Visions Toolkit

A toolkit to equip young Europeans to

collect and develop shared future visions

for a Green New Deal

What is the Visions Toolkit?

The Visions Toolkit contains instructions and tools to support YFOEE facilitators to run a variety of outreach activities, in three phases, enabling diverse individuals and groups across Europe to:

1. Identify and map their values
2. Explore changes today and share perspectives on possible futures
3. Develop and share visions for national Green New Deals, and prototype ways forward.

What’s in the toolkit?

For each phase, you will find:

• A short introduction
• Step-by-step guides for facilitators
• Activity worksheets
• Tools to use in the activities, such as explanations and examples
• Guidelines for sharing insights across YFOEE

In addition, please find here a separate ‘Presentation’ slide deck for you to use in group work or on video calls. Feel free to create your own copy of this so you can tailor it to your needs.

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Tips for facilitators

Great facilitators make it easy for other people to share their thoughts. They don’t have all the answers, but they guide you through a process. Here are some tips:

• Before you begin, think through each activity step by step. Make sure you leave enough time and yet allow some for some flexibility (through scheduled breaks or ‘buffer’ periods in the schedule), to ensure you can reach the outcomes you want.
• Prepare your materials, and how you will record the outputs.
• Give clear instructions for each activity, including the aim, the process, the outputs, and the time they should spend.
• Create a Safer Space together, by beginning your first session with a discussion of the Safer Spaces Policy. Foster a spirit of mutual respect.
• Regularly check that participants know what they are doing by asking open questions, such as: “What is the first thing you are going to do?”

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Adapt the activities to your context

The activities can be adapted to suit different contexts. Look for these icons to see which settings are appropriate for each activity.

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Live group

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Home alone

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Group call

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Social media

Working in different contexts

Here are some tips to make the activities effective in different contexts:

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Live group

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Home alone

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Group call

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Social media

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Use round tables

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Have post-its and pens on each table ��Support quiet people to speak up

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Find a way for people to ask their questions

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Collect and share insights across the community

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Use online whiteboards to help participants share ideas, and multiple online meetings for breakout groups.

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Use a platform with an engaged community. Adapt the exercises to make it easy and fun for people to engage with them.

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Look for this icon for suggested timings. Plan how much time you will spend on each activity. Allow more time challenges such as a large group, younger or mixed ages, and multiple languages.

Useful online tools

Whiteboards:�https://app.ziteboard.com �www.mural.co �https://miro.com �Zoom whiteboard�Google slides��Word cloud generators: �https://monkeylearn.com/word-cloud/

Meeting rooms for breakout groups:�https://whereby.com/user/signup

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Share your findings across YFOEE

It’s important to record insights from your activities and share them across YFOEE, for greater impact both nationally and at the European level.

Each phase concludes with a summary of what you should share and how. Please keep track of discussions and insights by taking:

• Photos or scans of completed worksheets
• Short videos of presentations
• Photos or scans of any notes from group discussions

If you have any questions, ask Josef: josef.boraei@foeeurope.org

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Any questions

You are warmly encouraged to ask questions during the three training sessions.

If you think of any outside of these calls, then please share them here.

Or you can email Josef: josef.boraei@foeeurope.org.

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Let’s begin!

The following slides talk you through the activities for each phase in turn. While you may not have time for every activity, please use them in this order.

1. Values | Map diverse values and choose values for the future
2. Futures | Explore possible futures and share perspectives
3. Visions | Develop visions and prototype ways forward

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values

Phase 1

About values

What are values? �Values are the things you believe are important in how you live your life. Every person has their own values, whether they are aware of them or not. See the next slide for examples.

How do your values affect you? �If you live in ways that are true to your values, you tend to feel good about yourself. If you feel unhappy or distressed, you may be living in ways that go against your values.

How do values shape societies? �Societies prioritise certain values, and these affect the choices they make, from healthcare and employment rights to resource management. These choices have lasting impacts for the future.

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Examples of values

Accountability

Achievement

Adventure

Altruism

Ambition

Assertiveness

Balance

Being the best

Belonging

Boldness

Calmness

Challenge

Commitment

Community

Compassion

Creativity

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Creativity

Curiosity

Decisiveness

Dependability

Determination

Diversity

Dynamism

Efficiency

Elegance

Empathy

Equality

Fairness

Faith

Fidelity

Freedom

Fun

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Generosity

Growth

Happiness

Hard Work

Honesty

Honor

Humility

Independence

Intelligence

Intuition

Joy

Justice

Love

Loyalty

Making a difference

Obedience

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Openness

Order

Originality

Perfection

Playfulness

Positivity

Professionalism

Purpose

Reliability

Resourcefulness

Restraint

Rigour

Selflessness

Self-reliance

Sensitivity

Serenity

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Stability

Teamwork

Temperance

Thankfulness

Thoughtfulness

Timeliness

Tolerance

Tradition

Trust

Truth

Understanding

Uniqueness

Unity

Usefulness

Vision

Vitality

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Source: MindTools.com

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Summary of activities

Phase 1 | Values

1.1 Share your values

• Invite individuals to share their values
• Create a values word cloud or visual

