The Young Minds of februari
Generational Anthropology: Intergenerational issues, Selfsee, Future Design, Seventh Generation Principle Haudenosaunee, Whakapapa Mãori, Generation Politics
“NEXTGENDA: HOW CAN WE, THE CURRENT GENERATIONS, SHAPE THE FUTURE FOR THE UNBORN GENERATIONS OF TOMORROW”.
INTERGENERATIONAL ISSUES
For many of the issues we (will) be confronted with we have to look beyond the current generations. Challenges such as global warming and World Wide Health require a long-term vision. But also issues at the level of local authorities, such as the operation and maintenance and repair of bridges, roads, water supply and sewerage systems, require a long-term vision. Intergenerational issues with a horizon of several decades. However, there is a strong tendency to reflect on these issues in periods of a few years at the most. When it comes to high costs for current generations, we are unlikely to accept those costs for the benefit of Future generations. We, the present generations, make the decision, and Future generations have no place at this table. We believe that the interests of Future generations should be protected. But before that we must first dare to make our Selfsee.
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF YOUR FUTURE SELF
“People are works in progress who mistakenly think they are ready”.
In his TED Talk entitled "The Psychology of Your Future Self," Daniel Gilbert, a Harvard psychologist, explains a fascinating finding of his research. First, Gilbert explains that when asked if we think we are the same person we were 10 years ago, most will answer no. It is quite easy to see changes from our past to our present selves. But when we are asked to look to the future it gets interesting. While we can discern changes from the past, we consistently underestimate our changes that will take place in the future.
‘THE SEVENTH-GENERATION PRINCIPLE’ OF THE HAUDENOSAUNEE (IROQUOIS)
"What are the consequences of our actions for our children and the seven generations after that?"
# 7 is a documentary about the journey that artist Rem van den Bosch made to Haudenosaunee in North America. A Native American clan, also known as the Iroquois, that has lived for centuries in the tradition of the seventh generations principles. The Haudenosaunee believe that the business model is mother Earth and that we have her on loan. With every social decision that is made, they think seven generations ahead. What are the consequences of our actions for our children and the seven generations that follow.
It is known that the Founding Fathers, George Washington and Benjamin Franklin, greatly admired the concepts, principles and governmental practices of the "Six Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy". They were actually informed by their "Confederacy of the Great Law of Peace," and many of their democratic principles are enshrined in the United States Constitution. The transition from thirteen colonies to one Republic has also been explicitly designed according to this model. Also look at the symbols the eagle and arrows on a dollar bill that both the Haudenosaunee and the United States used to indicate the unity between their respective peoples. The Founding Fathers not only recognized the value of the original inhabitants, but also saw the added value to what their actions would mean for the future generation in the long term.
In the run-up to the Future Design session, Rem van Den Bosch will take us along in his Genie from the bottle on March 30 at 5:00 pm will take us along in his experiences and the ideas of the Haudenosaunee and the Seventh Generation Principle.
FUTURE DESIGN: WHAT CAN I LEARN TO MAKE OUR FUTURE BETTER?
Future Design is a policy-making mechanism implemented and researched under the direction of Japanese professor Tatsuyoshi Saijo. The idea is simple: if there is no one to protect the interests of future generations, assign people to "take on the role of Future generations" and let them stand up for Future generations. Professor Saijo was inspired by the seventh-generation thinking of the Iroquois we mentioned before. After back-and-forth mail traffic, we exchanged ideas extensively with Professor Saijo last week and discussed the possibilities of our collaboration. A lot of enthusiasm has arisen from both sides for an in-depth collaboration. We are therefore proud that we will design a session together with him and his team in the coming month. This will result in a first session that we will organize together with Professor Saijo and will take place on April 1 from 10.00 - 12.00. It is no coincidence that Generation Politics will be returning. For us, it is the start of an undoubtedly fruitful collaboration. Are you interested and / or do you want to participate? Please let us know and send us an email
GENERATIONAL ANTHROPOLOGY
In our research, sessions and trajectories, we combine our knowledge of social and cultural anthropology with generation expertise. We want to encourage the sharing of knowledge and expertise between the generations of today with the focus on the issues that will arise in the future. Therefore we, cultural anthropologist and development sociologist Maxime de Jonge, Imagineer Daan Jansen, social anthropologist and art historian Emma Atkin-Brenninkmeyer, Imagineer Daan Jansen and generation and transition expert Maurice van Rooijen created a new field of work that we at Young Minds call "Generational Anthropology". Although these aren’t all new methodologies, the ways in which they complement each other is original.
We believe that generations are about connections and contrasts, and often conflicts too, in a perspective of time. The meaning of generations, intergenerational within families or throughout history, is more common than observing as or multi-generational acting on behalf of Future Generations. At Young Minds we see a focus on reciprocity and process in social structure as a powerful analytical tool. With Generational Anthropology we aim to build resilience in order to move forward in the future with greater confidence. For this it is important to become aware that traditional views on the economy, society and relationship with the environment have changed. With this we build on innovative capacity for current and future generations.
WHAKAPAPA OF THE MÃORI
Whakapapa: The Māori concept of connectivity and the way decisions are made refer to the likely impact on the 'mokopunas mokopuna' - literally four generations on, but actually includes all future descendants.
In the Māori concept of "whakapapa", the sense of connection with people of the past, present and future extends to the non-human world and even the lifeless world. Whakapapa is more than a human family tree, it is a mycelium whose threads connect everything to everyone. Tania Hopmans represents her hapū, a fundamental political unit within Māori society, in Hawkes Bay. She is a director of the Maungaharuru-Tangitū Trust, in which she employs "Whakapapa" in claiming ownership by Mãori and making arrangements to compensate this. This helps the future Mãori because it allows them to move from "No Land" to ownership and access to their own valuable places, but also access to income, health and education.
In April, Tania Hopmans will share her Genie out of the bottle. We are still working on a suitable date and especially time, there is a 12 hour time difference.
(Source: Kennedy Warne - New Zealand Geographic)
GENERATION POLITICS
After more than a month on the road with Generation Politics we notice that the topics that the ‘young political minds’ adress have many similarities with the future-oriented topics that Haudenosaunee, Future Design and Mãori are committed to. It is still too early to draw any conclusions from this, but it gives us hope. Next week we will broaden our view with the first contribution of a representative from the European Parliament Maxim Vandekerckhove (1993, Socialists and Democrat Group) and Member of State Ines Kostic (1984, PvdD) who is committed to protecting our planet and animal protection worldwide with the Animal Politics Foundation.
GRATITUDE MAKES SENSE OF OUR PAST, BRINGS PEACE FOR TODAY, AND CREATES VISION FOR TOMORROW - MELODY BEATTIE
Our initiatives could never have happened thanks to the egoless help of people who also want to do good (for the Future generation). Roman Krznaric author of The Good Ancestor and the key-note at the start of Generation Politics is an enormous source of inspiration for us and very approachable human. Sophie Howe, the world's first Future Generations commissioner is also an inspiring example for us and her Future generations act is something that we use as an example how to make things work.
Kennedy Warne of the New Zealand Geographic showed cordiality and contributed ideas on how to get in touch with Mãori and whakapapa experts.
Professor Tatsuyoshi Saijo's openness in wanting to share his vision and expertise gives our mission a moonshot that will allow us to return safely.
“I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to Earth”. - JFK