ABSTRACT
This chapter moves the question of youth participation and well-being away from pre-arranged institutionalised settings towards intergeneration learning. In the chapter, the authors argue that the challenge of building sustainable well-being for the future can be addressed effectively only in collaboration between young people and adults in eco-social transformation at all levels of society. They stress that young people should not be responsibilised for building a sustainable future alone and argue for developing methods for intergenerational learning to tackle with the current climate and environmental crises. The chapter describes and discusses the unique Circular Knowledge model, which the researchers co-created together with young people, a group of NGO partners and private entrepreneurs in the North Karelia Region of Finland. The authors describe the basic ideas underpinning the model, reflect on its creation, where diverse participatory methods were used, and discuss findings from two empirical test cases. The authors also critically reflect the challenges of such an extensive collaborative effort. As shown in several other chapters of the book, participatory and action-oriented research processes are always unpredictable and may involve developments that go against researchers’ well-intended goals and wishes, despite their best efforts. At the same time interactive research co-creates knowledge which is useful for the different levels of society.
