Participatory futures work

The future will not just happen – it needs to be built, based on those thoughts and ideas people have now.

The clients of the Deaconess Foundation have valuable perspectives to the future, which often remain unheard. Through the Foresight Studios work, we collect these perspectives from our clients and people participating our activities and take them to decision-makers, more broadly to the Finnish dialogue for the future and also to the planning and development of the Deaconess Foundation’s own work.

The aim is for this work to extend the power to define futures (democratise futures) in Finland to a larger group of people.

The power to define futures refers to whose voice will be heard in discussions related to the future. “Dominant future perspectives influence what is seen as possible or desirable in the future. At the same time, they also affect the choices we make right now. Who has the opportunity to participate in creating future insights? We believe that everyone should have the right and the chance to do this.”

Comment by Sitra.

We pave the way!

In general, discussion on the future is reserved for those leading society. However, we need ideas from all elements of society to build a good and dignified future for all.

“It is impossible to ask these questions from all people, but we must make the voice of minority groups heard. The Future Workshop was a great experiment; I have not encountered this elsewhere. We were heard and the message was even forwarded. I hope that this work (Foresight Studios)will be fruitful and that it will go a long way.”

Client of opioid replacement therapy.

Foresight Studios

The Deaconess Foundation started Foresight Studios work in 2023. In spring 2023, the Deaconess Foundation collected ideas about the future through discussions with its clients and people participating in its activities. We had 21 discussions with 134 participants in total. Participants included young people, urban residents, (participants in the activities of D-Stations), older people, persons with intellectual disabilities, persons with autism spectrum disorders and persons with severe disabilities, clients of opioid replacement therapy, persons with severe neurological impairments, young Roma people in Belarus, persons living in Kosovo who have experienced torture, and the Future Seekers group in Somaliland. The Deaconess Foundation’s own experts also produced signals. A total of 45 people participated in the two discussions held with the personnel.

In total, there were almost 200 participants, clients and personel in the pilot project in 2023.
The discussions were analyzed, summarised in a report, which is an interpretation of what kind of topics came up in the discussions and what they tell about the future. The future insights collected have been delivered to Finnish decision-makers and have also been used to support the Deaconess Foundation’s own work.

Future discussions and future workshops are organised annually with Deaconess Foundation’s participants, clients and personel, and an analysis and report will be made based on the discussions.

Towards more inclusive futures 2023—2024 pilot

Our goal is that as many people as possible can participate in the debate on their own or shared future.

In spring 2023, Sitra looked for partners to find out what the power to define futures actually is and how it can be expanded. The Deaconess Foundation’s project “Towards more inclusive futures” was one of the three pilot projects funded by Sitra. In this pilot project, we wanted to develop new methods and materials to make participation in the discussions on the future more accessible to a larger group of people. The project was implemented from 1 September 2023 to 30 April 2024.

During the project, 20 futures workshops were held to test and develop the methods. The workshops and development work included clients of the activity centre of persons with intellectual disabilities or autism spectrum disorders, residents of a housing unit for persons with disabilities, clients of substance abuse service units, and clients of housing services (services for the long-term homeless) and emergency accommodation. In addition, several employees in the social services and healthcare sector of Rinnekodit Oy participated in the development of materials and methods.

The methods developed during the project have been developed as a guide for organising more accessible future workshops. In addition to the guide, workshop materials and the final report have been made public. The guide and materials are free to use (currently only available in Finnish).

Our goal is that as many people as possible can participate in the debate on their own or shared future.

Results

The results have been very inspiring.

Individuals

People have participated in the future discussions and workshops. They are committed to the work, and have given very good feedback on it. Discussions on a desirable future have been seen as important – sharing one’s opinions and hearing their thoughts has felt good. Many have said that they have stopped to consider the topic for the first time. Many also said that they have never been asked about the topic. People who are facing highly challenging circumstances, such as residents of emergency accommodation or clients of opioid substitution therapy, have said that the discussions about the future have given them hope. Things can be different ten or twenty years from now. The discussion does not only concern one’s own life, but also more broadly the structures, values and customs in society.

“The most meaningful part of the future workshops was the feeling of social inclusion. In this age of dark megatrends, one starts to feel that the issues are so big that there is no way to impact them. The future workshops provided a very concrete opportunity for social inclusion and for giving the participants a sense of meaning regarding their inclusion. This is a major thing for people who experience stigmatisation and marginalisation on a daily basis. The participants felt that they and their opinions were taken into consideration. I would summarise this as social inclusion, that adds value and a sense of dignity.” Employee, opioid substitution treatment unit.

Employees

The employees in the social services or healthcare sector who participated in the discussions have found their participation to be very inspiring and meaningful. Thinking of potential futures has given new perspectives to the client’s life situation and behaviour. On the other hand, it has also demolished barriers between the social care or healthcare worker and their client. The workers have also stated that they have found new methods to engage in discussions with clients or even discovered shortcomings in the current working methods and tools.

Society

We have addressed the phenomena that have emerged, for example by taking them into account in our strategic work. We have been able to develop our own operations. We have sought out new projects to meet the needs that have arisen. We want to challenge the values and structures currently in place and encourage debate. We work to influence matters and look for ways to bring up the issues that have emerged to the attention of decision-makers to benefit their work.

We seek out networks and research cooperation to make our work even more effective.

Why do we do this

There are a huge number of people in society who are not heard in these discussions due to their challenging life situation, mental health issues or disability, for example. However, competing – or alternative – future perspectives and views are vital to democracy: the future will not just happen – it needs to be built, based on those thoughts and ideas people have now.

We want to break the customary norms for discussions about the future by highlighting new kinds of future views created by those who are not usually heard in the mainstream discussions about the future.

In essence, it is a question of expanding the power to define futures

This concept refers to the power to define what is considered possible and desirable in the future, which is a form of exercising power in society. The power to define the future is cross-generational, because by making decisions and choosing values related to the future we expand the temporal dimension of our actions beyond our lifetime and towards those who do not exist yet.

The future is built every day, together. Please join us!