Young people and the future of Scotland: a participatory Horizon Scanning engagement

Young people are often described as ‘the future’—but they are also already shaping Scotland’s present.

This publication brings together insights from designing and implementing a participatory foresight engagement with young people aged 14–19, which was co-designed and co-facilitated with the young people themselves.

Three key takeaways underpin the work:

1. Young people represent a particularly crucial perspective in foresight. Embedding their perspectives is part of ensuring that long-term policies and decisions consider intergenerational fairness. While young people are frequently seen as future stakeholders, they are far more influential because of their behaviours and preferences in the present. Beyond representing the future, they also actively shape it. Despite this, their voices are often absent from formal foresight processes.
   
2. The ‘subjects’ of futures work should also be the ‘agents’ of it. This engagement was co-created and co-facilitated with young people themselves. Members of the Scottish Youth Parliament formed an ‘Investigation Team’ to help shape the design, facilitation, and interpretation of the process, ensuring the work was not only about young people, but driven with them. The aim was not only to understand participants’ views but also to build their agency over society’s future.
   
3. Building the ability to engage groups in long-term discussions and decision making is a ‘strategic necessity’. By involving diverse groups in shaping possible futures, governments can inspire broader ownership of shared goals, laying the groundwork for more legitimate democratic dialogue and collective action over time. Doing so can build trust in institutions and essential input and momentum for long-term transformation and the pursuit of large-scale goals.

Figure 1. Participants’ views and feelings on the future of Scotland and the world at the start and end of the workshop.

The findings

The report presents both insights from the engagement and the methodology designed as part of the process. Insights from young people are structured around the key themes:

• Climate and Environment – Young people emphasised the need for systemic climate action and saw Scotland’s leadership in sustainability and green jobs as both necessary and promising. However, concerns remained about climate injustice and uneven impacts across communities. 
• Economy and Jobs – Economic inequality, the rising cost of living and housing affordability were key concerns. Artificial Intelligence (AI) and automation were perceived as forces that would profoundly impact various aspects of life. However, young people were very concerned about whether these changes would create new opportunities or deepen inequality.
• Politics and Governance – There was strong support for improving political education and digital literacy to combat misinformation and strengthen democratic engagement. While young people valued Scotland’s democratic institutions, they also expressed frustration that their voices are often overlooked in decision-making.
• Society and Community – Discussions covered cultural change, identity, and digital life. While many valued inclusivity and social progress, some worried about increasing polarisation in public debate. Young people discussed the balance between online and physical life, including how people interact within and across each, and how this could develop in the future. Some were concerned about how digital interactions are changing or even replacing physical interactions, and the need to improve real-life connections.
• Health and Habits – Mental health was identified as a top priority, with concerns over long NHS waiting times for young people and the impact of social media on body image and self-esteem. There were calls for increased investment in health services in general, and particularly in youth mental health services. Technological change was also often linked to health and wellbeing in many ways, with young people discussing better regulation of digital spaces, education on misinformation and disinformation and potential safeguards on technology. Other health topics were also concerns, such as vaping and drug use.

Technology and inequalities were cross-cutting themes in these areas. You can read more about the findings in this young person’s guide.

These findings are not presented as fixed conclusions, but as a starting point for further exploration. They offer emerging hypotheses of young people’s concerns, hopes and expectations—and point to the value of including diverse perspectives in strategic foresight.

Figure 2. Examples of some of the engagement materials

The methodology

The report also documents the methodology developed through this work, which was designed to be participatory, co-creative, and experiential: 

• Participatory – to gain insights on young people’s perspectives of the future, while building their agency and participation in societal discussions
• Co-creative – young people were co-creators and co-facilitators – via an ‘Investigation Team’ of Members of Scottish Youth Parliament. They were key throughout the process of developing materials, facilitating the workshop, enriching the analysis, and refining the final report.
• Experiential – Some of the formats included a deck of trend cards, and a ‘gallery of future states’ of Scotland in 2040 which included future state ‘stations’ with future states, artefacts, and profiles of people from the future, displayed using creative, visual, text-based, and some AI-generated visual materials. 

This involved developing a deck of 27 trend cards based on Scottish Government research and a range of engagement materials to prompt imagination and discussion. 

Those who wish to understand the process in depth, explore the materials used, or conduct a similar engagement themselves are encouraged to consult the Methodology Appendices.

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About the publication

The Scottish Government commissioned Demos Helsinki and the Scottish Youth Parliament to support the meaningful engagement of young people in foresight work via developing and applying a methodology to understand their views, perspectives, and priorities. The UK Government Office for Science partnered with the Scottish Government and co-funded this project. This report is the output of the work.

This work aims to set a precedent for youth engagement on futures issues within the Scottish Government and forms part of the Scottish Government’s Horizon Scanning work, which identifies long-term trends, risks and opportunities for Scotland over a 10–20 year period. The report contributes to the government’s broader foresight and anticipatory governance efforts: the Scottish Government is continuing to build its work and capabilities in foresight, including exploring how the learnings from this method can be utilised in the future. 

For us, this connects to Demos Helsinki’s ongoing commitment to supporting democratic, long-term, and inclusive futures thinking. This is an exciting example of how governments are developing new approaches to act in a future-oriented manner. We drew our work for over two decades on embedding a long-term view through strategic foresight including the many lessons we have learned from the Finnish context and many others, such as South Sudan, the youngest nation.

If you would like to discuss this report, methodology, or what you could learn from the example of Scotland, please contact Lilybell Evergreen at lilybell.evergreen@demoshelsinki.fi 

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Feature image: Arnaud Mariat/Unsplash