Youngsters across Europe face challenges in employment, civic participation, and trust in government institutions, with varying success in addressing them. In North Macedonia in 2023, it is important to note that issues included youth dissatisfaction with only 32% feeling satisfied in society, pessimism – a mere 17% believed the country was moving in the right direction, and high unemployment (25.7%). Many of them wish to emigrate (66%) due to limited opportunities, low trust in government (22%), and poor career prospects. Other countries face similar challenges. Spain, Italy, Greece, and Turkiye mark high unemployment among youngsters, driving many of them to pursue opportunities abroad. Poland has reduced unemployment but still faces challenges in rural areas, while Malta, as a positive example, marks success through targeted policies. When it comes to civic participation, initiatives like Poland’s school representation systems and France and Italy’s civic service programmes, foster youth engagement. Greece lowered the voting age to 17, and Lithuania is reviewing youth eligibility for elections as a means to engage youngsters and have their voices heard. Trust in institutions is low in many countries. This is influenced by economic crises and governance issues, especially in Spain, Greece, Turkiye, and Romania. As a response, social innovation has occurred, providing platforms for youngsters to create solutions together. For example, Italy supports social entrepreneurship to engage youngsters in addressing community challenges; Poland and Lithuania promote innovation hubs to support creativity and cooperation. Further positive examples are Malta’s strong youth policies and strategies that promote civic and social engagement, and France and Italy’s successful programmes for youth involvement in community development. The activities implemented in our second project under the Erasmus+ Youth Accreditation targeted common challenges and were aligned with our Youth Accreditation’s overarching objectives. We aimed to contribute to the EU Youth Strategy and the umbrella Youth Strategy 2030 of the United Nations by giving voice to youngsters and making their voices heard, ultimately resulting in the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. We also aimed to further develop our capacities to work with youngsters in the new age and boost our human capital. We aimed to exchange our knowledge and know-how with peers from across the continent, and successfully did so. Our members, staff and the youth with whom we work came in closer contact with new positive trends in dealing with common issues and had the opportunity to develop their innovativeness, sense of entrepreneurship and move forward with their European peers in an inclusive and peaceful environment. The specific activities’ objectives were to: - equip youth with the skills and mindset necessary to foster innovation, entrepreneurship, and inclusivity. - Encourage cooperation on business ideas that are innovative, inclusive, and sustainable. - Ensure full participation of youth with fewer opportunities in the project and foster social change. - Ensure the sustainability of the project by focusing on long-term partnerships and strategic impact. - Enhance the capacity of youth organizations to design and implement impactful projects. - Build the capacities of youth workers to successfully create and deliver programmes regarding social innovation and entrepreneurship to peers and young people in their communities and beyond. The project addressed the core priorities of engage, connect, empower of the EU Youth Strategy 2019-2027. The activities were so designed to create a welcoming environment where participants could generate ideas and cooperate, be part of decision-making processes and have a constructive dialogue (YG No 4 and No 7: inclusive societies and quality employment for all). The project provided a rich platform for networking across multiple countries across Europe contributing to cohesion and ensuring diversity and inclusion. The project activities provided both youngsters and youth workers with the capacity to create and implement various initiatives in social innovation and entrepreneurship with significant impact. (This aligns with YG No 4 and No 7, and also YG No 8 – sustainable green Europe). The project ensured that young people from vulnerable groups could actively contribute to community development by ensuring inclusivity and fostering co-creation. Moreover, the workshops focused on social innovation and entrepreneurship directly contributed to SDGs No 8 and 10 - Decent Work and Economic Growth, and Reduced Inequalities, with that contributing to the UN Youth Strategy 2030.