"Empowering Rural Youth III – Voices for Change" (ERY3) aims to bridge the citizenship gap in rural areas by transforming 31 young people into active civic leaders. Strategic objectives: 1.Developing "Democratic Fitness" competencies (advocacy, leadership, media literacy) for 31 rural youth (min. 16 with fewer opportunities) using the ASK learning model. 2.Empowering youth for direct action by planning and implementing 6-9 civic participation micro-projects in their communities. 3.Institutionalizing structured dialogue between rural youth and policymakers at local, national (Romanian Parliament), and European levels (Brussels). ERY3 directly implements EU Youth Goals #6 (Moving Rural Youth Forward) and #9 (Space and Participation for All), providing tools to transition from social apathy to evidence-based civic initiative.