Initiated by Demos Lab, a Spanish think tank whose mission is to "strengthen democracy through citizen participation", "El futuro es clima" ("The future is climate") intended to better understand what is preventing climate action and make actionable proposals to overcome these barriers.
After an online "macro survey" in 2022, where more than 4000 young people expressed their hopes and worries about climate change, El futuro es clima organized a collective deliberation between two separate bodies: a "Metaforum" made up of 40 randomly selected young participants (16-30 years old), and an "Advisory Council" (Consejo Asesor) made up of 20 climate experts. Before beginning their work, members of the Metaforum received an extensive briefing on climate issues and science.
Both groups worked separately, then met to discuss convergences and differences. They rated their priorities according to three criteria: Urgency, Importance and Context (the latter referring to the readiness of actors to act on proposed actions).
Differing priorities
Both groups came up with a significantly divergent list of priorities.
The young participants placed emphasis on communication (reaching out and listening); degrowth rather than technological fixes; and basic material necessities such as work, education, and health. Whereas the experts expressed their frustration at short-termism (high in urgency and importance, low on context - meaning they do not see how it can be overcome); their hope on younger generations; knowledge, narratives, and engagement; and some technical measures such as taxes and financial incentives.
Proposal and flagships
The two "councils" finally came together to identify a number of areas for action, formulate a consensus and describe one "flagship action" per area. However, the level of priority assigned to each area often differed between the Metaforum's young participants and the experts. Below is a selection:
- Communication [Metaforum priority: very high; Experts: Very low] - Flagship: legally punish green washing.
- Education [Metaforum priority: high; Experts: low] - Flagship: add a "climate change" subject study, working as a bridge between traditional disciplines.
- Health, both physical and mental [Metaforum priority: high; Experts: low] - Flagship: proximity access to parks or forests for all.
- Mobility [Metaforum priority: high; Experts: very high] - Flagship: a national mobility card covering all means of public transport.
- Taxes [Metaforum priority: average; Experts: average] - Flagship: a tax on fossil fuels and polluting products.
- Degrowth [Metaforum priority: average to high; Experts: not discussed] - Flagship: 4 days workweek.
- Citizen participation [Metaforum priority: not discussed; Experts: average] - Flagship: a national Climate Assembly.
- Youth [Metaforum priority: not discussed; Experts: very high] - Flagship: an intergenerational dialogue biennale.
- Cosmovision [Metaforum priority: not discussed; Experts: average] - Flagship: legal rights to Nature and specific ecosystems.