An academic research project

"The JustFutures project will contribute to understanding young people's agency and political imaginaries. It will do so by mapping existing collective action groups, analysing narratives and media(ted) discourses of climate futures and examining, through extensive field work, young people's imaginaries of climate futures."

This research project, studying Portuguese youth's involvement in climate and political action, is anchored in the context of the recent mobilisations of youngsters, in movements such as Friday for Futures.

This large analysis of organizations and discourses aims to understand the different ways young people envision and think about their place in these debates and in the transformations of society. Thus, one part of the research is to understand the vision, the imaginaries of the future that they have.

To gather the necessary information, the research team worked in cooperation with different activist groups in Portugal. It was, according to the project managers, both one of the most interesting parts and one of the most difficult steps of the process. There were issues of trust to work on with young activists. They also don't have a lot of time to dedicate to the research, since they are already volunteering in their organizations. Thus, arranging meetings was hard work.

But, according to Anabela Carvalho and Maria Fernandes-Jesus, who we interviewed, it is important to bridge research work with the community. This effort was necessary and enabled a lot of learning occasions on both sides.

#CraftingAction

Another section of the JustFutures project is dedicated to enhancing youth' skills "to envision, plan and build just futures." For example, "Crafting Action" aimed at creating a space of collaborative exploration and creativity to discuss young people's political agency.

Young people between 13 and 32 years old were involved in these workshops, taking place in Lisbon and Porto.

"We decided to bring together young people with varying levels of activism experience, from highly involved to those with little to none, to collaborate on achieving this goal. It was an opportunity for young people to experiment with new ways of relating to different, and sometimes conflicting, perspectives while building a project together. Groups of participants were asked to create a communicative product with a clear objective: to elevate the voices of young people in the climate change debate, and, as consequence, to envision a society where young people have an active role in constructing just climate futures. As a source of inspiration, we mentioned various creation possibilities, including zines, letters from the future, manifestos, podcasts, among many others."

Starting with creative processes, focusing on imagination, the workshops lead to many reflections on how to act and enable to kick start some projects.

"The word "craft" took on special significance in this process - creating was like working with clay: hands-on, tactile, and a powerful vehicle for meaning-making."

A multiplicity of narratives

The research project unveiled a plurality of political imaginaries among the youth climate organizations. Some are more attached to governmental plans and processes while other groups advocate for more transformative and radical changes.

"Francisca: Dear young human beings of 2024, I am Francisca Sousa, and I come from the year 2100, where Earth is at peace. This is just one of the many possible futures available to you. Today, 100% of our energy production is clean and renewable, which means it does not emit polluting gases into the atmosphere. We've been living this way since 2068, with this transformation being gradual and accelerating quickly from 2025 onwards. Basically, everything we touch generates energy-our walking, gym activities, and even public transport, which generates its own energy through friction."

– Extract from a Letter from the Future

On both sides, a more important place for youngsters is a key element. They want to be heard and taken into account.

Another common issue is the importance of reliable information. Communication tools, on social networks particularly, were imagined and discussed during the workshops to spread knowledge and enable a more massive involvement of the population.

A lot of emotions, positive and negative, were present in the narratives. It led the research team to write a whole article on the analysis of affect in Dystopias and Utopias. They explain that utopia is not the only narrative leading to action. On the contrary, dystopias are great objects to discuss the ongoing crisis and give place to one's emotions.

"From there, utopian impulses and hope emerged through solidarity and collective work, giving rise to 'real' utopias—practical visions of inclusive and negotiated future societies that embraced contingency and possibility"