Beyond Borders: Uniting science and youth participation to redefine the European response to climate change
Future is Climate | Brussels
“Future is Climate” (FIC): a citizen science and participation project that brings together 27 young europeans to redefine climate change and provide solutions. The full title of the in-person meeting held in Brussels, during our fourth deliberation session, was: Beyond Borders: Uniting science and youth participation to redefine the European response to climate change.
The primary objectives of this in-person deliberation session were to continue training on climate change, hold the final in-person deliberation, and share the measures proposed by the youth at the Economic and Social Committee (EESC).
The process involved 27 young representatives (one for each Member State) selected at random, accompanied by three members of the advisory board: Franc Cortada (Director General of Oxfam Intermón), Jade de Cock (researcher from the Gheco group at UAM and the Université Libre de Bruxelles), and Ferran Puig Vilar (engineer and climate communicator). The methodological architecture, previously supervised by Professor José Antonio Corraliza of the UAM, combined research with active citizen participation. Tools such as the Climate Fresk, a workshop based on IPCC science to understand causal links, and consensus-based deliberation sessions were utilized. Key partners include Demos Lab, Porticus Foundation, the European Climate Foundation, ScienceUs, and the EESC.
The in-person session in Brussels, held from March 18 to 20, represented the culmination of a five-month deliberative process. Since November, participants have attended four training sessions on technical, emotional, and advocacy aspects, in addition to four online deliberation sessions. The in-person meeting allowed us not only to continue our training but also to finalize the definitions and adaptation proposals before presenting them to the EESC. This coming April, we will hold an evaluation and next steps meeting with both the youth and the advisory board that supervised the final in-person deliberation.
ScienceUs Agenda - HARVEST Phase
Within the ScienceUs agenda, this milestone focuses on the transformative potential that citizen science and participation can have on decision-making processes. In other words, this stage of the project is designed to translate the young people’s deliberations into concrete definitions and measures to be shared with various institutions and decision-makers, aligning perfectly with the ScienceUs Harvest phase.
The primary results include actionable policy recommendations and a series of maps reflecting the evolution of the participants’ positions and definitions regarding climate change. Among the findings, we can highlight the importance of shifting from expert language focused on emissions and GDP toward a more biographical language that validates emotions such as fear or loss as legitimate political knowledge. Concrete proposals range from, for example, the recognition of urban nature as insulating material in Luxembourg to the strict supervision of climate funds in Hungary to prevent corruption. In the coming months, we will be able to work specifically on the results obtained from this process and move toward conclusions in a final open-access report.
Participant Quotes & Key Ideas
Although we cannot attribute quotes to specific individuals, the project highlights that science should not be a distant “black box” to citizens, but rather something built with them. The methodology allowed the young participants to act as both researchers and Prime Ministers of their countries, overlaying their scientific role with practical policy proposals.
Next Steps
Following the meeting, we will speak with these 27 young people to determine how they wish to continue. Perhaps as permanent ambassadors serving as a bridge to ensure the proposals have a real impact in their respective countries? Do they wish to continue meeting? We will discuss this with them, although they have already expressed their desire to remain active in compiling the final conclusions. Additionally, in the coming months, following the ScienceUs milestones, we plan to create a replication kit that encompasses the entire process we have carried out.
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