What does it really mean for young people to shape Indonesia’s energy transition? Not as spectators or commentators, but as active players with the agency to make change happen. This question sits at the heart of the Ministry of the Future Fellowship, an initiative designed by Mindworks, communications platform KokBisa, and policy NGO Think Policy to turn abstract and fragmented ideas about the energy transition into visible examples of youth agency in action.
The Fellowship was born from the belief that Indonesia’s youth must lead this transformation. It will unite diverse youth voices – young civil servants, coders, innovators, storytellers, policy analysts, and grassroots changemakers— that rarely share the same space, let alone the same mission. In diversity is stregnth.
The idea is simple: seeing is believing. To unlock youth agency, we must show what it looks like. This first cohort is a miniature version of the future we’re working toward—one where silos break, common ground is found, and new possibilities emerge for Indonesia’s just energy transition.
140 applicants, one shared future
The application cycle closed last week, and the response has been overwhelming. In just two weeks, over 140 young Indonesians applied to join the Fellowship, each bringing their energy, ideas, and vision for the future. Applications came from places we didn’t expect—entrepreneurs and researchers, storytellers, innovators, educators, government officers, urban planners, and more. In April, the first cohort of Fellows will be announced, forming a diverse learning community ready to navigate complexity, break out of echo chambers, and lead change where it matters most.
Learning to see the system, finding their role
This three-month Fellowship isn’t a traditional training. It’s an immersive journey. This diverse group of Fellows, who are representative of Jakarta’s diversity, will explore what it means to build a resilient city—how Jakarta and other urban centres can become more affordable, livable, and sustainable. Importantly, they will reflect on their role as young Indonesians: what agency looks like in a system that often feels too big to change.
The Fellowship focuses on three key future tracks that connect daily realities with the broader energy transition:
- The Future of Food
- The Future of Housing and Transportation
- The Future of Jobs
These tracks were chosen because they reflect the issues young Indonesians care about now. The Fellowship hopes to unlock youth participation where it matters most, connecting personal experiences to collective action to build a first-of-its-kind movement around energy transition.
What it looks like in action
The Fellowship unfolds in four stages—each designed to deepen skills, strengthen connections, and build collective power:
- Partner Projects – Fellows learn and apply new skills in CSO consulting, narrative building, and digital engagement to shape their own initiatives.
- Group Projects – They co-create spaces for broader public participation, designing conversations that cut through polarising narratives and bring new voices into the energy transition.
- Collective Action Phase – Fellows synthesise powerful ideas that demonstrate what collective action beyond silos looks like—and build shared resilience.
- Youth Assembly – The journey culminates in a gathering where Fellows map power, host critical dialogues, and bridge inside-outside perspectives to remove barriers to systemic change.
Building an ecosystem, not just a fellowship
The Ministry of the Future is more than a program—it’s the start of a growing ecosystem. KokBisa and Think Policy are key partners in shaping this first chapter, helping connect young Indonesians across sectors, disciplines, and social bubbles.
Together, we’re building a generation of leaders —young people who can shape narratives, shift social norms, and move us from passive hope—waiting for change—to active hope—creating it.
This is just the beginning. Through the Fellowship and initiatives like ‘Future Talks’, a series of conversations that address critical challenges, we are reaching beyond the usual social change circles—connecting young leaders from everywhere under one mission.
Over the next three years, our goal is clear: a growing force of youth driving Indonesia’s just energy transition, building personal and political power, challenging business as usual, and reminding us that the future is something we build together.
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