This short 5 minute video was inspired by questions about the focus, pattern of mobilization and desired outcomes of the Future(s) Project.

Hi everyone,

In the hopes of encouraging participatory discussions internationally I propose the following. That hosts commit to host three meetings with a variety of people in your local community to discuss what young people need to thrive in the future and what your community can do to help ensure they have those advantages.  This format is flexible and all encouraged to recruit both youth, educators and non educators to the discussion.

Outline of 3 meeting participatory design (based loosely on a cycle of participatory action research).

1) Discuss what is happening in education where they are and go off to discover what other ideas have interest/merit (“sky’s the limit” thinking).  This meeting helps people discover: provocative ideas and a discussion of what they consider to be key elements for success in the world our children will inherit. Participants go off with homework to a) find our more on key topics and b) discover ideas that might relate to designs for their local context.

2) Discussion on potential designs – Schools/drop in centres? Personal learning environments? Coaches? How will people who teach/facilitate be accessed? What technology is needed? Participants craft a list of ideas and the questions they have about each, split them up and go off with tasks to either discover, plan, interview, etc to help the group come to a final (although preliminary plan).

3) Catch up, finalize design and discuss feasibility. If the design seems feasible then assign people to look into costs. If it seems unfeasible then discuss challenges and ways to overcome them. Reflect on project and plan and begin uploading reports, ideas, photographs or videos to the Future(s) website.  This meeting leaves your group ready to disband after sharing their ideas with the international community OR Ready for measurable action (more on that in other articles).

What are your ideas? Do you think this will work? Do you see yourself leading a group?

Best regards,

Alana