We wanted to implement the project ‘Be: Aware – Engaged – Critical’ because since 2018 we have been talking to young people about the need to get involved in their own development and in activities for the benefit of others, about the great fun of developing skills, project work, group cooperation and learning about the history of their peers from other countries, as well as joint activities for the benefit of local communities, Europe and the world. From conversations and interviews we conducted among young people, but also among parents and teachers, it emerged that young people do not devote enough time to their own development outside the core curriculum at school for various reasons - lack of awareness of the importance of this development, lack of time, or rather a lack of skills in finding a balance between time spent on formal education and personal development and involvement in activities for the benefit of others, as well as a lack of appreciation or involvement in encouraging and creating conditions by parents and schools for personal development in the form of developing passions and talents, as well as demonstrating the value of volunteering, activism or project activities. We have often heard, and continue to hear, comments from parents of young people working with us that their children (young people) cannot take part in projects – in creating them, researching the needs of the local community and implementing them – because they have to... study. What is this learning all about, how and what should young people learn in order to find their place in the future world and Europe, to be successful and, above all, to be happy people and citizens of their countries and Europe, and to live in a friendly, tolerant and war-free world? We wanted to answer these questions by implementing our project, which consists of two components: media education workshops preparing for a youth camp and a youth conference under the slogan: ‘Be aware, involved, critical’. At the same time, we wanted to give young people from smaller towns with fewer opportunities and young people who came to Poland from Ukraine because of the ongoing war there a chance to showcase their development and successes. We wanted to inspire the young people who took part in the youth conference to develop and get involved, but also everyone who was able to watch it in its entirety or individual presentations online. We wanted parents, educators, teachers, school principals and educational institutions to understand the importance of non-formal education, the value of developing key competences and passion for life and achieving success by young people and being happy citizens of Europe. Finally, we wanted to encourage politicians and decision-makers at various levels to listen to the voice of young people, to familiarise themselves with our appeal – the recommendations that were drawn up after the conference – and to take these demands into account when making decisions on youth issues. It was an extraordinary experience to see how, after the first edition of the project, a large group of youth leaders wanted to implement this project with us, which was created at their request. The next edition of the project spread to new places on the map of Poland, but above all, we wanted to reach Piła, where youth leaders invited the rest of the group of young people to hold a two-day conference as part of the project.