We live in undeniably ugly times. Every generation has its worries, and new generations are not different. Young people will always be uncertain about the future. They are adapting to an increasingly challenging global landscape filled with images of conflicts, climate crisis impacts, and deepening inequalities. The emerging generation faces a rapidly transforming world, shaped by technological innovation, shifting socio-economic paradigms, and evolving cultural norms. Keywords: youth empowerment, technological adaptation, globalisation, sustainable development, digital economy.

The analysis suggests that adaptive learning, cross-cultural competency, and responsible innovation will play pivotal roles in enabling the emerging generation to navigate these complex landscapes. For the emerging generation, success in this globalised environment depends on cultivating intercultural competence, the ability to navigate, respect, and adapt to diverse cultural contexts while preserving one's own identity. The emerging generation faces additional ethical challenges brought about by disruptive technologies, such as AI, genetic engineering, biometric surveillance, and advanced robotics.

Young people (Millennials, born 1981-2000; Generation Z, born 2001-2020; Alpha, born 2020-) are world shapers and leaders of the world. Young people play a crucial role today, no matter the society they live in. They share knowledge and experiences, and they fight for a fair world without inequalities, poverty, violence, and wars. Younger generations are redefining the world, prioritising sustainability, social justice, and digital-first innovation. New generations envision a future defined by rapid technological change, the urgency of climate action, and the redefinition of career success to prioritise purpose, wellbeing, and flexibility over traditional top-down leadership roles. They utilise technology to drive systemic change, combining empathy (this generation is often described as highly empathetic and connected) with entrepreneurial action to address inequality and climate change.

These generations are reshaping activism; they use social media and digital tools for organising and also holding institutions accountable. They show a strong focus on racial equality and gender equality and a deep commitment to environmentalism, eco-consciousness, and supporting businesses that prioritise ecological sustainability. They are highlighting problems, focusing on technological and practical solutions and developing new technologies for health and environmental issues. And they are largely optimistic about their power to drive innovation and create a more inclusive and sustainable world. They are combining 'doing good' with a career. Young people are more optimistic about the future than older generations (baby boomers born 1946-1964). Being young means facing challenges, turning problems into opportunities and solutions, being the driving force of society, and creating a space for future full development.

A dominant worldview is the collection of beliefs, habits, norms, and values. Key aspects of the new world view: holistic sustainability – replacing economic growth at all costs with the health and wellbeing of future generations and the planet. The times young people are living in are full of opportunities for them, and there are also many challenges, uncertainties, and rapid transformations to face. The rise of AI, the numerous conflicts around the world, the lack of trust from old generations, and economic uncertainty are the biggest challenges for youth in the 21st century.

Education, access to digital tools, data, and infrastructure, and building careers in emerging digital and green economies are the most critical areas to unlock youth-led innovation. From war-torn cities to climate-vulnerable islands, young people are enduring the fallout of protracted conflicts, forced displacement, and collapsing social safety nets. Inequality is rising, mental health support is scarce, and digital access remains deeply uneven. Many young people are growing up without homes, citizenship or peace yet are still expected to be resilient, entrepreneurial and hopeful.

AI threatens to replace their jobs before they even enter the workforce. They are less interested in squeezing into broken systems and are more focused on building new ones that are rooted in equity, healing and sustainability. Their connectivity, their collective clarity, justice, and shared leadership make this generation powerful. New generations are ready to build a more just and compassionate world. They are determined to build a better present and brighter future, promoting peace through dialogue and community engagement using AI safely and effectively in work and study, and contributing to society through meaningful participation in civic and political life.

Young people face multidimensional challenges, and unemployment and economic insecurity remain a great concern. Emerging professions, particularly in AI, deep tech, blockchain, robotisation, and the blue and green economy, require skills that are still inaccessible to many young people, and access to quality education remains unequal. Protracted political conflicts are forcing many young people onto migratory routes, depriving them of development opportunities. Economic uncertainty, the climate crisis, and social tensions weigh heavily on the mental health of young people. However, opportunities are emerging as well. The young generation are investing in the fields of innovation, sustainable agriculture, renewable energies, EdTech (educational technology), public policies, and seed funds.

