Banking on Youth – Young People Champion Sustainability Futures for Multilateral Development Banks in 2040

This report explores the futures of Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) in 2040 created by Youth for Asia (YfA), the youth-led initiative of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) that acts as a vehicle for youth to engage in ADB projects, knowledge generation and partnerships. We highlight the history of MDBs, four scenarios, the preferred future, a backcast, and a set of metaphors that offer recommendations to help MDBs align culture with strategy.

In June 2020, Adam Sharpe facilitated an online futures workshop for YfA and other affiliated youth leaders to create possible, probable, and preferred futures for MDBs and youth in 2040. The workshop was attended by 17 people from over 10 countries across Asia-Pacific and Europe, and lasted a total of 180 minutes. All were in some way affiliated with YfA, whether a current or a former team member, or partner. The workshop was conducted entirely online using Zoom to host the meeting and team collaboration software Miro to capture and categorize the data. Images from the Miro board have been exported and shared throughout this piece to show the raw data captured from the participants themselves.