By Tumelo Mojapelo

Editor’s note: The following article highlights one of the APF’s IF Awards Honourable Mentions. To learn more visit: https://www.apf.org/association/if-awards-winners-2023
If you ask any foresight specialist or facilitator what lies at the heart of foresight work, the first response you get begins with helping others to understand the forces of change in the world.
The second response is to assist people in embracing and utilising the insights and understanding gained from exposure to these driving forces to build worlds, services, products, experiences and policies that are a creative, innovative, inclusive and sustainable answer to the question: What if?
The Generation Z Immersion Experience created by Flux Trends Analysis, a trends analysis and foresight company based in South Africa, illustrates what happens when executives explore and experience the world of South Africa's GenZs. It follows the participant's journey from understanding the world that South Africa's GenZs live and work in, then goes full circle by asking and answering the question: What if this generation is the answer the world is looking for? What if they are the answer to economic instability, social injustice and climate change?
This experience did not just end at asking the question, “What if?” but attempted to give the participants a taste of the worlds, products, services and experiences that these young people are imagining if not already, building to address the socio-economic issues that plague South Africa and Africa at large.
According to a report (2021) by the United Nations, 70% of sub-Saharan Africa is under 30 years old. In addition, 43% of the global youth population between the ages of 15-30 will be from Africa by 2075, according to a report (2019) by the World Economic Forum. These stats illustrate the necessity of engaging and working with this generation to ensure that their potential is developed and utilised in the most equitable and meaningful way for the continent of Africa and for themselves.
The Flux Trends Gen Z Immersion Experience looked at three ways – Education, Entrepreneurial Spirit and Empathy – that this generation can participate in creating a diverse, inclusive, innovative and sustainable future.
Education
The first one is education. We looked at how this experience allowed businesses to interact with Gen Zs and their mentors in their learning spaces to lay the foundation for building the future of South Africa and Africa through leadership development.
Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today." - Malcolm X, Civil Rights Activist and Advocate for Black Empowerment

This immersive experience began with a visit to the African Leadership Academy, an educational institution created to develop and harness the potential of young, bright Africans for leadership.
This academy seeks to develop leaders who work within their network to accelerate and boost growth in Africa. The students come from various African countries, such as Ethiopia, Kenya, Mali, Mauritania, Nigeria, South Africa, Sudan, and Zimbabwe, to name a few. Their curriculum focuses on developing leaders with ethical, entrepreneurial and transformative leadership skills by identifying, developing and connecting African youth to create a transformative impact through innovative businesses and projects in Africa.
“There is a better way to invest in Africa for a sustainable future that creates value for all... “Only entrepreneurship can create opportunity where none seemingly exists...Young entrepreneurs and those they inspire are the lifeblood of Africa’s rise.” - Tony. O Elumelu, Economist, Philanthropist and Chairperson of the United Bank for Africa.
This generation is using entrepreneurship to create the future of food security in urban centres. Currently, food insecurity plagues almost 58 million people in South Africa and surrounding regions, according to a SADC Synthesis Report (2022). From this number, 18.6 million are children who become stunted as a result. According to a report (2023) by the African Development Bank Group, the number of people living in urban areas is set to reach 1.5 billion by 2050.
Images credit: Flux Trends
Entrepreneurial Spirit
These stats bring us to our second stop in the Gen Z Immersion Experience, the Neighbour Roots rooftop garden in Sandton, Morningside. The Neighbour Roots rooftop garden illustrates the entrepreneurial spirit that drives change and creates beautiful results in urban communities. This garden is hydroponic. It was born from a collaboration between Zandile Kumalo, a local farmer and Red Hill High School's grade 9 students. Zandile brought her extensive expertise in agriculture while the grade 9 students applied their business minds to developing a business plan for this rooftop garden. This garden is a collaboration amongst young members of society and an employer of South Africa's green-fingered Gen Zs.
Thereafter, the participants enjoyed their lunch on the lush green lawns of the Wilds Nature Reserve, under the blue Johannesburg skies and the warm winter sunlight, then went on to the fourth and final stops.
“It is the young trees that make up the forest.” - African Proverb.
Keeping this African proverb in mind, the last two stops of Flux Trends Gen Z Immersion Experience highlight the learnings and insight that the participants could glean from the collective effort of young individuals on the ground who are using their various gifts, talents, expertise, networks and opportunities to create a wave of change that can determine the direction, form and trajectory of the future.

