YOUTH & EDUCATION

Young people are growing up in times shaped by climate disruption, ecological loss, economic instability, and social uncertainty.

Too often, education responds by:
  • overwhelming them with problems
  • placing responsibility for “saving the planet” on their shoulders
  • pushing them toward solutions before they have space to make sense of the world
  • measuring success through confidence, performance, or impact

​This can quietly undermine wellbeing, agency, and belonging.
I work from a different starting point.

My work supports young people to develop futures literacy as a lived capacity - grounded in belonging, relationship, and care - so they can orient themselves in uncertain times without being forced to carry futures alone.
Supporting young people and educators as changemakers
Working with young people and educators, this practice supports:
  • a sense of belonging — to self, others, place, and the more‑than‑human world
  • the ability to imagine futures without fear or pressure to fix everything
  • agency rooted in care, not urgency
  • confidence to stay with complexity and uncertainty
  • ethical and long‑term ways of thinking about change
  • wellbeing through meaning, connection, and participation

This is not about preparing young people to become “green entrepreneurs” or climate heroes.

It is about supporting them to become grounded, futures‑oriented citizens and co‑inhabitants with Nature in communities.
Why young people need futures literacy
Futures literacy helps young people learn how futures ideas shape how they think, feel, and act in the present.
Through futures‑led educational practices, young people can:
  • explore how narratives about the future influence their choices today
  • question dominant stories about progress, success, and responsibility
  • imagine multiple possible futures — not just catastrophic or heroic ones
  • develop hope that is realistic, relational, and grounded

​Futures literacy here is relational and reflective — not predictive or strategic.
Futures
Wonder
​Labs®
Futures Wonder Labs® are interactive, learning‑by‑doing workshops that bring together futures literacy, imagination, and reflective practice.
These spaces support young people to:
  • explore questions and concerns they genuinely care about
  • reconnect with curiosity and wonder
  • build self‑efficacy and belief in their capacity to participate
  • practice ethical thinking and collective sense‑making
  • experience imagination as a shared, supportive process

​Rather than pushing toward outputs, Futures Wonder Labs® prioritize relationships, collective imagination and creativity, cultural heritage and collaboration.
Who this work is for
This work supports:
  • young people across formal and non-formal education settings
  • schools, colleges, and learning organisations
  • youth programmes and community initiatives
  • educators and facilitators seeking different ways of working
  • projects engaging young people in questions of sustainability, place, and futures
  • schools seeking to integrate Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) or Climate Change Education (CCE)

The work adapts to age, context, and culture — while staying grounded in belonging and care.
What this is not...to be clear, this work is not about:
​
  • telling young people what futures they should want
  • pushing them toward action without reflection
  • extracting ideas, energy, or outputs
  • using youth engagement to legitimise predetermined agendas

​This work takes young people seriously — as sense‑makers, not instruments of change.
An invitation if you are working with young people and sense that:
  • urgency has begun to eclipse care
  • imagination feels constrained or burdened
  • wellbeing, belonging, and agency need attention

​This work offers space to slow down, reconnect with meaning, and support young people to stand in relationship with the world they are inheriting — and shaping.
Experiencing this work
My work with youth and educators is guided by principles of care and responsibility:
  • learning happens through experience, reflection, and dialogue
  • participation is invitational, not performative
  • diverse ways of knowing are welcomed and respected
  • failure, uncertainty, and not‑knowing are treated as part of learning
  • wellbeing is seen as a foundation, not a side outcome

Formats vary depending on context, but may include:
  • workshops and learning labs
  • curriculum co‑design
  • educator and facilitator support
  • reflective learning spaces embedded in programmes
Partnering with Innovation Teachers Academy (InTA)
I partner with Innovating Teachers Academy - InTA - to deliver specific courses for educators, to build their futures literacy.

New dates are always being scheduled, so don't hesitate to be in touch if you want to know more.

Futures-Storytelling in Education for Sustainable Development

Embed Climate Change Education: Find Signals and Increase Students' Hope 
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CASE STUDY: INNOVATION CAMP, GENEVA YOUTH CALL
​Supporting the Geneva Youth Call
co-founders and team to launch the 1st World Youth Assembly ​in Geneva in 2022

trusted by...

CASE STUDY: RAISING YOUTH VOICES THROUGH A FUTURES WONDER LAB, CHESHIRE EAST LIBRARIES
Empowering young people to value their imagination, generate innovative ideas with their creativity, and feel activated as local climate change problem-solvers.
"From the very first interaction I had with Elaine, two things were clear: she knew what she was talking about and she had what it takes to help my students raise the game.
Elaine was easily reachable and extremely proactive, which meant that she already had a strong sense of what we were trying to achieve before she had even set the foot in our school.
Sharing the core values of our school as well as deeply connecting with her target audience, Elaine led our students to go beyond what I thought them capable of, embracing and making their own the notions of 'value proposition', 'value chain structure', 'profitability model' as well as 'social, ecological and leadership awareness'.
​Suddenly the UN Sustainable Development Goals were no longer an element you needed to refer to at some point in your presentation but a clear call to action that resonated in all the students' decisions...'
Aurelia Thompson-McNicol, College Alpin Beau Soleil 
Get in touch to talk about your needs
 "I liked this because I was able to express my creativity. It was also very interactive, fun and the same time I learned a lot. It taught me how to create ideas from a starting point which helped me in other subjects. I recommend it to students and young business people because it helps you to create ideas, think more creatively and use visual maps to think more efficiently."
Yr 8 student, St George's International School of Switzerland
You can also become part of the Flourishing Futures Collective community, where we imagine, learn and explore more together. ​