<< Objectives >>We need confident young people who, in their own way, are committed to maintaining and promoting democracy and safeguarding and implementing human rights. We need young people who are sure of their future, who are active in society and who are committed to a vibrant democracy, who have fresh ideas for shaping our societies and who know how to articulate and implement them. By empowering young people to do this, we strengthen the active participation of young people and young adults in democratic processes and enable young people to have a direct influence on things that affect their lives. This not only helps young people, but has an impact on society as a whole. It also promotes democratic culture and peaceful coexistence and thus the protection of human rights. According to the revised European Charter on Young People's Participation in Local and Regional Life, participation in the democratic life of every community is more than the right to vote in free elections - although this is an important element. Participation and active citizenship also mean the right to have the means, spaces and opportunities and, where necessary, the support to participate in and influence actions and activities that contribute to building a fairer society. To achieve these aims, we need to educate young people about human rights and democratic civil society, structures, processes and ways of life. Knowing these principles and defending, protecting and promoting them empowers and encourages young people to get involved in their society and to bring their interests to bear.The emergence of the corona pandemic and the associated quarantine regulations in the individual states had a special impact on children and adolescents. We also wanted to take time to reflect on this and to evaluate whether we as youth group leaders have to react specially. Child and youth participation cannot be thought of without care work for children and young people whose participation in our society we want to promote. They are mutually dependent.<< Implementation >>During an eight-day youth exchange, we brought together young people and young adults from Europe with our partner organizations (Esplais Catalans, Kulturalis Kapcsolatokert Alapitvany, Young socialists of Georgia, Social Democratic Platform, Zveza drustev sokolske mladine, SSU Gävleborg, Tolerantiško Jaunimo Asociacija, Center for effective communication ABF Belarus) in our education center near Berlin, to deal intensively with the topic of youth participation. This involved a critical examination of social participation, emphasizing the opportunities of youth participation, but also understanding their obstacles and challenges in order to be able to meet them. It was also about opening up new target groups and formats and making your own youth education commitment more diversified and inclusive, both internally and externally, in order to address and involve marginalized young people who are not involved in politics.Our seminar concept followed the three-step process of (1) knowledge transfer / awareness raising, (2) exchange of experience / best practice and (3) empowerment / encouragement to act. In addition to numerous workshops, we also spent a day with excursions in Berlin.The participants were young people and young adults between 18 and 30 years of age. They were already active in the partner organizations of the project in the field of youth education. With their voluntary work they are committed to a vibrant democracy, social, youth-friendly participation as well as social justice and diversity-conscious societies.<< Results >>Our project offered the participants a space to learn from each other, to discuss current challenges and to develop ideas to carry out projects in local groups, organizations, societies, communities or internationally. Working together for a week also promoted the participants' intercultural skills, their creativity and enabled them to work towards active participation in their democratic societies.The youth exchange corresponded to the aims of Erasmus + JUGEND IN AKTION in that it contributed to the promotion of solidarity and tolerance and motivated and qualified for civil society engagement. It promoted intercultural dialogue and awareness of respect for one another. The participants also learned about the special responsibilities and opportunities of non-formal and informal learning and developed tools together to expand their possibilities of participation - which not at last also contributed to the personal and professional development of the participants.Among the partner organizations that are active at national level or / and have a leading function here, the youth exchange will among other things: stimulate debates about youth participation institutions / formats and the involvement of target groups (in the sense of inclusion and integration of marginalized young people), lead to the development of appropriate skills among youth group workers (e.g. as a result of qualification processes) and possibly stimulate corresponding youth projects.Due to the corona pandemic, we also especially looked into the connection between “care” work with children and adolescents and the social participation of them.