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Project

Imagine if we…
Found a New, Common Direction for a Thriving Youth?

Imagine this; young people in Denmark are doing better than ever before. Even with the historic challenges facing this generation, they have never had greater influence or more opportunities to shape their own future. Collectively, we have taken responsibility for providing a framework for young people to thrive

This project is a part of our theme
Social transition

To set the direction towards this radically different future, we need to rethink our current approach to mental health and well-being among young people. That is why The ROCKWOOL Foundation’s Intervention Unit and Danish Design Center are launching “Imagine if we”– a new initiative to design concrete scenarios for a future where young people are thriving. In a series of exploratory and experimenting workshops, we are bringing together a wide range of actors to help us both imagine and create these scenarios.

The Challenge: It’s Time for a Paradigm Shift

The number of unhappy young people is at an all-time high. Among 16-24-year-olds, every third woman and every fifth man report that they are experiencing dissatisfaction, stress, anxiety, and loneliness. Unhappiness in adolescence can cause ripple effects that affect education, friendships, careers, health, and parenting well into adulthood. We know that the current approach to solving this challenge is falling short – yet, we seem to be stuck in the same paradigm.

Research shows that our well-being is influenced by the context in which we live and everything surrounding us. So why do we think that the conditions for thriving can be in closed circuits – in a clinic or a classroom? We need to work together, involving young people and all the people who surround them in their everyday lives. 

"We are interested in finding out what happens if mental well-being becomes a shared responsibility rather than an individual duty. What becomes possible if we shift the focus from treating symptoms of dissatisfaction to creating better frameworks for well-being in children and young people's everyday lives?"

Lea Miriam Fick Køhn

Head of Program at Children's learning and well-being, The ROCKWOOL Foundation

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The How: Together for a Better Future

Using futures and scenario design, we aim to activate the current knowledge about mental health to develop substantial alternatives to the current system. The tangible nature of the scenarios allows us to understand which changes we need to push for and which ones we should build together.

The four shifts
We are currently examining the potential outcomes of shifting the focus from the individual to the community and from treating symptoms to building structures for well-being. Together with a wide range of actors, we want to determine whether a new approach to mental health can strengthen young people’s well-being and give them a greater chance to actively participate in the world around them. The ROCKWOOL Foundation’s Intervention Unit has developed a framework that outlines four tangible shifts from what characterizes the current system to what new complementary approaches to creating mental well-being could look like. These four shifts will serve as a springboard for developing future scenarios and ideas for new solutions in the initiative “Imagine if.”

"Before we can make any real changes, we need to envision concrete alternative scenarios for what thriving looks like for a young person. By using our collective imagination to position ourselves in the future, we create a very different perspective on the present"

Sara Gry Striegler

Head of Social Innovation, Danish Design Center

The scenarios will be designed based on three workshops hosted by DDC and The ROCKWOOL Foundation’s Intervention Unit throughout the summer of 2022. In the gallery below, you can read several statements from workshop participants who help shape the scenarios. When the scenarios are complete, the school, education, and employment sectors will test them during the fall of 2022. We’ll design the first actual solutions for an alternative future based on the knowledge from the tests.

Kimmie Tentschert

Senior Creative & Project Manager

Mail kit@ddc.dk
Phone +45 2728 2419
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Copenhagen

Bryghuspladsen 8
BLOX, 2. floor
1473 Copenhagen
CVR 3699 4126

Kolding

Dyrehavevej 116
Design School Kolding
6000 Kolding
CVR 3699 4126

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