Aaron Rosa works in the Foresight Department at the Fraunhofer Institute in Berlin, specializing in systems and innovation research. He is also a partner in the European project YouthDecide 2040, which will bring together 600 young people from across Europe to envision possible futures for democracy through creative and interactive national workshops. In this interview, he discusses what makes this participatory process unique and the goals of the workshops, which will take place in several major European cities between March and May 2026.
Missions Publiques. In your opinion, what sets young people apart from other audiences?
Aaron Rosa. When it comes to public participation, young people bring particularly rich and diverse perspectives to thinking about the future of democracy. Studies conducted2 have revealed five distinct profiles of young people’s attitudes toward democracy: 25% say they are satisfied, 17% dissatisfied, 18% are critical of the democratic system, and 16% do not consider themselves democrats, leaving an “in-between” group of 24%.
Unlike policymakers, business leaders, or organizational managers, who have their own constraints and professional experiences, young people share the realities of their daily lives and the concerns specific to their generation. These concerns are not necessarily very different from those of decision-makers, but they offer a distinct point of view. They enrich discussions with their aspirations, worries, and everyday experiences.
Other audiences tend to focus on limitations or to say, “That would never work,” whereas young people, even when faced with constraints or limits, also express their hopes and ambitions. They are often dynamic, open to creative approaches, and willing to imagine new futures. For all these reasons, working with them is extremely valuable. It also means designing our methods differently to engage them effectively.
Missions Publiques. How do you plan to involve participants who may feel less concerned by the topic or feel that their voice is not heard?
Aaron Rosa. This is indeed a methodological challenge. Overall, the project raises the following question: how do we include all voices in the conversation? When designing the structure of the national workshops, which will influence the project’s results, we particularly focused on balancing time for individual reflection and time for group co-creation. Before, during and after group work, there are moments built in so participants can pause, reflect on their thoughts and emotions, and interact with the various contents and activities. This approach allows more reserved participants, or those less familiar with the topic, to take the time to think and share their perspective on the overall theme of democracy’s future.
The goal is to create spaces where everyone feels safe enough to be honest with themselves and with others. It is a real challenge, and even if we hope we have met it, it remains essential to keep it in mind throughout the process.
"“Our goals are to give the Commission a clear view of young people’s expectations for the democracies of tomorrow and to make our methodology accessible to everyone, so that all can contribute to a better democratic future.
Aaron Rosa
Researcher at the Fraunhofer Institute
Missions Publiques. What results do you hope to achieve through these workshops?
Aaron Rosa. The goal of the national workshops is to bring together 19 distinct groups of 30 young people, all strangers to one another, to imagine the democratic societies they want to see and live in. We expect each group to create four or five scenarios of these possible democratic futures and describe how they would function.
The study results are valuable, as is the workshop process itself. Another objective is to create a toolbox that will turn the content produced during the workshops into accessible resources, tools, and methods that can be reused and adapted. This toolbox—designed to be both creative and flexible—will be ready in May 2026 in English, then translated into about 19 languages so that anyone can run their own workshops. A key part of success will be seeing participants make it their own, whether they follow the entire process or adapt it, enabling them to express their vision of what future democracies should look like. Each scenario will be analyzed to highlight diverse, yet hopeful visions of what European youth want for the democratic societies of tomorrow. The results will be shared on an online forum, then sent to the European Commission and the European Parliament, to provide decision-makers with concrete information about the expectations and aspirations of today’s and tomorrow’s citizens.
Thus, our objectives are twofold: on the one hand, to offer the European Commission a clear vision of what young people want for the democracies of tomorrow, and on the other hand, to make the toolbox accessible to everyone in Europe so that anyone interested can help build a better future for democracy.
Missions Publiques. Finally, if you had to do the same exercise yourself, how would you imagine democracy in 2040?
Aaron Rosa. Participatory budgeting often has a bad reputation because it is widely used. Yet it is precisely because it is effective that it is used so much. Giving people the opportunity to decide how to allocate shared resources is extremely important. There are also many interesting ways to experiment with decision-making in representative democratic systems. I am particularly drawn to the idea of liquid democracy, if only to test it for a few years and observe the effects. Other approaches also deserve to be explored, such as citizens’ assemblies or mechanisms that give representation to both future generations and the natural ecosystems we rely on. These are all elements I hope will be part of the future of democratic governance.
I also believe Europe is well positioned to achieve this. It won’t be easy, nowhere will it be easy, but the combination of diversity, energy, strong values, and political will here makes progress possible, perhaps more effectively than in other regions. It won’t be easy anywhere, but the combination of diversity, energy, strong values, and political will here makes progress possibly more efficiently than in other regions.
