After hundreds of applications and weeks of preparation, we can introduce you to Team Future: fifteen extraordinary and diverse young changemakers laying the groundwork for a new generation of leadership in Indonesia’s just energy transition.
Designed by Mindworks, in collaboration with Kok Bisa, and Think Policy, the Ministry of the Future is a unique three-month fellowship to empower young people to find their role in the energy transition and inspire others to do the same.
Focused on empowering youth and fostering social mobility, the Ministry brings together young civil servants, coders, innovators, storytellers, policy analysts, and grassroots changemakers. Each fellow brings their own expertise and connection to their community, taking the energy transition beyond the activist bubble.
Together, they represent the diversity and drive needed to lead Indonesia’s energy transition in a way that’s inclusive, resilient, and grounded in real lives.
Our unique approach is to accompany them on a journey to realise and exercise their own community power. In turn, inspiring others to help improve livelihoods collectively, be it through green jobs, locally led adaptation or clean air. Over the next three months, our fellows will be accompanied by diverse mentors from Mindworks and test their ideas with leading organisations such as CERAH, Enter Nusantara or Trend Asia.
On a warm, sunny day, in a peaceful Jakarta open space surrounded by flowering trees, the fifteen fellows met each other for the first time. The first day of the orientation focused on creating connections and helping the fellows understand each other’s backgrounds. We got them to share their values, set commitments to each other, and purposefully built connections through conversations and active listening. Fellows also got to dive deeper into the Ministry program and values. The Mindworks team helped them reflect on where they each find themselves in the polycrisis, facilitated by a meaningful and deep Time To Talk conversation framed around The Exhausted Mind.
We know the importance of creating a safe space to be vulnerable with strangers, but also the value and deeper connection it can create, alongside the pride of playing a part in something much bigger than themselves. Piece by piece, we are building a more connected ecosystem, one where varying backgrounds, values, and perspectives interact to create solutions to complex problems.
After a week of reflection, going back to their lives, the fellows come together on a second Saturday for the second session, now equipped with a better understanding of themselves, the polycrisis, and new perspectives. Fueled by a hearty meal, the team dove straight into mapping out the polycrisis. This session also explored systemic issues and challenges in the CSO space and used case studies to contextualise their learnings into novel solutions using a systems perspective. Each fellow is slowly uncovering the interconnectedness of the different crises that impact them and the diverse communities they belong to.
This day also introduced the Partner Project, an exciting four-week program where they will deepen their understanding of civic issues, approach challenges with a narrative perspective, and test their ideas in the real world. These collaborations will give our young participants a lived experience of empowerment, seeing their ideas turn into actions.
By sharing our fellows’ journey of empowerment, we want to convince more young Indonesians from different walks of life that they can help shape the country’s just energy transition, and its future.
Indonesia is one of the youngest countries in the world and the energy transition over the next decades will be shaped by how we support and activate its young people. The Ministry of the Future is building a pathway for young people to feel empowered to act in their community, to find meaning, pride and purpose in their careers and contribute in a way that is relevant to them. Watch this space to follow their journey!
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