1.2 Map your values

• Create a values constellation
• Discuss how values affect relationships

1.3 Choose values for the future

• Find out how values shape societies
• Choose values to shape your future society
• Set an intention to support these values

1.1 Share your values

Introduce the topic

• Begin with the message: “Our values shape our future”.
• Explain what values are, with some examples.
• Use the slides ‘About values’ and ‘Examples of values’.
• Have a discussion about values, asking: “Which values are important to you?”

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Invite individuals to share their values

• Ask everyone to describe a time when they felt happy or sad.
• Can they spot their values, or each other’s, in these stories?
• Use the worksheet ‘Discover your values’.

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Collect the values in your group

• Make a tally of all the values mentioned in your group. Which ones are most common?
• Create a word cloud or a poster showing them all.

Worksheet | Discover your values

Describe a time when you felt happy or fulfilled.

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Which values can you spot in this story?

Describe a time when you felt sad or angry.

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Which values can you spot in this story?

1.2 Map your values

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Explore how values relate to each other

• Look at the values in your word cloud. How do the different values relate to one another? Put values that seem similar together, in families. Use the worksheet ‘Values Map’
• Can you see any relationships between the different families of values? Draw arrows to show them.

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Have a conversation about our different values

Use these questions to guide the conversation:

• “What have you learned about your values?”
• “How do your values affect your relationships?”
• “What can you do to respect other people’s values?”

Worksheet | Values map

1.3 Choose values for the future

Explore how values shape society

Play the game: ‘I spy a value’. One person names a common sight where they live, and thinks of a value behind it (without saying). Everyone else guesses which value they are thinking of. The first person to get it right takes the next turn. Here are some examples:

Player 1: “Traffic lights” Other players: “Safety? Respect? Sharing?”

Player 2: “Schools” Other players: “Learning? Discipline? Community?”

Player 3: “Theatres” Other players: “Creativity? Expression? Reflection?”

Player 4: “Sports grounds” Other players: “Fun? Competition? Achievement?”

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Choose values to shape your future society

• Lead a discussion: “Which values do we want to shape our country’s future?”
• Can everyone agree on a list of five values?
• Now have a brainstorm: “What can we do to make these values part of daily life?”
• Agree on a collective action to bring your chosen values to life.

Share your findings across YFOEE

In this folder, please share images of:�

• Your word cloud or visual of your values
• Your values maps

Please enter into this spreadsheet:

• Values to shape your country’s future
• Collective commitments to bring these values to life

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futures

Phase 2

About futures

Why talk about different futures? �The future could turn out in lots of different ways: it can’t be predicted. If we only think about one possible future, we miss opportunities to prepare for others. Imagining more than one future can help us cope better with whatever comes.

What are trends, and why do they matter? �Trends are changes we can see today that give us clues about the future. They can be political, environmental, economic, social or technological. We cannot know where a trend will lead, and one trend can change the course of another. This is why the future is impossible to predict.

Can I shape the future?�Yes. The choices we make today have a lasting impact - whether we like it or not. We are all shaping the future all the time. Why not do it on purpose?

Examples of future scenarios

Here are three different scenarios focusing on the climate in 2030, and looking at trends such as the rise of technology, human migration and sustainable lifestyles, created by Forum for the Future.

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Efficiency first

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Rapid innovation in energy efficiency technologies has created a consumerist, low-carbon world.

Wilderness exists only in a few pockets of the world.

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Redefining progress

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People are rethinking what it means to lead a fulfilling life. Meaningful jobs and stronger links with local communities are valued. Climate change is seen as one part of unsustainable living.

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Environmental war economy

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Governments control citizens’ lives more in order to deal with climate change. In spite of flood and storm defences, there are growing numbers of environmental refugees.

