"In 2050, the participants will be an integral part of those who will build the world: the first architects and beneficiaries of the future. By encouraging them to project themselves into the future, to identify the challenges and opportunities ahead, the 'Butterfly 2050' competition aims to inspire a new generation, ready to shape the future according to sustainable and inclusive principles." (translated from french)
What is Butterfly 2050?
In line with the national strategic plan « France 2030 », the Secrétariat Général pour l'Investissement conducted from March to July 2024 the « Butterfly 2050 » project.
Youngsters of 16 to 25 years-old, coming from all parts of France, were invited to build shared future visions by imagining the desirable France of tomorrow.
After several workshops and masterclasses on graphic facilitation, film resources, script coaching and public speaking, they finally delivered 9 scenarios approaching the following 3 themes: "Habiter en 2050" (dwelling in 2050), "Bien vivre en 2050" (well-being in 2050) and "Apprendre en 2050" (learning in 2050).
You can download the full versions of the 9 scenarios on the web page dedicated to the project.
A second edition of « Butterfly 2050 - Dessine ton futur » was launched on the 3rd of February 2025. 110 young people from 7 regions of France are teaming up on 4 new themes: caring, living together, learning and eating.
Now let's dive into the narratives and explore the main themes of these students' works.
Adaptation to crisis in an uncertain future
"We imagine a future made up of diverse uncertainties where we have adapted and thought out our lifestyles and everyday habitats in harmony with the new climatic and social challenges. This will involve a more community-centric organization, without erasing individualism and private property, as well as a strong decentralization of resources and infrastructures." (extract from La sagesse de l'habitat, translated from french)
Every story of Butterfly 2050 features a wide range of climate events and new weather conditions impacting directly the lives of the inhabitants. Extreme heat, rising sea level, more intense and frequent storms, diminution of the material and energy resources punctuate the scenarios and even co-exist with each other.
Climate migrations
These extreme conditions lead to the displacement of populations unable to live where they used to. Indeed, a lot of scenarios written by the students depict the lives of climate refugees.
"March 2050. Brother and sister Tim (15) and Robbie (9) have just moved to a new town, after their old home was destroyed by the forest fires that sweep the Landes every summer." (extract from Tourner la page, translated from french)
"Despite the Brazilian government's efforts to make up for decades of deforestation and industrial agriculture, the environment had become truly unliveable, Matheus and his family thought they'd never get out. Until the Brazilian government announced a relocation plan in collaboration with countries least affected by the crisis and most capable of taking in climate refugees. Matheus' family was assigned to France." (extract from L'école du nous, translated from french)
"When asked to imagine her future, Tiana recalls her past. Tiana is 16 and a climate refugee: with her family, she had to leave the Tuamotu Atoll in French Polynesia in a hurry. Having just arrived at her new school in Bordeaux, all this seems almost anecdotal to her after the catastrophe she experienced..." (extract from À contre-courant, translated from french)
Moreover, when they are not displaced against their will by the consequences of climate change, other movements of populations emerge as a chosen way of living. The story Physiopolis imagined and introduced a new way of living, close to a neo-nomadism. In the same spirit, the story Transhumance depicts a seasonal exodus organised by the French government to help some urban families to escape from the city during the hottest months.
"Planned summer transhumance: A seasonal urban exodus, planned by public and private players, supported by planning and management tools, including AI and digital twins." (extract from Transhumance, translated from french)
Symbiosis with nature
Another common feature shared by the 9 scenarios is the renewed relationships with "nature": other living beings and ecosystems. Scientists in ENEZEG can even understand and talk with ocean species thanks to some important progress in technology. This link can also appear in some inventions in these worlds which use biomimicry. But the connection of human societies to other living beings is not just rational and scientific, it is also more deeply present in a philosophical and moral aspect.
"Previously ignored and damaged by pollution, this environment [the ocean] is now protected and seen as a source of mutual well-being between humans, other animals, flora and living things in all their forms." (extract from ENEZEG, translated from french)
"We have a duty to protect marine creatures who have no voice to defend themselves. Whales, turtles, corals, all these living creatures are counting on us to preserve their home. They are the ocean's sentinels, warning us of dangers to come. Ignoring them is suicide." (extract from ENEZEG, translated from french)
Symbiosis with AI or Age of lowtechs
Another symbiosis that we can discover in the worlds created by the students is a symbiosis with AI, which sometimes is co-existing (almost paradoxically) with the symbiosis with the natural ecosystems. In several future narratives, AI is everywhere and seamlessly integrated in humans' lives.
"Technologies like AI are now perfectly integrated into the urban landscape, so much so that they are almost invisible. The AI we're using here, Lumi, is an everyday aid, but it's neither intrusive nor enslaving." (extract from La sagesse de l'habitat, translated from french)
But in other submissions, the over-consumption and utilization of technology is criticized and a sober way of life is established.
"Technology, yes, but not too much of it. The last few decades have been a demonstration of technological abuse, immersing computers and electronics in the smallest tasks of our daily lives. Since 2050, a form of denumerization has been underway, putting the human back at the heart of social interactions." (extract from Le Cercle, translated from french)
Going even further, the world of Eclipse functions entirely with low techs: solar deflection to communicate locally, solar oven, pedal-operated washing machine, passive cooler to mitigate the heat, redirected skylights to avoid electric lightning and so on...
New conception of society, political life
Apart from the domain of technique, the students proposed ambitious societal transformations exploring for example news ways to build a democratic conversation with the use of consensus and compromise (ENEZEG) or through artistic processes (Tourner la page). Eclipse, on the other hand, imagines a world where people freed themselves from the current time system to reconnect to a more natural perception of the time and a slower life.
"Political life is at the heart of the city, and takes place within the various circular agoras spread over several islands." (extract from ENEZEG, translated from french)
"Finally, in a break with the entertainment world of the early 21st century, artists want to make art a democratic tool, by making the public an actor in each work. Thus, street theater springs up in every city, many people play music in groups, or invent new narratives together." (extract from Tourner la page, translated from french)
"I don't understand how some of our fellow citizens can continue to live by the atomic clock. You know, 10 years ago, we made the choice to change our time system and switch to fluctuating periods, in order to realign ourselves with living time and the sun. Repeated burnouts, pandemics of insomnia, climate disruption, the energy crisis: do we really need to redo the whole picture of the 2038 crisis to remind chrono-reticents of the consequences of the great acceleration?" (extract from Eclipse, translated from french)