Tomorrowlands

What is a Tomorrowland?

A Tomorrowland is an open, inspirational, safe space for praxis – physical or virtual – where youths can explore the future. In a Tomorrowland, young people can co-imagine radical, preferred futures, produce cultural artefacts of their envisioned futures, and sustainably act on identified projects of interest.

Tomorrowlands are as diverse as the geographies, cultures, communities, and contexts they are situated within. Tomorrowlands are currently being organised, planned, and piloted in Bangladesh, United Kingdom, Brazil, The Netherlands, and Australia.

Examples of a Tomorrowland

Want to know what a Tomorrowland looks like? Some examples of a Tomorrowland are presented below. The Dutch KinderTrendrede is a Tomorrowland in the Netherlands, presented by Erica Bol. The Manguinhos Favela a pilot in Brazil, presented by Rodrigo Mendes. The TikTok Futures is a project in the United Kingdom, presented by Finn Strives.

Who is a Tomorrowland for?

Tomorrowlands are for young people of any age, in any place. Tomorrowlands can be initiated by anyone who wants to facilitate a space for young people to articulate, explore, and generate pathways towards desired futures.

Why do we need Tomorrowlands?

Young people are growing up in a complex and volatile world, shaped by trends that don't necessarily represent their beliefs or values. Young people inherit worlds dominated by hegemonic narratives about the future that they had no role in creating; narratives that go largely unchallenged in popular discourse and in the media.

While the future can be overwhelming, engaging with ideas of preferred futures can be inspiring and provide a sense of agency. Tomorrowlands gives young people a space to reclaim their agency in relation to the future, to challenge dominant narratives, to begin to change the world around them, and to find their own pathways forward in a complex world.

Nice read - Narratopias Interview: Finn Strivens

How do I create a Tomorrowland?

We are building an online toolkit to enable anyone to create a Tomorrowland in their own community, work with young people through foresight activities, and join a growing Tomorrowlands network worldwide.

The Tomorrowland toolkit will provide case studies, talks, and guides. The toolkit will equip you with a framework, practical guidance, and inspiration to start a Tomorrowland for your own community and context.

Want to know more?

We have collected our thoughts and experiences in a blog series on Medium https://medium.com/tomorrowlands We discuss in more depth what it is, why we need it and more.

We host Tomorrowlands Community Meets. This quarterly series of talks, workshops, and participatory sessions aims to build a community of practice through sharing of outcomes and learnings from youth-centred projects globally.

About Tomorrowlands

The Tomorrowlands project is led by NGFP Fellows and foresight practitioners Shakil Ahmed, Erica Bol, Rodrigo Mendes Leal, Finn Strivens and Ana Tiquia.

We are funded by the NGFP Impact Fund to pilot projects in Bangladesh, Brazil, UK, Australia and the Netherlands.