By Ivo Wakounig

Intergenerational collaboration is everywhere. There are barely reports, events, or initiatives, which do not claim to support the collaboration between different generations. Such kinds of collaborations are important because the energy and sustainability transitions span across multiple decades, requiring different age groups to work together by bringing in their experiences, skills, and passions. In its 2022 ‘Earth for All – A survival guide for humanity’, the Club of Rome acknowledges that to drive sustainable change, we need to create institutions which ensure that current generations think intergenerationally to act in the interests of future generations.

However, despite the evidence that transitions are a collective effort between different generations and the growing recognition among various stakeholders, there still remains a large gap in the quality and extent of such collaborative efforts, hampering the positive impact intergenerational collaboration can create. Since I have been involved in such collaborations for quite a while now, I thought that I would write down some of my experiences and thoughts in the form of a guide, which may help other organisations realise intergenerational collaborations.

Please see this article as a guide based on my own experiences and opinions. My perspectives originate from my privileged position of a young person in the Global North, hence, the article has to be read with that in mind. I will first reflect on some of my experiences and my motivation to write this piece, followed by concrete recommendations for seniors and young people for making such collaborations a success, and I will end with some concluding thoughts.

Motivation

For slightly more than five years I have been actively involved in supporting the voices of young people in energy transitions and climate mitigation in general. I have had the privilege to get the opportunity to work with / in various organisations, most importantly the World Energy Council and its Austrian and Dutch Member Committees. I have also had the opportunity to join the innovation challenge of the Global Clean Energy Action Forum in Pittsburgh in September 2022, to support the development of a youth position paper at the European Youth Energy Forum in November 2022, and to co-develop various initiatives in the sphere of intergenerational collaboration as a Global Future Energy Leader. Next to taking part in a variety of events as a so-called youth delegate, I therefore was and am in the unique position to observe some positive and negative trends regarding intergenerational collaboration and youth engagement.

On a positive note, I am witnessing firsthand how intergenerational collaborations have been improving in the past years. We see that there are more initiatives which focus on bridging generational divides, rather than focusing on the interests and views of one generation alone. Youth engagement is slowly being extended by intergenerational collaboration, often actively pursued by young people themselves. Furthermore, there are a more and more inspiring people in this field who want to change the status quo by building communities of change. Adding to that, there is a growing recognition within international organisations that enabling collaborations between different generations is not only good for each party involved but for the quality of the contents and organisations’ longevity too.

However, despite these positive developments, some negative examples still prevail. Youthwashing, wherein young people are put on a panel to create the illusion of inclusion, is still very prevalent. Even worse, same as intergenerational collaboration gaining traction, cloaking initiatives as inclusive by putting different generations in the spotlight is on the rise. From a content point of view, what I increasingly observe is that there is little space for young people to shape conversations because of two reasons. The first is that intergenerational collaboration is often treated as an afterthought when contents and decisions have already been determined. Hence, young people are put into already predetermined discussions which they couldn’t shape in the first place. The second reason is that young people in particular are only allowed to talk about innovation, anything else is a nono. The standard set-up is that the important debates are held by seniors, after which young people are allowed to talk about some fancy innovations and how ‘youngsters’ are changing the world. These debilitate any attempts to achieve genuine intergenerational collaboration and leave young people disillusioned by the promises of their elder peers.

Having shared some positive and negative examples, many of which are shared by others in the field, it is now important to move onto concrete examples of how intergenerational collaborations can be enabled. These are, too, to some extent based on my own experience and conversations with some of my valuable colleagues. First I would dive deeper into what seniors can do to enable intergenerational collaboration, followed by a guide for youth.

Guide for Seniors

Seniors and more experienced people who have access to more resources and are genuinely interested in working with young people for successful collaborations should first start recognising young people as equals, because more often than not young people have as valuable content to contribute as their senior peers. Young people’s experiences are as valuable as others’, hence their perspectives can only enrich conversations.

Furthermore, as it is challenging to overcome existing mental models and practices from the outset, a quota for different age brackets can ensure equal representation of different age groups. Such a quota can force initiators of collaborations to design their programmes in an inclusive way, allowing different perspectives to flourish.