Education, incorporating practical skills (digital skills, life skills, and soft skills) and new technologies (AI, blockchain, and cybersecurity), facilitates professional integration. This generation is educated and the most interconnected in history, and is positioned to drive changes. By leveraging global networks and the power of the internet, projects can be implemented that lead to action and demonstrate a new lead for sustainable development. The most urgent challenges are facing young people, especially from Africa, the Middle East, and South America, with bold ideas but limited means and a lack of access to finance, education, healthcare, decision-making, and decent work. But this generation is powerful; they are building solutions from the ground up, often in the toughest environments. Many feel extreme pressure and anxiety about the future, and at the same time, they feel empowered with a desire to live life to the fullest.

Their voices are calling for drastic climate action, spearheading the transition to a greener world. They are creating innovative solutions to promote health access, to overcome inequality, to improve social protection, to achieve food security, and to improve the quality of work opportunities. And also, they are advocating for their inclusion in decision-making processes. Accountability, transparency, trust, and focus on stakeholder capitalism will be key to meeting this generation’s ambitions and expectations, and they should take the lead to create meaningful change.

What changes do young people want?

  • Conscious consumerism: all stakeholders are to take urgent action to safeguard nature and future food production. We risk exhausting our planet’s life. We need to support systems that provide us fresh water, nutritious food, and clean air, and incentivise sustainable consumption and provide corporate accountability.

  • Digital access: to increase global internet connectivity and sanctions against institutions that resort to internet blackouts to suppress citizen freedoms.

  • Tackle disinformation: tech companies are to be transparent about the content they spread on their platforms. Governments should implement policies to protect individual citizens against harmful content. Media to identify misleading information. Educational programmes to help citizens to better identify fake news. Strengthen laws against media monopolies. Cybersecurity to uphold the integrity of political systems.

  • Inclusive jobs and social safety network: universities to reform curricula for job acquisition in today’s labour market.

  • Mental health care: governments to guarantee universal access to mental health services. Media entities shape positive perceptions and attitudes about mental health.

  • Governments to invest in communities most at risk from climate change.

  • Governments to implement policies and regulations on big tech.

  • Universities to ensure and integrate literacy into business and tech curricula.

  • Companies to integrate technology and ethics into the design of their products and services.

  • Public security policies that involve the educational system, drug policy, fighting structural racism that targets Black people, and linking poor people. Increase actions against violence. Criminal justice reform to protect the safety of vulnerable communities.

  • Democracy with a future. Philanthropic donors to support the young generations.

Young people will achieve through dialogue and youth activism. Millennials and Gen Z will create space for intergenerational dialogue and diverse lived experiences and care for themselves, others, and our ecosystem. Many young people around the world push for the creation of a more just, equitable, and sustainable future. And technology is one of the greatest tools for achieving these goals. Technology and AI concerns—Youth recognise that technology is critical for future innovation in health and energy, and there is significant worry that excessive reliance on AI could diminish human creativity and connection.

Young people reject the current status quo that excludes them from decision-making. Faced with global challenges (climate, economic, and social equality), this generation views itself as highly adaptable and resilient, preparing for a future that is often unpredictable. The youth are 'crucial'; young people are fighting these crises and reimagining a better future. Now more than ever, the world needs young people to step up to address the many other challenges ahead of us. And by giving young people a say in decision-making and solution-building, it will be more effective to ensure a better future for generations to come. Supporting youth leadership is essential, especially in fragile regions. We need more youth leadership at the UN, also.

Investing in people and relationships, in young people’s ideas, and in their ability to take action is what truly unlocks youth potential for their benefit and the resilience of the communities they serve. Access to technological data and digital infrastructures could be identified as a key investment. Innovation cannot emerge without access to information and connectivity. Finally, enabling young people to participate in decision-making and access to land, capital, and safe digital and physical spaces must be seen as part of the development mandate.

And to wage wars and fight for what? Younger generations exhibit a complex, often contradictory view of war, combining high anxiety about global conflict with a strong belief in diplomacy over military force. While many fear a major war in their lifetime, they often prioritise humanitarian aid over direct military intervention and are hesitant to endorse aggressive foreign policy. There is a notable decline in patriotic fervour, with a significant number of young people unlikely to fight.

Millennials and Gen Z overwhelmingly believe that wars are avoidable. There is a high prioritisation of humanitarian aid and diplomatic solutions over using or sending weapons. The majority of young people would never fight in a war.