The fourth stop was hosted at Student Village's headquarters. Student Village is a company that specialises in youth market research. They help brands form authentic, deep, data-driven connections with young consumers. The participants got an opportunity to engage with a panel of young changemakers and innovators. They were given an all-access pass to the insightful and inspiring stories of how these young individuals are elevating and transforming the spaces they occupy in their communities with their businesses, side hustles and projects.
"Empathy is the starting point for creating a community and taking action. It's the impetus for creating change." - Max Carver.
Empathy
The last and final stop ended with a curated Gen Z Human Library — the first of its kind for Flux Trends. The Gen Z Human Library is a curated library of young people brought together to challenge general stereotypes and rattle the cages of the executives participating in this experience. The sole purpose of this library is to change the assumptions and viewpoints participants might harbour about these young individuals, their abilities, aspirations, backgrounds and experiences.
This library creates a moment at the end of this immersive experience that allows participants to consciously absorb the lives and experiences of everyday Gen Zs through conversation and storytelling, thus tapping into the potential that empathy has for bringing about change and transformation, as well as the potential that empathy has for unleashing the future.
The Gen Z Immersion Experience gave the participants time to engage in one-on-one sessions with various South African Gen Zs from different walks of life and socio-economic backgrounds. It also allowed for a moment of respite and reflection over the insights and experiences that made this Gen Z Immersion Experience what it is.
Below are some remarks from those who participated in this experience:
“I think today was really an inspirational day. I should do much more of this and make the time for it – just engaging with different people with different viewpoints and just learning to open up my mind, open up my eyes. It’s really what it [this experience] does – in one day!” – Paul Keursten, Founder of Workshop17
“It was very cool getting other people’s perspectives like Gen Z… I think it really helped me change my campaigns at work. I think it was such an incredible experience overall. You guys did an amazing job of planning everything. Everything went smoothly, there were no humps and bumps, and you were so clued up about everything. It really was an insightful day!” – Valencia Heeralall, Attacq
This immersive experience moved our executives from being observers and commentators of innovation and trends to being involved proponents of change and members of an evolving society and world.
By focusing on Gen Z we allowed executives to experience the future in the present, to dare to dream and work with this generation on creating the future.
Dion Chang, CEO and founder of Flux Trends Analysis has a succinct way of highlighting the importance of Gen Z, specifically South Africa's Gen Zs, “Gen Z has always mattered to me as a digital generation. They matter to Flux in terms of our strategic insights and foresight programmes. Businesses are now discovering how much they matter – as customers and employees. It should matter to you to understand South Africa and Africa’s future."
As initially stated in this article, the executives who participated in this experience began at a place where they were able to review how they understood the world before this experience. Then they were transported to places where their understanding evolved when they were exposed to drivers of change, in this case, external forces and the Gen Zs who participated in this experience. Lastly, they were given a chance to explore and attempt to answer the question: What if?
In closing, I'd like to recap the question: What if this generation is the answer the world is looking for? What if they are the answer to economic instability, social injustice and climate change?

Tumelo Mojapelo is an old and inquisitive soul who is constantly on a mission to uncover fresh and complex anomalies in the world of trends, while also trying to help people find their way to their preferred future. As Head of Content, Foresight Facilitator and Trainer, she oversees and directs the research undertaken and content generated by the Flux Trends team. She has more than a decade of knowledge and experience in the trends analysis space. Her mission is to empower entrepreneurs and businesses to make better decisions by helping them understand and apply trends in their business context.
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