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The pilot project, Building the Future
(FramtidsbyggetTM)
had 35 participants aged 18-27. They had a variety
of educational levels and backgrounds. Their original
task was to, during one year, get an idea of the work
of the future and a create a future job bank. After
three months research in the present and the future
of at least 20 different subjects, participants came
to the conclusion that they would rather write about
a sustainable society. Many companies and public authorities
became interested in their work. One group, IVA, The
Scientific Academy of Engineers, celebrated their
anniversary with lectures and meetings on the future
over all of Sweden and realized that they did not
have any participation of the people who were to live
in that future. The participants were invited to participate
in panels and as lecturers and more. Due to this and
the interest of other members of the greater community
they even received a request of the research and development
department of a large Swedish firm.
All this took time and the young adults asked our
funding agency if they could have six months more
to work on the project and its presentation to the
community. The grant extension was granted. Participants
Maria Van der Weij and Johannes Svensson completed
a book draft based upon the research of their colleague's.
The manuscript was polished by Kjell Scherlund, Christel
Nilsson and Natalie Dian. The book became FramtidsbyggetTM
and is a history of the future 2021. It is also in
English under the title A Tale of the Future.
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What happens when Swedish
youth in the project Framtidsbygget are given
a chance to reflect 25 years into the future?
Their research is enough to write a book. "A
Tale of the Future" presents a possible
future which can be used as a starting point
for creating other possible futures. This is
recommended for use in class rooms with students
16 years and older.
In the story we can follow
two people, Axel and Sara, whose lives interferes
with one another in many ways. Sara represents
the age that the participants in the project
will be in the year 2021, the time that the
story tells about, and Axel is approximately
the same age that the participants were when
the book was written.
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The
books youthful originators intended the book to:
- stimulate discussion on the kind of future
we want
- influence decision making toward a sustainable
society
- involve a wide range of readers by providing
story based
material for school groups (ages 12 to adults),
study circles,
book discussion groups etc.
For a list of excersises to use in the classroom write
visionscentret@framtidsbygget.se
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