Creating The Future of Life & Work? Let Kids Teach The Way.
A few weeks ago, I embarked on an amazing journey with the Out of Office Residency Program by Alice Katter, which explores innovative ways of living and working through the lens of creativity. During a recent session, our collective was tasked with envisioning the world or "garden" that represented our future. We identified the pressure that young generations face when we inherently pass on to them the responsibility of that “future”. How can we then shed this weight from them and start role modelling regenerative practices in the present? As adults -and parents-, we know this can be a big challenge.
The realisation that we are often stuck in the past trying to redesign the future of living & working, brings the need of a radical paradigm shift: a school of life in where children and nature are not only part of a curriculum, they are the teachers.
Let’s start with the kids. We see children as our future, but if we view this spiralling relationship from a broader perspective, we realize that they are not merely the future but also the present and the past. They embody the culmination of our collective experiences, carrying within them the genetics, wisdom and knowledge accumulated over generations.
Consider this analogy of smart phones: it would be absurd to install an obsolete 2003 app on your new iPhone 15, wouldn't it? Then why do we cling to an outdated educational and parental system for the new generations of humans? Why limit children's vast capacity for wisdom by confining them to a fixed role modelling (software)? Why teach them to memorise facts (often riddled with inaccurate data) when they possess the ability to integrate and iterate knowledge?
Our current learning structure, the one we had appointed as the baseline of our life and work, had failed to fully harness the potential of humans. Instead of nurturing our wellbeing, and fostering our innate talents and unique perspectives, society confine us to a rigid and old structure that limits our health, growth and development. Generation after generation.
We must reimagine a healthy eco-system that empower us to thrive in the dynamic and ever-evolving world we inhabit.
The principle of incremental change, a cornerstone of biomimicry, supports this perspective. Just as nature has evolved through gradual modifications over vast periods, kids represent that next step in our own evolution. They are not simply more advanced versions of our genetics; they embody new experiences, functions, and knowledge. Children, like the newest iPhone, represent the next generation of human nature’s potential, they come equipped with enhanced capabilities such as:
Intuitive Understanding
They have an innate ability to grasp complex concepts and adapt to new situations with remarkable ease.
Integrated Intelligence
They can seamlessly process and integrate information from diverse sources, drawing upon a vast repository of knowledge and experiences.
Compassion and Empathy
Their hearts filled with compassion and empathy, enable them to connect with others on a deeper level and foster meaningful relationships.
Transformative Capacity
They possess a remarkable ability to regenerate, transform and transcend limitations, driven by an unwavering spirit of creativity and innovation.
Biomimicry helps us recognize that young generations are not empty vessels meant to be fuelled with outdated knowledge designed to work 24/7. Instead, they are advanced natural models, active learners, eager to explore, experiment, and discover. Our role as adults is to protect them, to provide them with the safe environment and support they need to flourish, to nurture their curiosity and creativity, and to empower them to become the changemakers of tomorrow. And so, the true future starts, as we update our outdated system with the new technologies we learn from them.
The ideal future of living and working is a reciprocal learning journey.
When I was studying to be a biomimicry practitioner I immersed in this garden of possibilities, I saw clearly my next endeavour was to continue creating new life-conducting systems, and not feeding old economies. I then started building KOKOXKALI.Co with the picture of a future that holds thriving spaces for regeneration, expression and exploration, creating a new culture of well-being for new generations.
The future of living and working I envision is a space for reciprocal learning, where kids not only learn from us -and their ancestors- about life and their purpose on Earth, but also where they teach us, the adults, their innate gifts. A space where the value created is not only through knowledge and skills but also through creativity, collaboration, empathy, and a deep connection with nature. A space where children feel empowered to share their experiences, teach us their valuable insights and new ways of understanding the world. A space that embraces their creative expression, enabling them to transform their ideas into actionable solutions.
It is a beautiful mission to start learning from the children, and awaken the inner children in us. Let’s re-imagine a future that is not stuck in the past, but where we cultivate our innate potential by modeling the young generations, and where we create a world that is sustainable, equitable, and thriving.
Right here, right now.
