Young People and the Future of Scotland: young person's guide to the findings

How did we do this?

With support from GO-Science, the Scottish Government worked with Demos Helsinki and the Scottish Youth Parliament to hear young people’s views about Scotland’s future.

An Investigation Team – made up of four young people who are Members of the Scottish Youth Parliament – worked together with the researchers to plan the workshop, lead discussions and write about what was said on the day. The workshop team created fun and creative activities that made the session interesting for everyone.

The Scottish Youth Parliament invited young people from different backgrounds and different places in Scotland to participate.

The workshop took place in Edinburgh in February 2025. Fifteen young people aged 14-19 took part in the workshop. The Investigation Team helped to lead the activities. The group was small but it included young people of different ages, genders, places and life experiences, including people with disabilities. Although the team worked hard to make sure that the group was balanced, fewer boys and young men, and fewer young people aged under 16 were able to take part than we hoped.

The workshop took place over a full day. Through a series of creative activities, young people explored how the future is shaped by the choices we make today and imagined what life in Scotland might be like in 2040. They looked at trends in topics like jobs, health, climate and politics, and discussed what these could mean for Scotland. With a gallery of imagined artefacts from the future they explored four contrasting possible futures for Scotland. They finished the day by talking about the ideas and changes they thought were most important for Scotland’s future.

After the workshop, the Investigation Team, Demos Helsinki and the Scottish Youth Parliament looked at all the notes, objects and feedback. They put these into the full project report.