The IP introductory lecture builds on the assumption that the young people are not a homogenous group and focuses on the diversity of the group, the needs of the young, the recent challenges they face as well as the possibilities of working with them and making them partners in mutual dialogue. Zuzana Wildová will discuss what today’s young people are like and how we can learn about their opinions and needs. She will present results of a large-scale research on the values and needs of the young, which was done in the Czech and Slovak society in 2020, as well as how these findings are reflected in the national policies of youth strategy. The whole debate will be put into the framework of the European Youth strategy. The lecturer will present the EU Youth strategy as such, its development and basic principles, defined “Youth Goals” as well as how this strategy relates to the national youth strategies. The final part of the lecture will focus on the Czech example and will be based on the experience that Zuzana Wildová gained over the years of working with the young people. She will focus on the strategies applied in the Czech society – how to reflect the needs of the young, how to work with them both in formal and informal education, how to make them part of decision-making processes and help them get engaged and create their own structures, and last but not least, how to involve also the young from socially-disadvantaged background, including children and the young from the immigrant communities.