“Stories make, prop up, and bring down systems. Stories shape how we understand the world, our place in it, and our ability to change it.”

Ella Saltmarshe

The long climb to the Acropolis is worth it for young people from Sweden, who introduce their film with reflections on telling and retelling history.
“To tell our stories we need to find new experiences.” Visitors from Spain find inspiration in the spirit of Athens.
Our hosts in Athens share their city in a short film giving us a glimpse of hidden spaces and alternative histories.
At our workshop in Athens, participants from Germany explore the historic sites of the ancient city.
At our Future Narratives Symposium held in Krefeld, young people presented their ideas about education in the future, emphasising the importance of creating schools which support mental health.
Is the future written in stone, or do we create it? Amanda de Miguel Serrano, student of Pedagogy from the University of Seville, considers how we can shape our own futures.
Our first dissemination event, held at the University of Seville in November 2021. Hear from our partnership and guest experts Wendy Schultz and Miguel Angel Ballesteros.
Enjoy a glimpse of our final transnational workshop in Sweden, where 32 young people involved throughout the project came together to delve deeper into Future Narratives.
Watch the art show created by young people at the Future Narratives workshop in Sweden, presented at our dissemination event and an installation in Sollentuna Library.
In this short film, created in Sollentuna and shown at our dissemination event, a young participant shares his journey to Sweden and his passion for MMA.
Thomas Nyman, Chairman of the Culture and Leisure Council of Sollentuna Municipality, talks at our dissemination event about the power of storytelling for young people.
From Seville, Violeta Brito talks about the ways in which stories and narratives can transform us, our communities, and our societies. Listen to her perspective from Spain.
Why do you think it is important to think, talk, reflect or dream about the future? Young people from four countries across Europe reflect on how the way we look at the future can shape our reality.
Held at Krefeld, Germany, in September 2022, our Future Narratives Symposium included Stefan Bergheim on ‘Futures Literacy – experiencing diversity’ and young people’s presentations on their Futures Lab.
At our final dissemination event in Sollentuna, young participants presented their work in storytelling through theatre.
Discover the stories prepared by young people and presented at our dissemination event in Sollentuna. Their short stories represent “important moments in our lives, feelings, thoughts and dreams.”
Social entrepreneur Leo Razzak presents his own story at our dissemination event in Sollentuna, and his search for the narratives that can bring about change.
Alina Siegfried, storyteller, narrative strategist, and spoken word artist, talks about the ways in which ‘storytelling and narrative shape the world around us’, and the new possibilities we can imagine through new myths.
Riel Miller, UNESCO’s Head of Foresight, discusses the ways in which our expectations shape our understanding of the future, the power structures which underlie the ways in which the future is perceived, and the importance of embracing uncertainty.
Rapper and storyteller Alim Kamara in which he talks about the way stories can transport us, the importance of getting rid of ‘stinkin thinkin’, and the role of the storyteller in helping people to ‘navigate this thing called life’.
Alim Kamara energises us through the power of storytelling. A young girl dreams every night of being chased by a monster – but what happens when she turns to face it? See a master performer and storyteller at work!
Timothy Mark, founder of “Family Tree International“, Graz, Austria, discusses the artistic process of a sculptor, and how he opens up more fluent and extensive visual storytelling methods by moving from fine art to a more interdisciplinary artistic approach.
Sohail Inayatullah, UNESCO Chair in Futures Studies at IIUM, Malaysia, talks about how we can map the future by tracing historical patterns, and why organisations need to look beyond strategy and focus more on narratives in order to create more sustainable futures.
Chené Swart, narrative coach and consultant, on ‘re-author our worlds through stories’. How can we ‘focus on the stories we want to grow in our own lives’, and ‘what are the stories that really matter to us’?
Nerina Finetto, founder and director of Traces&Dreams and co-ordinator of the Future Narratives project, explores the power of narrative in every part of human experience, and the importance of seeing the stories that govern our lives.
Annette Sickert Karam is a Trainer and Coach for Intercultural Competence and Team Development. Here she speaks to the Future Narratives project about myths and their importance.
Kwan-Lamer Blount-Hill, scholar of criminology and criminal justice at Arizona State University, talks about the stories we tell about the criminal justice system, including police brutality, and how these stories should be understood within historical master narratives.
In a second extract, Kwan-Lamer Blount-Hill argues for the importance of documenting, sharing and acknowledging stories of policing in their completeness, to allow for the possibility of narrative shift – stories that lead to positive change.
Black Lives Matter and public protests about the criminal justice system have raised awareness of police brutality. Kwan-Lamer Blount-Hill asks how the consequent discussion can create one narrative shared by all.
Michael Müller, professor of Media Analysis and Media Conception at Stuttgart Media University, considers how we can tell stories of the future after ‘the end of history’, and presents a system for understanding different future stories.
Michael Müller talks further about the power of narrative, guiding us through five rules for ethically responsible storytelling, and reflects on what is at stake when we decide to tell our stories.
Futures Literacy is ‘the capacity of knowing how to use the future with different methods and for different purposes. Stefan Bergheim, director of the Center for Societal Progress in Frankfurt, explains how we can discover, innovate and create different futures.
A conversation with Adam Sharpe, meaningful youth engagement and foresight specialist, where he describes his approach to helping young people to achieve their full potential.
How do the dominant narratives we share about the future understand the societies we create? Ivana Milojević, future studies expert of the University of the Sunshine Coast, talks about ‘decolonising the future’ through new narratives and assumptions.
In this second extract, Stefan Berheim explains Futures Literacy Labs. Through a four-stage process – reveal, reframe, rethink, act – FLLs offer a powerful method to imagine multiple possible futures and how they might be brought about.
At our Future Narratives symposium in Seville, Wendy Schultz, director of Infinite Futures told us ‘the future(s) are yours to imagine’. She explores images of the future from the past and present, and argues that ‘we are all on a hero’s journey’.

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