Structure OF THE TRIBUNAL

The Future Generations Tribunal is intended to serve two purposes:

Deliberative democracy will help us articulate the rights of future generations and thus push the boundaries of public understanding of what is owed to future generations in the context of ecological emergencies and what must happen now to protect future generations

1.

The Tribunal will serve as a tool to invigorate a movement behind a new branch of rights

2.

Youth assemblies for the future

Youth Assemblies for the Future are deliberative bodies that will organize young people around common questions about intergenerational responsibility and the content of the rights and duties owed to future generations. Assemblies will be held in every region of the world, with regions categorized according to the breakdown devised by the UN Sustainable Development Goals programme, with the addition of the Arctic. Multiple assemblies will be held in each region to incorporate a broad and diverse set of young people.

  • These Youth Assemblies are directly inspired by the series of citizen assemblies that have been hosted around the world to deliberate pressing issues, including electoral reform, reproductive rights, and climate change. They are also influenced by the rich practice of futures thinking, which includes running futures simulations incorporating thousands of individuals. With the help of experts in deliberative democratic processes as well as futures thinking, a common methodology will be developed and applied across all Youth Assemblies, thereby ensuring procedural consistency and quality. We will also work with professionals with relevant expertise on working with children and young people – including, for example, child psychologists – to ensure the methodologies deployed in the Assemblies (as well as the Tribunal generally) reflect their stage of development as well as any other age-related considerations.

  • Each Youth Assembly will include the participation of young people from local communities, schools, universities, and youth in NGO and grassroots movements. Though not a randomized process, sourcing participation from these three broad groups allows for the inclusion of a vast and diverse sampling of young people. Following the calls for participation, applicants will be selected for in-person participation according to standard criteria applied to all Assemblies, thereby ensuring methodological consistency. These Assemblies serve as an opportunity for movement building, providing a space for actors in the various youth movements to meet, connect, and work together. This will reduce silos and create solidarity networks across movements, thus building and amplifying their global power. Youth testimonies and evidence – in the form of oral, video, and written submissions – will also be gathered during the Assemblies.

  • The regional reports, distilled from on-the-ground assemblies, succinctly capture diverse communities' questions, solutions, hopes, and demands. These pragmatic narratives, synthesized by rapporteurs and the Secretariat team, serve as integral resources influencing the declaration, enriching databases, and contributing to the final comprehensive report. Focused on authenticity and impact, these reports play a crucial role in shaping the Future Generations Tribunal's mission, translating regional voices into a potent force advocating for the rights and aspirations of future generations globally.

  • Councilors will oversee the activities and production of the Future Generations Council's outputs and ultimately approve the publication of the final outputs. Young leaders in the youth movement will serve as Councilors and be selected for participation on the Council through the Assembly process. The Council will also include Intergenerational Rapporteurs, older adults chosen for their expertise and experience. The Intergenerational Rapporteurs will guide the activities and output production of the Council and advise the Councilors. Intergenerational Rapporteurs will be selected from the rapporteurs assigned to individual assemblies. Finally, the Council will include the Future Generations Secretariats, the members who provide the Council's operational capacity and the Tribunal process's high-level functioning.

  • A short document articulating what is owed to future generations and what needs to happen to fulfill that. This is a reference tool for movement actors to refer to in pushing for action on ecological emergencies.

  • A more detailed report presenting the ideas, norms, rules, and structures needed – and demanded by global youth – to safeguard the interests and well-being of future generations (and, in the process, young and present generations.)

  • A database of testimonies and submissions of young people around the world that shed light on what the future may look like and what we owe the future. This database will also collect proposals and ideas for action. Moreover, it serves a documentary function, recording the truths of young people worldwide facing uncertain futures in light of existential ecological emergencies. The database will include oral, video, visual, and written contributions.

The Future Generations Council

The Future Generations Council is the body tasked with aggregating, synthesizing, and making sense of the results of the Assemblies and producing several primary outputs, all of which serve to build consensus around the rights of future generations, intergenerational responsibility, and the actions needed now to address ecological challenges and safeguard the well-being of future generations.