Posted: 27th January 2025

Future Narratives workshops in Greece

A key part of the Future Narratives 2 training is to enable youth workers to put their ideas into practice and explore the many ways in which our approach can be implemented with young people. Facilitated by Inter Alia, trained practitioners have been hosting workshops across Greece exploring ideas of home, community, and positive futures.

My Neighborhood 2050

Maria Stergiou and Niki Verykokkou organised their own Future Literacy & Storytelling workshop on December 20th, titled: “My Neighborhood in 2050”. As part of the workshop, 10 young people from various neighborhoods of Athens, with an interest in the future of our communities, gathered at the Community Space of Inter Alia.

Using several tools from the Future Narratives training for trainers and discussing in groups, the participants were able to identify common problems faced by neighborhoods in Athens, understand the mechanisms behind the formation of narratives, and think about potential futures and alternative solutions.
What impressed them was how people, who were strangers to each other, were able to, through interaction, enrich each other’s perspectives and, in this way, co-create new visions for their neighborhoods.

A place to call home or Where is home, really?

Effie Papadopoulou, (Storytelling SKG), in collaboration with Novus Mente, organized a series of creative workshops for young people aged 14 – 16 from Thessaloniki. These sessions took place on January 19th and 26th, with two more scheduled for February 16th and 22nd,

Designed for participants with an interest in culture, arts, travel, and sciences, the workshops centered around the thought-provoking theme: “Where is home, really?” Through this theme, participants explored the concept of “home” from multiple perspectives – physical, emotional, cultural, and environmental. Individually, they crafted autobiographical storytelling pieces that reflected their personal experiences and presented them to the group. Through brainstorming and discussions, participants explored future possibilities related to the theme, considering the bigger picture of how ideas can be developed to shape the future and inspire the reimagination of societies. They were introduced to storytelling techniques, narrative construction, and practices such as the future wheel and design thinking. The workshops also emphasized the role of storytelling in social change, encouraging active participation in shaping society. This process fostered teamwork, creativity, and the ability to connect personal narratives to broader social themes. In the final two workshops, participants will create a concluding video that captures both their present experiences and their visions for the future of “home.”

The workshops provided a meaningful space for self-expression, collaboration, and social reflection. The final presentation of their work will highlight the multifaceted significance of “home” in both today’s and tomorrow’s world.

Future Narratives: Dreaming of Kypseli

On January 25, 2025, Maria Tsoukana organised the workshop “Future Narratives: Dreaming of Kypseli”which took place from 12:00 to 17:00 in the mezzanine of the café-bookstore Literature House at 67 Ioannou Drossopoulou Street in Kypseli. The young participants, aged 18–30, who live or work in the area, took part.

They started with some icebreaker exercises, where Maria introduced them to the concepts of storytelling and the Future Narratives project. She asked them to share a few words about their feelings regarding the future and about Kypseli. Next, they designed a Story Arc and collaboratively created a short story based on it. Each person contributed one sentence, which the next participant built upon, repeating this process through several rounds.

Afterward, she distributed maps of the area, and they went on a 40-minute walk together. During the walk, they marked places/things they liked and others they didn’t on the maps. Returning to their workshop space, they discussed these observations and developed a story about a potential vision for Kypseli in 2045. They visualised this story on a large cardboard sheet in the form of a collage.

The participants felt that they saw their neighborhood with fresh eyes, noticing spots they usually overlook and taking an interest in landmarks that had fascinating stories. They realised that every corner holds one or more stories, which they felt connected to, yet not confined by. They dreamed of the future of the area and envisioned themselves in it, committing to make that future as optimistic and bright as possible.

Education in the Age of Artificial Intelligence: An Intergenerational Dialogue

Valia Loutrianaki organised an interactive workshop that brought together two distinct groups: one of educators aged 28–45 and another of students aged 15–17. A total of 25 participants engaged in two separate sessions, where the experiences and narratives of the first group were creatively woven into the discussions of the second. The goal was to uncover common threads, highlight generational differences, and co-create an educational vision inspired by both perspectives.
The first part of the workshop focused on building connections and encouraging creative expression through interactive exercises and improvisation.

Then, participants explored their school experiences through metaphor-based prompts using the cards of the Dixit board game and storytelling. The joy of breaks and school trips, the impact of supportive teachers, and the importance of group projects and creative expression were the common that emerged. Also, in pairs, they randomly selected cards with simple designs and, inspired by the images on the cards, they created a dialogue where they shared moments that have shaped them, either positively or negatively, taking on any role they wish (teacher, student, parent, etc.).

Later, each participant randomly selected a card with a letter to collectively create the “Alphabet of the School We Dream Of.” The words that were chosen indicated things that should be present in every school. These were some of the words that were gathered and presented: Solidarity, Help, Constructive Dialogue, Action, Events, Vitality, Sun and Nature, Courage, Ideas.

Before closing the workshop, participants engaged into a discussion about what is changing in schools due to artificial intelligence and their expectations for the next ten years. They also created the logo of their school for the future, including the values they believe it will stand for.
They closed the workshop by writing down what they never want to see in education again (bullying, isolation, arrogance, excessive stress, and meaningless memorisation). They made a clear statement for a more engaging, student-centered, and inclusive learning environment.