Adding to that, we need ensure that the language regarding young people is inclusive. Far too often are young people referred to as youngsters, fresh, hip, innovative and so forth, to create this pretentious image of novelty. However, what it does is that it reduces young people to this role and creates an image of inexperience and naivety. Young people are adults just like people in their 50s, and some people in their 50s have fresher ideas and are more innovative than people in their 20s. Inclusive language would recognise what young people are, not what other people want them to be, but as diverse mix of different people with unique experiences.

As a result of the ‘youngster’ misperception, young people are then reduced to innovators who are only allowed to talk about innovation related topics. This strongly reduces the breadth and depth of contributions young people can make to debates, as we have critical experiences and knowledge to share in other fields. Hence, successful engagement with younger people warrants an active engagement with topics which go beyond novelty and innovation. Let young people talk about ‘expert’ topics usually reserved for the tiny few. This increases the trust young people have in you too!

Finally, as many young people are just at the beginning of their careers and usually deprived of financial and other types of capital, they need to be compensated for their contributions. This is especially important when considering that young people and their organisations do the bulk of their work in their free time, which they could have used for something else instead. Such a compensation can take many forms, and ideally help both the cause and the person.

Guide for Youth (Organisations)

In order to move youth agendas forward through intergenerational collaboration, the most important first step is to get organised in a group or community. Organisations have to be centred around the cause and be member-focused, meaning that activities have to serve the community, not some individuals. Furthermore, the member base should be as diverse as possible, focussing on intersectorality and intersectionality. Here digital tools can play a critical role by spreading the word more effectively.

Once an organisation has been established it is important to keep expectations realistic. As most youth organisations build on the voluntary work of resource deprived members, most organisational work can only be done in the evenings / weekends or aside from the ‘regular’ job or studies. This has implications for your mission and how to achieve it. In plain terms, you will not be able to change the world within a few weeks, but your organisation can contribute to the small steps which are needed for larger scale transformations.

However, within the particular agenda which you work on, it is essential that your organisation takes the lead. By that I mean that you take an active role in advocating for your mission and create activities which can help you achieve that. Taking the lead entails actively contributing to debates and reaching out to partners and organisations to work with. Ask yourself what you can give, rather than what you can take.

Closely related to taking the lead is finding allies in larger / senior organisations. Based on my experience the success of an organisation is contingent on its ability to work with partners who share their mission. Working with other partners allows to share agendas, work collaboratively towards a common goal, and increase the network value. These alliances should be structural, leading to longer term engagements which span over single events and activities, which is particularly important as intergenerational collaboration is a multidimensional endeavour spanning over multiple years.

As a youth organisation working in intergenerational collaboration it is essential to disseminate your activities and publicise your impact. You have to be out there in order to make a long-lasting impact and ensure that people can see the kind of activities you are engaged in. Being out there means making use of social media platforms such as LinkedIn but in particular showing presence in real life events, such as events, workshops, and so forth. Intergenerational collaboration cannot be left to the digital but has to be done in-person, as it builds trust and connection. Make sure that you provide the space for people to engage in the real world and connecting them in person.

As a final advice, also for the sake of longevity of an organisation and its members, make sure that all along you enjoy the ride and have fun. This aspect is very important as it builds cohesion among the members, helps foster positive relations, and creates life-long memories. We should not forget that by being active in such organisations, we are not only developing our very own skills, but get to know friends too, so make sure to have fun. As there will be times when you will feel drained, helpless, without a sense of purpose, the fun element will help you regain motivation and ensure that you can stay on the trajectory of intergenerational change.

Final Thoughts

As some final thoughts, I think while engaging in intergenerational collaborations we should always consider those who are not in the room. Even collaborations between inclusive organisations can be exclusive and leave many important voices outside the room. By recognising that many voices are not part of collaboration despite them being relevant, you will be better equipped to think about ways to include those. In this context, engaging with population segments (retired, disabled,…) which receive less attention can, hence, augment intergenerational collaboration and increase their relevance. Furthermore, opening up collaborations to people who are affected by structural inequalities (visa, societal stigma,…) is another avenue to make collaborations more inclusive and meaningful. Despite their importance, so far, I haven’t found concrete and practical ways to enable such inclusion practices in the context of intergenerational collaboration yet. Maybe you found ways to deal with those?