Our actions
The future of pluriversal peace
Partners
Semillero de Paz “Entre Voces y Relatos”; Next Generation Foresight Practitioners (NGFP)
Year
2024
Services
Participatory foresight · Facilitation · Action research
We work with young researchers (aged 12-21) to imagine preferable futures of pluriversal peace and translate them into present actions. A participatory process that integrates foresight and narrative to move from imagination to transformation.
CHALLENGE
The Semillero de Paz Entre Voces y Relatos is located in Comuna 5 in Medellín, Colombia, and focuses on giving a voice to children and young people affected by the armed conflict in our country. Their experiences and stories are often left out of peace talks, something they are trying to change.
Based on the work of the Semillero, the challenge was to extend this perspective into the future, while training them in foresight under the learn-by-doing model.
APPROACH
To define the pedagogical process and tools for each stage of the process, we held a co-creation workshop with the young researchers from Semillero. Listening to their voices and ideas was key to enriching the prospective methodology with their experiences and desires.
Through these exercises, we empowered these young people to imagine and shape narratives of preferable futures characterized by sustainable pluriversal peace and eco-social transitions.
IMPACT
- Visions for 2045 narrated by young researchers: everyday pluriversal peace, care, belonging, and community agency.
- Prioritized actions: such as care agreements, talking circles, and mapping neighborhood interventions.
- Replicable foresight methodology: Inspired by the Semillero methodology (Feel, Think, Envision, Transform).
- Strengthening the Semillero as a space for learning, listening, and intergenerational cooperation.
What does the Semillero do?
Entre voces y relatos (Between Voices and Stories) is a school research seedbed (Semillero) that carries out research exercises, designs audiovisual educational resources, and stages performances within the framework of the armed conflict that defines Colombia’s recent history. To this end, it addresses three lines of inquiry: Memory, Territory, and Peace. Its main aim is to train peace builders who can contribute to the symbolic reparation of students who have experienced early victimization.
The seedbed contributes to youth training in history and memory research, while promoting critical awareness of the country’s recent past.
It is a beautiful project that inspires us and gives us hope. Learn more on their YouTube channel and Instagram.
This project builds a bridge between the past and the future, allowing the experiences and lessons of history to foster the creation of alternative scenarios for a brighter tomorrow.
Key Findings
Feel
Exploration through play and emotions made it clear where to focus our energy: strengthening bonds and cultural recognition, caring for mental health and emotions, promoting youth participation with a focus on peace, and channeling technology to serve the common good and the territory.
Think
The possible consequences of key signals of change, such as artificial intelligence, mental health, emerging identities, and political polarization, include disruptive ideas such as the disappearance of gender or rights of machines; but also hopeful scenarios, such as new forms of critical citizenship and fairer social models.
Envision
This stage provided a vision for 2045 dominated by five characteristics: supportive communities with a vibrant identity, ethical technologies with a public purpose, experiential and emotional education, care for nature and all forms of life, and peaceful governance with memory and everyday justice.
Transform
This stage resulted in a portfolio of immediate actions that translate the visions for 2045 and are grouped into five areas: (1) Nature: green regulations and habits; (2) Community: festivals and knowledge sharing events, support networks, intergenerational encounters, and security based on mutual care; (3) Purposeful technology: digital literacy and AI, civic-environmental applications, educational profiles and content; (4) Peace and coexistence: dialogue circles, mediation, non-violence and memory campaigns; (5) Education and empowerment: personalized curricula, social-emotional learning, student carousels, and youth leadership.
The foresight exercise allowed the young researchers to imagine disruptive ideas, showing that foresighting what is to come is a powerful way to transform the present.
How we did it
01
Methodological co-creation
Inspired by the Semillero’s method and the creativity of its members, we created a methodological roadmap for foresight.
02
Learning by doing
Biweekly meetings through the stages: Feel, Think, Envision, and Transform.
03
Preferable scenarios for 2045
Through three coordinated stages: defining the setting, constructing a character, and writing the story.
04
Actions today
We translated speculative scenarios into concrete, everyday actions that are possible starting now—on a personal, school, family, and community level.
“The actions identified allow us to articulate a comprehensive vision that combines hope and critical lucidity. The young people of Semillero don’t just want better worlds: they are thinking, narrating, and organizing them with clarity, ethics, and creativity.”
This project is an invitation to walk differently. It does not seek to offer recipes or closed solutions. It is, like the Semillero itself, a gesture of openness. A sowing of questions that remind us that other futures are not only possible, but are already taking shape—among voices, among stories, among resistance and tenderness.
Because in the cracks of the dying world, the worlds to come are flourishing.
Imagine and take action for peace today
Discussions and workshops to co-create with young people, teachers, and allies. Customized design, facilitation, and support to imagine futures, narrate them, and turn them into concrete steps: safe, measurable, and low-cost.
Acknowledgements
We would like to extend our special thanks to the young participants of the Semillero Entre Voces y Relatos. Their work and commitment to peace are an example to be followed by current and future generations. We admire them greatly.
- Miguel Angel Betancur Serna
- Adaluz Cabrera Meses
- Andrés Felipe Carmona Barrera
- Isabela Chavarria Pérez
- Samuel Cifuentes Herrera
- Sonia Valentina Contreras García
- Mariana García Duque
- Deivid Stiven Lemus Muñetón
- Farley Alexander Lemus Muñetón
- María Paulina Marín
- Matias Pineda Ospina
- Samuel Pérez Bedoya
- Adriana Ramos Fernández
- Sofía Rodríguez
- Juan Rúa
- Juan Esteban Tabares
- Jerónimo Urrego
For their inspiration, perseverance, and support, we thank professors Maribel Aguirre and Jaime Parra.