Towards a future without violence and inequalities – the workshop “Is Your Future Equal?”

A.L.E.G. Association organized in Sibiu, on November 20-21, the workshop “Is your future equal?”, a participatory event that brought together over 60 teenagers, students, entrepreneurs, education professionals and representatives of public institutions. The workshop comes 20 years after the first edition of the Gender Equality Festival® – a prevention campaign dedicated to young people – and offered participants an applied introduction to the foresight methodology – the science of anticipating and modeling future scenarios.

The event began with a series of interventions on the importance of future-oriented thinking in combating gender inequalities. Along with the founder of A.L.E.G. Camelia Proca, spoke about gender equality as a solution to eliminate violence against women and a source of economic and relational prosperity, the director of the international organization NO MORE Foundation, Lindsey Dearlove, and the senator from Sibiu Ruxandra Cibu Deaconu.

The first day included two panels that brought to the forefront complementary perspectives from civil society, education, administration, entrepreneurship and digitalization.

In the first panel, moderated by Minodora Sălcudean from the Faculty of Social and Human Sciences, ULBS, Iulia Rotarescu – communication expert and former A.L.E.G. volunteer, Diana Neaga representing the National Agency for Equal Opportunities – ANES, Irina Sorescu – director of the Centrul Parteneriat pentru Egalitate and Doriana Tăut from the Department of Theater Arts, ULBS discussed the role of public policies, education and community interventions in building a more equitable society.

The discussion continued with the second panel, dedicated to innovation in entrepreneurship, digitalization and non-repayable funding. Ana Nicolae from AVON Global spoke about the responsibility of private companies to engage in social change. Bogdan Ivanel, founder of Code4Romania and Commit Global, illustrated the impact of civic technology in support of democracy and human rights. Roxana Sofica, from the Association for Community Relations, advocated for more flexible and less restricted funds that would support the development of social movements beyond time-limited projects. Denisa Stănilă, founder of Academillion and former A.L.E.G. volunteer, shared her journey in entrepreneurship and financial investments, showing that women need to overcome the idea that they can access financial power only through men, and that men should no longer consider themselves to be failing as people when they do not produce money.

In the second part of the day, using the foresight method and under the guidance of our colleague Bianca Drotleff, the participants imagined possible future scenarios for 2035, analyzing the consequences of current trends. What would be the consequences of a scenario in which in 10 years no one would have access to contraception and abortion? But one in which equitable representation of women in decision-making positions becomes normal in any political party?

The evening ended with a lot of emotion with the spoken word moment offered by Corpul Poetic, which reminded us of how much power there is in the voice of girls and women when they have the freedom to express themselves.

The second day of the workshop was dedicated to teamwork to transform future scenarios into directions of action. Participants prioritized proposed actions, taking into account impact and effort, to advance towards the desired future.

Among the solutions imagined were: programs to develop critical thinking in schools, stories and cartoons for children that encourage financial independence and courage in girls and boys alike, alliances between NGOs, universities and the private sector to determine how much violence and inequality cost us, supporting social movements for equity and training advocacy skills among young people.

The workshop “Is Your Future Equal?” it showed us that when we allow ourselves to dream, we can build more equitable, courageous and supportive future scenarios.