What if children, not adults, shape the future?
I believe that children are crucial in shaping our future. Not only because they are the future, but mainly because children have the ability to think outside the box and dream, and as a society, we need this.
Supertrip to the Future, developed by wondermash/toekomstecoloog and creative workshop zonder gum invites children on a journey to explore the future and express their own visions of the future through creative installations, maps, stories, and mini-magazines called 'zines.' These stories are shared widely, and efforts are actively made to make parts of these futures a reality in their own community. What exactly? We don't know because the future is uncertain :).
This lesson is part of the participatory futures project Horst Futures, where we develop community-based future scenarios with residents of Horst aan de Maas, a village in the north of Limburg, the Netherlands, and put them into practice.
Journey to the Future
On Friday, September 8, the first journey to the future took place. Students from grades 5/6 (8-9 yearolds), guided by future travel leaders Helmie (visual artist, creative workspace Without Eraser) and Marjolein (future ecologist), departed from the gym of Weisterbeek Primary School to take a peek at what Horst aan de Maas would look like in the year 2100.
The students began with a Future Meditation where they first delved into the past by looking at their (great-)grandparents' 9th birthday, and then traveled to their own 90th birthday in the future. How did the world look 60 years ago, and how will it look 80 years from now?
Marjolein Pijnappels, founder of wondermash and known as the first Dutch Futures Ecologist explors the future with 9-year-old students of Weisterbeek school.
How do 9-year-olds imagine the future?
These dream images were fueled by speculative experiments with artificial intelligence and were documented in twenty brainstorm sessions on extra-large sheets of paper. Despite the sweltering heat of the late summer day, the students eagerly developed their future ideas.
In the coming weeks, students will work in the classroom on the theme "Future of the Village" to create a future story based on their ideas and concepts about the future of Horst aan de Maas. They are free to choose a creative form: a song about the future? A model? Artwork with AI? A comic about the future?
Children in charge
Unlike adults, children have no constraints to freely fantasize about the future. During the Supertrip to the Future, we taught the children that predicting the future is not possible, especially when it comes to the ultra-long term, like the year 2100; the uncertainty is simply too great. But to address major issues like climate change, refugee crises, and resource depletion, we need to adopt a long-term perspective in some way.
Speculative futures are not meant to make the most accurate predictions but to generate as many different ideas and future visions as possible, and to bring creative and unusual solutions to life. Children are exceptionally good at this, and we encourage them to seriously explore the future.
Initially, adults tend to dismiss children's imaginative ideas as fantasies. But back in 1998, the majority of people thought it was a ridiculous idea that there would be something like a mobile phone, let alone that people would use them massively. Yet, that's exactly what happened. So, let's open our minds to the unconventional future visions of our 9-year-olds. If we don't, we might miss out on something wonderful.
Students exploring futures of Horst aan de Maas
Everything will be flying
Flying turns out to captivate the imagination, and many groups came up with concepts like flying cars, flying pigs, flying schools, and even flying swimming pools. Concerns about the future and potential solutions also emerged. Children express a desire for more things to be free and for no one to be poor. They want machines that can turn waste into water.
Various uses for robots, from 'cleaning up' to 'walking the dog,' were discussed. 'Fewer farmers' was written, and when further questioned, it turned out that the children want 'more forests.' Future visions with robots and technology seem fantastic, but the images generated by artificial intelligence at that moment didn't resemble a village where the children wanted to live. So, it's more green and those flying cars keep coming up.
Future story
The challenge now is to translate these brainstorm ideas into a concrete future vision within the theme of the Future Village. Why would a flying school make sense? In a conversation with the student who came up with this idea, it became clear that they envisioned the school flying all over the world to teach the language of each country. This reflects a desire for real-world learning and connections with other cultures. 'Traveling' can take many forms, and 'flying' can be translated as visiting different places.
The children will be guided by their teachers and the future travel leaders in developing their future stories.
Below are some images created by the students using artificial intelligence under the guidance of future ecologist Marjolein.
Horst Futures, impact, and implementation in practice
A selection of future stories will be exhibited in a future museum during HILTHO 2023 and in a Pop-up Exhibition in the center of Horst in 2024. Additionally, within the Horst Futures project, 'seeds' will be identified from the stories that can be brought to life.
Horst Futures aims to promote long-term thinking and action within the community, connect generations, and work towards a regenerative, flourishing, and connected community. This children's workshop is a pilot, and we hope to involve all schools in the municipality. We also organize Pop-up workshops in which mixed groups of residents will create future stories to gather as many different perspectives as possible.
The ideas of the children come first: they are, after all, the generation of the future. Their future stories serve as a mirror to our current society.
Turning waste into fresh water may initially seem unrealistic, but there is already technology that can filter drinking water from waste. A flying school that allows students to learn languages all over the world can be translated into fostering contacts with other cultures at school or the desire to learn 'outdoors' rather than within the walls of a school building.
'More free things for everyone' points to the introduction of a basic income or making public services free, like public transportation (which already exists for children in Rotterdam).
Less farming and more forests? Can we connect food production and nature appreciation in food forests, shared front yards, and cooperative fruit cultivation on municipal land (as they do in Copenhagen)?
Taking children seriously
Once the future stories are developed, and interesting concepts are found, we will connect the children in the next phase with creative makers and entrepreneurs to bring their ideas to life and see where we can realize a piece of the 'future' in the here and now of Horst aan de Maas. By showing children that their concerns and ideas for the future are taken seriously, we involve them in the community, help them establish roots, and demonstrate how everyone can contribute to a better society.