Summary
- This report explores the outcomes of a multi-phase research initiative aimed at reimagining youth agency in East and Southern Africa through a futures-thinking and systems change lens. Central to this effort was the belief that young people should be co-creators of just and inclusive futures, rather than passive recipients of policy and development agendas.
- Through participatory foresight and action research methods, the project involved youth as co-researchers in envisioning transformative pathways across multiple domains, including economic resilience, ecological sustainability, governance and well-being. This approach enabled the emergence of locally rooted experiments that challenged dominant development narratives.
- A key contribution of the report is its articulation of systemic justice, moving beyond individual rights or service provision towards the intentional transformation of interlinked social, economic and epistemic structures. This framing positions youth not only as advocates for justice but as catalysts of long-term systemic shifts.
- The report captures the challenges faced by youth, such as political marginalisation, educational gaps and exclusion from formal decision-making spaces. Despite these constraints, young people demonstrated the capacity to prototype context-specific innovations and influence policy discourses.
- It puts forward practical recommendations for funders, policymakers and civil society actors. These include embedding futures literacy in education, funding relational processes rather than isolated outputs and shifting from tokenistic inclusion to authentic youth co-governance.
Learning Journey Guide
This Learning Journey Guide is designed for facilitators and changemakers who are planning and leading transformative workshops. It offers practical guidance for structuring group processes using foresight and systems thinking approaches and practises.
