Background: Youth Participation in Brandenburg, Poland, and the EU The European Union has set itself the goal of strengthening youth participation in all areas (Treaty on the Functioning of the EU, Article 165 / Charter of Fundamental Rights, Article 24 / EU Youth Strategy). Research generally regards youth participation as a win-win situation for society as a whole. Since June 2018, the Brandenburg Municipal Constitution has called for increased youth involvement at the local level. Although youth councils exist in many Polish municipalities, they often focus on social engagement rather than on addressing the specific social and political interests of young people. This creates a socio-political backdrop that offers ideal conditions for mutual learning, exchange of experiences, and cross-border action. However, a central problem is that young people often lack the knowledge, skills, and opportunities to participate in shaping their own living environment. This deficit is further exacerbated by demographic change and the structural weakness of rural areas. With the German-Polish Youth Agora, we aimed to sustainably strengthen youth participation in rural areas in both countries through empowerment and the development of new projects tailored to the needs of young people. In doing so, we sought to bring the EU’s treaty goals to life. The Method: Youth-Friendly Municipality Our project was based on the concept of the "Youth-Friendly Municipality" (www.jugendgerecht.de), which we adapted for our German-Polish context using the methods of the "Future Workshop" and the "Planning Cell." The project consisted of four phases: Preparatory Meeting and Study Phase Encounter in Trebnitz: German and Polish young people worked together online (in the spirit of an ancient Greek agora) to develop expert analyses of youth-specific and relevant issues and to propose solutions for their respective municipalities and local contexts. Implementation: They implemented these proposals for creating youth-friendly municipalities locally with the support of political mentors. Final Meeting in Gdańsk (Poland): The results and processes were evaluated internally with regional stakeholders. Over an extended period, the young participants worked closely with local politicians. Further Objectives of the Project: To strengthen youth participation between Germany and Poland To foster European citizenship To empower young people to engage in political discourse within their own environments and to recognize a shared set of European values To strengthen youth participation in rural areas To promote active citizenship, which contributes to demographic stability in rural communities. The more residents engage in community life, the more stable the villages become. Political participation must be learned; civil society needs to be developed, and social engagement must be encouraged. The foundations for social responsibility and competence are laid, in particular, during childhood and adolescence.