Democratising Futures Lab
Futures Workshops for Alliance of Democracies Foundation’s Democracy Tech Entrepreneurs
Empowering democracy tech entrepreneurs to tackle misinformation and autocratic threats
Challenge
In connection with the annual Copenhagen Democracy Summit, we partnered with the Alliance of Democracies Foundation to run the Democratising Futures Lab two years in a row. The labs tackled urgent challenges faced by frontline democracies incl. Ukraine, Georgia, and Moldova, where misinformation, democratic backsliding pressures, and threats from an autocracy are part of daily reality.
Across contexts, we also saw a wider pattern: short-term decision-making and a reduced sense of agency, even among highly capable change-makers working under pressure.
Approach
We designed and facilitated 2-hour, hands-on workshop to equip participants with practical futures thinking skills for democratic resilience.
Participants worked with real-world challenges, such as misinformation and climate disruption, through a focused futuresstorming process, moving from signals and drivers to concrete opportunity spaces. To bridge insight and action, the session centered on creating tangible artefacts that could travel beyond the room.
In the second year, we added an extra layer: participants prototyped those futures using Generative AI, turning early ideas into quick, communicable prototypes—making implications easier to test, share, and build on.
Outcomes
1) Futures Thinking Skills
Participants learned to reframe the future, spot signals of change, and manage uncertainty. These skills empowered them to anticipate and shape future democratic landscapes proactively.
2) Innovative Democracy Artefacts from the Future
The workshop facilitated the development of innovative ideas and strategies to support democracy. Participants conceptualized and planned initiatives that could be implemented to strengthen democratic principles and practices.
3) Collaborative Engagement
The interactive nature of the workshop fostered collaboration among participants from different countries, enabling them to share perspectives and ideas. This collaborative approach helped build relationships betweenfuture-oriented democratic thinkers.
Testimonial
“Thank you so much for the workshop, it was really insightful. We had never worked with or thought about the future like that. In addition, the interactive exercises in the peaceful setting and good weather of the Democracy Garage were just what the fellows needed. We all really enjoyed it.”
— Harun Bala, Alliance of Democracies Foundation
