What Our Kids Are Telling Us About the Future (If Only We'd Listen) | Nicolai Sederberg Rottbøll
We spend a lot of time worrying about the future our children will inherit—but how often do we ask them what they actually want it to look like? Nicolai Sederberg Rottbøll, sustainability leader and founder of Our World 2050, has built a global movement to find out. By gathering the hopes, dreams, and visions of one million children aged 6 to 21 from every corner of the world, he's discovering something remarkable: kids think bigger, more boldly, and more creatively than most adults dare to. Today, Nicolai shares what children are telling us about the future they want to build—and why listening to them, and nurturing their hope and imagination, might be the most important thing we can do as parents.
Why This Matters:
→ We're asking adults to design a future for children without asking children what they want. Global sustainability conversations are dominated by experts, policymakers, and decision-makers—rarely by the young people who will actually live in the world being designed. Our World 2050 is changing that, and parents can too, simply by asking their kids better questions.
→ Children are natural visionaries—but only if we protect that gift. Students think beyond the limitations that constrain adults. They dream big, free from preconceptions about what's "practically possible." But this natural visionary thinking is fragile. Without adults who nurture it, it fades—and the world loses the very creativity it needs most.
→ Hope isn't naive—it's necessary. In an era of climate anxiety, economic uncertainty, and relentless bad news, teaching kids to hold onto hope while engaging actively with the world's challenges is one of the most powerful things a parent can do. Nicolai's work shows that when children are invited to envision a better future, they don't just feel better—they start building it.
