Created with love and for people: young people at the National Centre RUSSIA learn to turn dreams into social projects for the future

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The youth foresight session "Workshop for Responsible Dreamers" was held on 13 November at the National Centre RUSSIA as part of the III International Symposium "Inventing the Future", with a focus on fostering a culture of constructive dreaming and developing social initiatives that can address tomorrow's challenges. Working in teams under the guidance of mentors, young social architects learnt to turn bold ideas into practical projects, drawing on their country's traditional values and historical experience.

The session's moderator, Ruslan Yusufov, a futurist, Head of the Department of Social Forecasting and Modelling at the Institute of Social Architecture, and founder and managing partner of MINDSMITH, warned the young architects against "forcing help on people" and urged them to distinguish between what people genuinely need and what they explicitly ask for. He said the main task of a forecaster is to ensure people retain agency in the process of change and to learn to recognise the motives behind seemingly simple wishes.

"When we think about the future, it's vital that people remain agents of change. All too often, we try our hardest to do someone good whether they want us to or not. But if, for example, an elderly woman says, 'I want a new road,' what she may really need is medical care, and the clinic is a long way away. So would building a road really be the most effective solution? Perhaps we should build a clinic in her area, develop telemedicine or find ways to help her stay well? We need to step outside our own little box and take a broader view of the future. That's very difficult, and the only way to develop that ability is to broaden your experience — read more, travel and talk to people who are different from you," Ruslan Yusufov advised the young participants.

Antonina Seleznyova, Head of the Public Outreach Department at the Expert Institute for Social Research, Professor in the Department of History and Theory of Russian Statehood at the Faculty of Political Science of Lomonosov Moscow State University, Doctor of Political Sciences and Associate Professor, stressed that people only get involved in projects that shape the future when they see a place for themselves in them and recognise their personal responsibility. She urged participants to approach the session as a chance to build something for themselves, beyond producing a contest entry "for a client", and added that values give dreams about the future real force.

"Values are what give a vision of the future its meaning. They set the direction for development and define the principles that govern how we relate to one another. When our norms are grounded in values, our relationships with one another make sense and we move forward together. And when we talk about building something, it's important to see ourselves as agents of change within the community we belong to," said Antonina Seleznyova.

Darya Borisova, a member of the Moscow City Duma, agreed that values can only resonate with young people when they feel personally involved. She urged the young architects to shape the future out of genuine care for the people they were doing the work for, beyond simply ticking a box.

"I agree that the future we want to create should be one we'd take our own child by the hand and lead them into. That's the link between past, present and future that we're building today. And whichever way you look at it, much of our future depends on how we raise our children and what they go on to create in the future we share. I hope the results of your work always reflect your answer to the question 'Who are you doing this for?' I think the answer is obvious — you're doing it for people. So put love into what you create and go beyond ticking a box. Only then can we look forward to a positive future," Darya Borisova told the participants.

Darya Saigushinskaya, Head of Values-Based Projects in the Department of Social Design at the presidential platform's Institute of Social Architecture and a doctoral candidate in the Department of Humanities at the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, added that social design involves both modelling the future and putting lasting mechanisms in place that benefit society on a large scale. She said Russia has considerable experience in carrying out projects of this kind.

"When we talk about social architecture, our first concern is the benefit to society. If our project only affects 10 to 20 people and has no wider benefit to society, it doesn't count as social architecture. The second thing we always look at is whether the benefits will last. So projects such as election campaigns or efforts to tackle an immediate problem don't count as social architecture either," explained Darya Saigushinskaya.

The III International Symposium "Inventing the Future" is an original project of the National Centre RUSSIA and was held on 12–13 November 2026. The event is organised at the direction of the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, as part of the Decade of Science and Technology and is part of the wider Open Dialogue initiative "The Future of the World. A New Platform for Global Growth", which is also run by the National Centre RUSSIA at the direction of the President. This year, the Symposium brought together more than 8,000 government figures, scientists and researchers, heads of corporations and business alliances, representatives of creative industries and civil society organisations, and young professionals from 109 countries.