Envisioning Sustainability: Exploring Young People’s Visions of the Future

Abstract

The complex problem of climate change and its related issues calls for a creative and nuanced solution. Envisioning has been proposed as a method for deriving potential pathways forward, especially in exploring the facets of the future that people feel hopeful or pessimistic about. This study used both surveys (n=75) and interviews (n=21) to explore how environmentally-concerned young people at a large Midwestern university envision the most likely and best-case scenarios for the future, offering insights into potential sources of hope and action plans for this population. Findings from this work suggest that there is no one shared vision among environmentally-concerned young people, but that technological advancements, top-down change, and a focus on climate anxiety and hope are all critical facets for consideration of the future. These findings point to the enormous potential for universities and other institutions to use this exercise to inspire individuals to action, especially those that will live well into the future and deal with its consequences.