How can young people genuinely participate in educational decision‑making, rather than merely being “listened to”? Drawing on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), this article explores the central role of youth participation in creating a futures literate education system. It argues that young people are not merely citizens of the future, but also key participants in current education and social decision-making. Meaningful youth engagement goes beyond token consultation; it empowers young people to take part in genuine decision‑making and co‑create collective futures.

According to Article 12.1 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) “states parties shall assure to the child who is capable of forming his or her own views the right to express those views freely in all matters affecting the child, the views of the child being given due weight in accordance with the age and maturity of the child” (UNCRC, 1989). While much has been achieved to empower child/youth views about their lives, there is much to be done to realise their right to meaningfully participate fully in decision making processes.

Being futures literate requires an open individual/collective imagination to envision possibilities, opportunities and challenges for what the future holds for all individuals in our societies (Miller, 2018). Children and young people are key agents for re/imaging our worlds (Green and Nixon, 2020), with the capability as active citizens of our ‘now’ society to meaningfully contribute to setting the course for what we can imagine for the ‘future’. However, it is the role of policy makers, stakeholders and all adults working across society to create and sustain spaces, opportunities and processes to ensure meaningful youth participation (Horgan and Kennan, 2022). This is essential to re/imagining our collective futures.

Creativity proffers optimal conditions required to liberate imagination as a means to reorienting the future, most especially within the educational context. Educators play a crucial role in facilitating future oriented dialogue supporting the flourishing of creativity through the pedagogic encounter – the formal and informal interaction between educator and learner. Young people are at the heart of our education system, and as such, it is imperative to adopt a democratic approach to enabling their voice(s) and active participation when reimagining the future for generations to come.

Positive relationships are an important foundation through which positive pedagogy in education can be realised (Hickey & Riddle, 2024). Positive encounters support the creative awakening of imagination. Placing humanity at the centre of this re/imagining of future is crucial to nurturing care, empathy and compassion among citizens. These values provide a moral compass to those working and engaging in education as they navigate future uncertainties. The complexities of navigating an increasingly interconnected, complex and rapidly changing world require us to respond in a dynamic way. Educating for wellbeing (McGillicuddy, 2024) provides a framework within which the intersection between (1) care, empathy, compassion, (2) relational pedagogy and (3) democratic approaches to co-creating learning in education can be nurtured. Within this framework, nurturing positive relationships between educator and learner is essential to nurturing positive wellbeing through pedagogy. Realising this through democratic pedagogy, sharing the locus of power between educator and pupil/student, facilitates more meaningful approaches to embed child/youth participation in everyday classroom decision making.

While there is evidence of child/youth voice(s) facilitated in education (Littlefair & Jopling, 2025), less evident is their active participation in decision making processes from conceptualisation to evaluation and re/iteration. However, shifting from tokenism to active citizenship is more challenging as it demands time, space and processes to support meaningful participation in decision-making. It also demands a shift to a future-orientated embedded participatory model to liberate curiosity and imagination. Accountability is key to measuring and evaluating whether governance policy and structures are working to realise or constrain child/youth participation across our societal institutions, including education (Lundy, 2018).

Futures literacy enables society to re/imagine a future that is possible for all (Miller, 2018). It requires individuals to consider hopes and fears, as well as dreams and aspirations for the future. Until children and young people are fully included within this process, our governance and societal structures fail them in their democratic right to realise their full citizenship (Bečević & Dahlstedt, 2022). While countries such as Ireland and Luxembourg have policy actively embedding youth participation in decision making, realising such practices across all institutions in our society (such as education) is more complex. Decision making happens across all levels in our societies evident through international youth parliaments (e.g. European Youth Parliament), national youth parliaments (e.g Dáil na nÓg in Ireland) and youth advisory panels at institutional level (such as youth councils/youth advisory panels (YAPs) and involvement of young people in UNESCO Futures Literacy Labs).

Enabling the co-creation of futures literacy in education between educator and pupil/student can set the course for a youth centred future. Co-creation can equip all participants with the skills and capacity to address complex societal opportunities and challenges as they arise (Gini-Newman & Case, 2018) including climate change, digital transformation, geopolitical and economic uncertainty and ensuring a more inclusive and sustainable society.

An Irish language (Gaeilge) proverb states ‘Mól an óige agus tiocfaidh siad’ – encourage the youth and they will thrive. By creating spaces, places and time for children and young people to re/imagine their futures through creative and participatory processes we can strive to ensure all generations flourish and thrive across a society where their contributions are meaningfully recognised, valued and translated into action.

Recommendations

Policy makers should consider

Outlining approaches for creating optimal conditions to ensure meaningful youth participation in decision making across all governance and societal structures

Providing an evaluative framework for educators to reflect on the effectiveness of participative approaches

Ensuring educators have greater agency in co-creating democratic approaches to pedagogy to cultivate compassion, creativity and active citizenship in education

Adopting a values-based approach to educational policy making, embedding futures literacy through democratic and compassionate pedagogy.

(This article was written by Dr. Deirdre McGillicuddy, Assistant Professor of Education at the School of Education, University College Dublin, Ireland. This contribution is part of UNESCO’s online compendium, which followed a call for thought pieces on the occasion of UNESCO World Futures Day 2024, focusing on the theme: The Future of Global Social and Economic Progress. ）