and increased young people’s participation in community life. Despite the fact that studies showed that disadvantaged young people were the most likely to benefit from exposure to the arts, they were found to experience a number of barriers to engagement due to their low economic and educational status. Therefore, the project sought to make access to the arts a reality for every young person, as this was a priority of the organisations’ youth work mission, as well as to contribute to the enhancement of young people’s knowledge and creativity, thus becoming agents of change while being empowered to become active citizens in their communities. Therefore, our concrete objectives were the following: PO1: To increase and support young people’s sense of initiative to make them feel more valued, motivated, and powerful in their contribution to the world’s issues, thus improving their social and democratic inclusion and self-confidence in expressing their opinions PO2: To address current issues & topics of importance to young people and created a network of youth activists and young leaders PO3: To promote and use the arts as an effective tool to express, unite, and change PO4: To foster the importance of active citizenship among youth and the benefits of young people’s participation in similar ongoing and future European initiatives PO5: To gain hands-on experience & expand the organisations’ network to cultivate new techniques related to the arts that could be applied in the production of a future art activist youth project on similar matters.