Future Generations – research-based insights to support young people’s decision-making

12.3.2026

Photo: Itla Children’s Foundation

In February, we organised a Future Generations workshop together with The Union of Local Youth Councils in Finland (Nuva ry). The workshop brought together chairs and vice-chairs of youth councils from across Finland to discuss current issues relevant to youth councils with our researchers.

Future Generations is a joint concept of the Strategic Research Council’s DEMOGRAPHY and YOUNG programmes. Its aim is to strengthen dialogue between future decision-makers and researchers. It promotes evidence-based decision-making that takes young people’s perspectives into account, amplify young people’s voices, and strengthen their role in societal debate.

The concept emerged from the idea that young people should be recognised as users of research-based knowledge, as they have traditionally remained outside established user groups. Our aim is to make research from the DEMOGRAPHY and YOUNG programmes accessible to young people and to organisations such as political youth organisations. Our research addresses population change and its consequences, as well as young people’s wellbeing and its determinants, and is intended to support the formation of policy positions and advocacy work in an ageing Finland. In addition, the concept seeks to strengthen intergenerational sustainability by taking into account fairness between generations and long-term societal development.

Through the Future Generations concept, we aim to build close cooperation between programme researchers and youth organisations that promote young people’s interests. Our goal is to engage in dialogue with youth organisations of all political parties, and we have already met with many of them.

Encounters between researchers and young people

In February 2026, we organised a Future Generations workshop together with The Union of Local Youth Councils in Finland (Nuva ry) at the Finnish Centre for Pensions in Kalasatama, Helsinki. The workshop brought together chairs and vice-chairs of youth councils from across Finland to discuss topical issues affecting youth councils together with programme researchers.

At the beginning of the workshop, researchers from the DEMOGRAPHY and YOUNG programmes gave presentations on population change, schooling, and loneliness among young people. Later in the afternoon, Nuva participants developed policy initiatives related to the themes discussed in the workshop sessions.

Changes in the population age structure pose future challenges

To start the day, Chief Executive Officer of the Finnish Centre for Pensions, Docent Mikko Kautto, noted that Finland’s pension system is on a stable footing, but that its main challenges are related to population ageing and declining trust among young people in pension security. Kautto emphasised that strengthening trust is essential, as young people are the future contributors to the system.

Strengthening trust is essential, as young people are the future contributors to the system.

Senior Fellow Researcher Tarmo Valkonen (Etla, LIFECON project) stressed that population ageing will be difficult to halt over the next fifty years, even with immigration. However, immigration plays a very significant role in both population growth and population structure. For example, in Helsinki, population growth driven by immigration occurs across all age groups, whereas in smaller municipalities the population is ageing rapidly and immigration is more limited.

Among the Nuva participants, the discussion focused particularly on the capital-centered nature of development and the effects of urbanisation on employment: as growth centres attract jobs and workers, there is a risk of increasing regional disparities in population structure. In addition, participants questioned whether there will be enough jobs for everyone if immigration increases under the current employment situation. According to Valkonen, labour markets tend to adjust to population changes over time.

Later in the workshop, Nuva participants reflected on the weakening of young people’s opportunities to influence decision-making as the population ages, as well as on the already low voter turnout among young people. Proposed solutions included strengthening civic education to lower the threshold for voting and increase optimism about the future and interest in politics, as well as tightening the obligation to process municipal and citizens’ initiatives, which was seen as a way to improve young people’s opportunities to participate in decision-making.

Wellbeing strengthens learning – and learning strengthens wellbeing

Professor Kirsi Pyhältö (University of Helsinki, SchoolWell project) highlighted the two-way relationship between learning and wellbeing in her introductory remarks: when wellbeing improves, learning improves – and vice versa. Based on research, schools should invest in, for example, the development of learning skills, diverse and participatory teaching methods, teacher–student relationships, peer interaction among pupils, skills for calming down and concentration, and the creation of a strong sense of community.

Nuva participants also raised practical questions, such as the role of school meals and learning environments for learning. According to Pyhältö, a pleasant school building can support learning but does not guarantee it – which is why investing in interpersonal interaction in schools is even more important.

The importance of social and emotional skills also sparked discussion during the workshop. Many participants felt that teaching these skills in schools is currently insufficient, inadequately implemented, or not age appropriate. For this reason, the Nuva participants emphasised the need for mandatory in-service training for teachers on social and emotional skills and how to teach them within existing subjects and everyday school practices.

Young people emphasize attitude change and active engagement to reduce loneliness

According to Professor Niina Junttila (University of Turku, Right to Belong project), loneliness among young people has decreased in recent years, while loneliness among young adults (aged 20–39) has increased. Junttila stressed that loneliness is not only an individual issue but also a challenge for communities and decision-making: loneliness among those entering working life and those building careers and families can have significant effects on, for example, study and work ability, fertility, and social cohesion.

Nuva participants discussed possible reasons for the increase in loneliness among young adults and, conversely, the decrease in loneliness among younger people. They felt that their generation has recognised the importance of encounters and social connections, and that young people themselves are actively building and maintaining community and social ties.

Could mental health first aid, for example, be as obligatory as providing physical first aid?

When discussing the school environment, participants from municipalities of different sizes described very different experiences of measures supporting community-building. For example, the role of youth work in schools varied considerably, but strengthening cooperation between youth work and schools was seen as a way to support young people’s sense of community. A key area for development was the systematic and continuous organisation of community-building and group-forming activities, particularly through listening to young people.

During the workshop, participants reflected on the idea that responsibility for preventing loneliness and caring for others belongs to everyone: could mental health first aid, for example, be made as obligatory as physical first aid?

Dialogue and research-based support for advocacy work

The feedback we received from participants during the February event was extremely positive, encouraging us to continue this kind of collaboration. In line with the name of the concept, we believe it is important that future decision-makers gain strong capabilities for advocacy work through research-based knowledge from an early age.

If you are interested in arranging a meeting of your own, you can contact the Programme Directors of the DEMOGRAPHY and YOUNG programmes. We organise joint webinars, seminars and workshops for researchers and youth organisations on topics that are particularly relevant for youth organisations.