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Description
The pandemic has exacerbated a number of major societal problems, the online environment is becoming an even more fertile ground for misinformation, manipulation, ideological bubbles and the spread of conspiracy theories, with people''s desire to seek certainties and ideologies that can give them a sense of control in a VUCA world. Young people are an extremely vulnerable group, they do not have the necessary tools to navigate this complex reality, risking becoming victims of misinformation and extremism. At the same time, they are excellent vectors of change among their peers and families. The project, implemented by Monomyths and Young Initiative, is built around the ideas of "Artifacts from the Future of Truth" and proposes different scenarios on what 2040 will look like. Viewing possibilities - such as disinformation, influencers, ideological bubbles, manipulation, conspiracy theories, stereotypes, addressing diversity and human rights - help us prepare concrete actions for the preferred future scenario, to create the desired tomorrow. The scenarios will be based on the identification of change signals, trends and uncertainties relevant to the areas of misinformation/discrimination. Based on the future scenarios created (and "personified" through artefacts), ways of responding and preparing are identified and implemented. We will use the Prospective Studies tool (EN: Foresight), specifically the Artifacts from the Future methodology, created by the Institute for the Future.
By training NGOs to use the generated methodology, by creating a network of young multipliers and by educating young people from various cities of the country, the first steps will be taken to combat the spread of misinformation, false news, the spread of conspiracy theories, discrimination and implicitly slipping on the slope of ideological extremism.
Summary of project results
The project addressed the vulnerability among young people regarding radicalization, polarization and conspiration theories, in the context of the wide exposure to online, fake news etc.
The project proposed the involvement of young people in exploring and elaborating scenarios of the future truth, using Foresight methodologies, and then disseminate findings among peers. The thematic included equality and social justice, discrimination and stereotypes, activism and also disinformation, trust, hate speech etc.
Within the project there was elaborated a prospective study approaching how widespread conspiracy theories will be, what the arguments and behaviors of those spreading false news would look like, equality and social justice, how discrimination will manifest etc. 20 mentors organized co-creation programs with 770 young beneficiaries. There was also developed a Future of Truth 2040 Toolkit - an interactive comic-book style manual with assignments and case studies tailored for youth work in the area of foresight. In total 890 young people participated in 41 workshops. There were also developed a Green Paper for future studies in educational contexts and an advocacy campaign for an intervention plan with the Ministry of Education. A sustainability plan of the Promoted was elaborated. The resources are available at https://www.monomyths.ro/project/post-pandemic-narratives-2040-artifacts-from-the-future-of-trut/