Source: https://www.forumforthefuture.org/climate-futures-2030

Examples of trends

Youth activism

Global protests

Anti-

Globalization

Disease outbreaks

Inequality

Migration

Climate change

Pollution

Clean energy

Robotics

Surveillance

Digitalisation

Summary of activities

Phase 2 | Futures

2.1 Talk about different futures

• Invite individuals to share the future they see
• Create a futures word cloud or visual

2.2 Look at today’s trends

• Explore where trends might lead
• Discuss how one trend impacts another

2.3 Time travel

• Make your own future scenario
• Identify risks for your future
• Brainstorm opportunities for your future

2.1 Talk about different futures

Introduce the topic

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• Begin with the message: “Different futures are possible”.
• Explain what we mean by ‘futures’. Use the descriptions in slide ‘About futures’.

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Invite individuals to share how they imagine the future

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• Invite everyone to imagine the world in 2030. It doesn’t have to be happy or sad: it can be both.
• Ask them to share the future they imagine as a story or picture. Use the worksheet ‘Imagine the future’.
• Ask everyone to sum up their idea of the future in just one word. Which words come up the most?
• Create a word cloud or a poster showing these different ideas of the future.

Worksheet | Imagine the future

How do you imagine the world in 2030?

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Write a story or draw a picture about life in 2030.

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What do you look forward to?

What fears do you have?

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Which of your values can you spot in this story?

2.2 Look at today’s trends

Where might trends lead?

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• Begin with a ten-minute warm-up game, using the worksheet ‘Believing in the impossible’.
• Now think about today’s trends. Use the slide ‘Examples of trends’. Which other trends can you think of?
• Invite every individual or small group to pick one trend they think is important.
• Where might this trend lead? Use the worksheet ‘Flowing trends’.
• Have a group discussion: What outcomes did they see? Were there any surprises?

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What happens when two different trends collide?

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Ask groups who looked at different trends in the last exercise to pair up. Together, they discuss:

• How do the two trends affect each other?
• What could happen if they play out at the same time?

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Worksheet | Believing in the impossible

“Sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.”

• The Queen of Hearts, in ‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’, by Lewis Carroll

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Pick one of these impossible things, or come up with your own. Then spend five minutes believing it is true. What impacts can you imagine?

• Zero gravity rooms are commonplace.
• The leader of a major power is a robot.
• Memory can be purposefully erased.
• You can choose your parents.
• ...?
• ...?

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Worksheet | Flowing trends

Example Worksheet | Flowing trends

2.3 Time travel

Make your own future scenario

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• In small groups, select two trends. (It’s best if they do not have an obvious correlation.)
• Imagine it is the year 2030, and that both these trends are having a big impact on your country.
• Fill in the worksheet “A future scenario for ... [name your country]”.
• See ‘Examples of future scenarios’ for inspiration.

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Discuss your future scenario

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• What risks are there in the year 2030? Make a list.
• What opportunities are there to address these risks in the next decade? Make another list.

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Worksheet | A future scenario for …………………………….

Trend 1:�Trend 2:

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Draw a picture of your scenario.

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Your scenario in three words:

How happy and healthy are people?

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Who is rich and who is poor?

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What sectors are doing well?

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What do people eat?

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Share your findings across YFOEE

In this folder, please share images of:�

• Your imagined futures
• Your flowing trends
• Your future scenarios

Please enter into this spreadsheet:

• Risks in the year 2030 (on 1st tab)
• Opportunities to address risks over the next decade (on 2nd tab)

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visions

Phase 3

About visions

What is a vision? �A vision is an idea of a desirable future. It does not have to be perfect, but it should be a future you believe is possible, and want to work towards.

What difference can a vision make? �Imagine you want to reach a point on the horizon and are walking towards it. How much easier is it if you keep your eyes fixed on that point? Having a shared vision helps us know where we want to go, and keep moving towards it.

What is the difference between a vision and a goal? �A goal is specific milestone on the road to your vision. For instance, lowering emissions by 50% is a goal - but it isn’t the whole picture. You might reach that goal, but not create the full vision, which also includes changes in health, education, the food system, and so on.

Examples of visions

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Creative Commons | “Realizing the full potential of the internet -- universal access to research and education, full participation in culture -- to drive a new era of development, growth, and productivity.”

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Australian Department of Health | “Better health and wellbeing for all Australians, now and for future generations.”

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Save the Children | “A world in which every child attains the right to survival, protection, development, and participation.”

What is the European Green Deal?

The European Green Deal is a vision. Launched in December 2019, it describes the ambition to:���

Plans under the Green Deal include:

• A new European Climate Law (the first draft was published in March 2020)
• A 50-55% cut in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 (previously 40%)
• A circular economy action plan
• A flagship building renovation programme
• A new biodiversity strategy to tackle deforestation, soil and water pollution
• A healthier agricultural system, with reduced use of chemical pesticides, fertilisers and antibiotics
• A low-carbon transport sector, with more electric vehicles and hybrid fuels

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Source: Press Release on ec.europa.eu

�“make Europe the first climate-neutral continent by 2050, boosting the economy, improving people's health and quality of life, caring for nature, and leaving no one behind”

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What does the European Green Deal mean for you?

