a cultural intelligence point of view on teens

cultural landscape inspiration

24.04.14

FORMATIVE FORCES

3

A BOXED-IN GENERATION

A global ‘failure to launch’ – staying at

home into adulthood at record levels

Diminishing employment opportunities

Urban planning increasingly an exercise by

adults, for adults

Teens want access to publics to see and be seen, to socialize, and to feel as if they have the freedoms to explore a world beyond the heavily constrained one shaped by parents and school. Just as society formerly wrote women out of civic life, we now prohibit teenagers from many aspects of public life about.” danah boyd. author ‘It’s Complicated: the Social Lives of Networked Teens

“

5

COMPETITION TO STAND OUT

Global competition is a given

Seeing kids becoming millionaires

overnight

Pressure on uniqueness, stand-out skills &

onus on self-reliance in order to thrive

6

FROM FOLLOWING TO SIDE-

STEPPING

A de-centralization of trust

People turn sideways: side-stepping

Impacting on education (Funding4

Learning), finance (bitcoin, Zopa), political

action (Chinese Flesh Eating Search

Engines), restaurants (Mealku)…

We want to be producers, co-producers, consumers and evangelists all at the same time, but current organisational structures don’t allow us to do that.Alan Moore, author, No Straight Lines: Making Sense of our Non-linear World

“

AN EMERGENT EMOTIONAL DRIVER

RECLAIMING

Young people have been dis-possessed

of control of their futures, failed by

institutions and sold to by corporations

who want to own youth for themselves.

They feel a mix of fear and excitement

in the knowledge that re-claiming their

identities, spaces and futures for

themselves is the only option left.

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MILLENIAL CUTURE…

RE-CLAIMING A SENSE OF

SELF & A PLACE IN SOCIETY

WELLBEING…

RE-CLAIMING CONTROL

OVER BODIES AND MINDS

“THE ENLIGHTENED

SELF” “HEALTHY HIGH”

URBAN CULTURE…

RE-CLAIMING THE RIGHT TO

OCCUPY PUBLIC SPACES

“BEYOND CITY LIMITS”

3 N A R R AT I V E S O F ‘ R E C L A I M I N G ’

THE ENLIGHTENE

D SELF

We want to be producers, co-producers, consumers and evangelists all at the same time, but current organisational structures don’t allow us to do that.Alan Moore, author, No Straight Lines: Making Sense of our Non-linear World

“

12

OBSESSIONS //

GOING DEEP MATTERS

An age of cultural omnivorousness

DIY, craft, code, re-(insert verb) the new

language

Creating and curating projects to make a

mark on the world

Custom Frame Cycle Building, Walpole

(USA)

13

PLASTIC TO RAW //

GETTING BEHIND THE SCENES

Popular culture has become plasticized,

sanitized and over produced

Longing for experiences that feel

unmediated, unprocessed

Drawn to the local, craft, unpolished and

informal

Parkour Practice, Gaza (PL)

Millennials have been over sold to, they have looked behind the curtain and seen how it has been packaged and sold on, they no longer believe in it.

Josh Madden, Editor, Nylon Magazine

14

“

Nightclubs are too forced. Most DJs sit around like lumps, unengaged with their audienceDecentralized Dance Party“

15

EXPLORATION //

PUSHING YOUR BOUNDARIES

Stretching comfort zones despite an

assault on indulgences

Living without pressure of long-term

commitments pushing tastes, self-

knowledge, potential, sensation

Thinking more about self and your place in

society

Extreme Urban Exploring, Moscow

(RUS)

NEW ROLES FOR

BRANDS

A CHANGING RELATIONSHIP TO BRANDS…

xxxx

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“

#1

DON’T JUST SELL TO PEOPLE,

ENLIST THEM IN YOUR PURPOSE

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#2

LET PEOPLE SEE BENEATH THE

SURFACE

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#3

GIVE PEOPLE SKILLS

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#4

GIVE PEOPLE A MARKETPLACE

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#5

HELP PEOPLE COLLABORATE

AND BUILD COMMUNITIES