Photo North – Nordic Photographic Centre is a part of the Media education project led by The Finnish Museum of Photography called Impacting Image. The project is funded by the ministry of education and culture. As part of the project, Oulu-based media educator Mirkka Suhonen has developed teacher-led workshops for schools in co-operation with the project team. One of the developed workshops was piloted at Cultural Centre Valve in Photo North’s Earth Gazes Back -exhibition in the Autumn of 2024.
”The World is slowly turning into a better place. We have reached the bottom with climate and society, and finally realized that this is about a bigger problem and finally we are changing things. There are still people who do not care, but we have more knowledge and people are working united against bigger problems, and not against each other.”
In the workshops held at the Earth Gazes Back -exhibition we asked local secondary and upper comprehensive school students their thoughts, how the year 2054 will look like to them. The More-than-Planet –project behind the exhibition focuses on studying climate change and its impact on our planet and us.
The answers varied, and we split them into four different categories. Suprisingly, there were more answers where youth saw the future in a positive light (29,6%), than those that described the possible future in negative, even dystopian light (21,8%). Speculative, analytic answers that were not only strictly negative or positive, were the most in comparison (33,5%). The rest of the answers (15,1%) could not be put in any of the three categories.
The answers that were focused on the positive side of things, most covered hopes about climate change getting better, peace and equal rights. Those who used a more personal view in the question were dreaming about starting their own family, having pets, good income and owning their own homes.
On the other hand, the answers focused on the negative side of things often mentioned climate change, pollution, extinction of species and wars. Some of these answers also covered more personal fears, like sickness or unemployment. The themes were also covering some recent social events that were referenced in many answers.
The evolution of technology was seen sometimes as a threat, but sometimes as a possibility. Many of the youth were speculating what kind of things science could enable in the future. Maybe we have flying cars, there is a cure for cancer, the dinosaurs are alive again and there is life on Mars?
”People have a better understanding of nature and their place as a part of it. We target our focus and time to tend the natural resources. We have learned to live in harmony.”
Impacting Image is a collaborative media education program run by The Finnish Museum of Photography, Photo North – Nordic Photographic Centre and VB Photography Centre. The project has developed teacher-led materials about photography for students in secondary schools, high schools and vocational schools.