"Dear future... 

I am afraid 

Will I get a scratch? 

You are gentle, bright and big 

But you're also hard, dark and small" 

This is one of the more than 1,500 love letters to the future that have been placed in Generation Hope's mailbox in recent years. Nanna Vedel-Hertz and Stella René founded the movement with the dream of using hope as a driving force towards a better world. A kind of hope activism. They describe the letters they receive as equal parts dystopia and powerlessness, hope and action. 

"We see a generation that is SO ready to take responsibility and act, and with big, amazing dreams for what we want to create, from inclusion and peace to well-being," says Nanna "But there is also a feeling of being far away from power and not being able to influence the things they are afraid of, like climate and war. Here they feel that they are in no way heard." 

 They both believe that hope is the foundation of all positive social change. 

"Hope is the belief that we can create change," says Stella. "Like activism, hope is an attempt to lead us in a direction where we can create the society we want. " 

"We see hope as something active; as an ability," adds Nanna. "Some see it as pacifying or apathetic. We see it as a fundamental prerequisite for action. 

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Time for adult rebellion 

Generation Hope is part of the new future lab "Snart" at Thoravej 29, and in January Stella and Nanna were invited to speak at the Academy's New Year's party with a focus on activism. They had a clear message for the leaders in the room: "The youth rebellion is happening, and we would love it if you would join us. So our question to you is: is it finally time for an adult rebellion?"  

And there is a need to broaden the understanding and awareness of hope, they believe. Because hope and activism are perceived as irrational, naive and even radical. But first and foremost as something that belongs to youth.  

"We are met with a paradoxical duality," says Stella. "People talk about how great it is that young people are taking action - as if it's the responsibility of the young generation to create change. And then when we turn 30, we're told: 'Now you have to accept that the world is the way it is. 

Do we lose hope when we grow up? 

"No, not at all," says Nanna. "But hope is a skill we need to keep practicing, and even more so as we get older." 

"There is a gradual change as we grow up," says Stella. "We can't have it in our participation. The nerve is there, but it can't be prominent.

Train your hope 

Generation Hope works from Charles Snyder's "hope theory", which can be boiled down to three simple steps:  

1. Set a goal. Big enough that you are passionate about it and small enough that you can achieve it. 

2. Find the roads to get there. Preferably several different roads, in case challenges arise on one of them. 

3. Believe that it can be done 

Nanna published the book "The new adults - wherever you go, go with all your heart" on the subject. She believes the theory has great potential when applied to a community. 

"Hope Theory is based on individuals, but imagine if we also collectively practiced focusing on everything we want and hope for, instead of just focusing on everything we DON'T want - war, famine, etc." she says. "Then we would visualize how much we actually have in common and we would be able to set a common direction. And believe that we actually want good things for each other. History shows that we can work together as a species - otherwise we wouldn't have gotten this far." 

So when the UN sets the SDGs, is it about more than fancy words? 

Stella: "Yes, precisely because these are real goals that we set and agree on. And then we can move towards them. If we all have those dreams, then we have something to work towards." 

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