Each country needs to do its part to make this vision possible.

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�What steps might your country take to:

“make Europe the first climate-neutral continent by 2050, boosting the economy, improving people's health and quality of life, caring for nature, and leaving no one behind”?

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What’s in the US Green New Deal?

In February 2019, the US Federal Government proposed a Green New Deal with five aims:

1. to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions through a fair and just transition for all communities and workers
2. to create millions of good, high-wage jobs and ensure prosperity and economic security for all people of the United States
3. to invest in the infrastructure and industry of the United States to sustainably meet the challenges of the 21st century
4. to secure for all people of the United States for generations to come: clean air and water; climate and community resiliency; healthy food; access to nature; and a sustainable environment
5. to promote justice and equity by stopping current, preventing future, and repairing historic oppression of indigenous peoples, communities of color, migrant communities, deindustrialized communities, depopulated rural communities, the poor, low-income workers, women, the elderly, the unhoused, people with disabilities, and youth (or “frontline and vulnerable communities”).

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Summary of activities

Phase 3 | Visions

3.1 Collect new visions

• Invite individuals to come up with visions
• Create a visions word cloud or visual

3.2 Create a shared vision

• Pool ideas for a Green New Deal
• Refine your shared vision

3.3 Design ways forward

• Make your own future scenario
• Identify risks for your future
• Brainstorm opportunities for your future

3.1 Collect new visions

Introduce the topic

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• Begin with this quote from George Bernard-Shaw: “Imagination is the beginning of creation.”
• Explain what we mean by ‘visions’. Use the descriptions in the slide ‘About visions’.
• Give some examples of visions. See the slide ‘Examples of visions’.
• Have a discussion: What visions inspire you?

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Invite individuals to come up with their own visions

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• Challenge each individual to come up with their own vision, either for their country or for Europe, in 2030.
• Each person shares their vision in a short statement, using the worksheet ‘My vision’.
• Now, ask everyone to sum up their vision in just one word. Which words come up the most?
• Create a word cloud or a poster reflecting these visions.

Worksheet | My vision for ………………………………………….

About me:

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Write or draw your own 2030 vision, either for your country or for Europe as a whole, in this scroll. Feel free to do both if there’s time!

Remember to add a short description of yourself, including your name, age, nationality, and any other important aspects of your life or identity, in the box above.

3.2 Develop a shared Green Deal vision

Pool ideas for a Green Deal

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• First share the idea of the European Green Deal, and discuss what it means for Europe and your own country. Use the slides ‘What is the European Green Deal?’ and ‘What does the European Green Deal mean for you?’
• Brainstorm ideas for a Green Deal. The more ideas the better. You can use post-it notes in a group workshop, or an online whiteboard in a video call.
• Collect the ideas, and organise them into themes.

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Prioritise the ideas to create a shared vision

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• Vote for the most impactful ideas. Each person has two votes.
• Now create a shared vision statement based on the top ideas. Use the worksheet ‘Our Green Deal’.
• Challenge the group to communicate the vision in a creative way to inspire others. Consider using performance, posters, songs, photos or videos. Remember to make a recording!

Worksheet | Our Green Deal for …………………………………….

3.3 Design ways forward

Kickstart your Green New Deal

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• How can you act on your vision for a Green New Deal? Discuss what you can do, and what other players can do. Use the worksheet: ‘How might we make our Green New Deal come true?”
• What are the major milestones between now and 2030? Use the worksheet: ‘Milestones to 2030’.

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Prototype your ideas

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• Choose one idea to kickstart your vision.
• Use creative materials (modelling clay, pipe cleaners, lego, collage etc.) to show what you will do or build.
• Make an exhibition of your vision statements and creative prototypes for a Green New Deal.

Worksheet | How might we

make our Green Deal a reality?

What can we do?

What can government do?

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What can communities do?

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What can businesses do?

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Worksheet | Milestones to 2030

2020 2025

2025 2030

Share your findings across YFOEE

In this folder, please share images of:�

• Individual visions
• Your Green New Deal for your country

Please enter into this spreadsheet:

• Actions to make the Green New Deal a reality
• Milestones to 2030

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Friends of the Earth Europe gratefully acknowledges financial assistance from the European Union. The sole responsibility for the content of this event materials lies with Friends of the Earth Europe.

It does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the funder(s) mentioned above. The funder(s) cannot be held responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained therein.

All set?

Any questions: josef.boraei@foeeurope.org