On the 30th March 2026, Centre co-director Professor Jen Ross chaired The Future Speaks, a hustings event organised by James Gillespie's High School and the Edinburgh Futures Institute.
At the event, pupils from seven secondary schools in Edinburgh worked together to develop questions for the candidates on a range of topics, from biodiversity to disinformation, reflecting the issues they consider to be of most importance for their futures, and in significant need of policy leadership in Scotland.
They asked about policies that could help young people be better able to judge truthfulness of online information, and about how Scottish policy could be developed to ensure graduate jobs remain competitive and aren’t taken over by AI. The candidates shared a range of views about the future of AI, mostly optimistic about its importance for economic growth and articulating a need for education to facilitate a transition towards increasing AI in workplaces. Negative environmental and labour implications were also noted by a few, with solutions proposed including refusing permission for data centres and enacting legislation to protect jobs.
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Politicians quizzed by pupils at Uni hustings | News | The University of Edinburgh
Holyrood candidates face school children in Edinburgh hustings
The Edinburgh Evening News published a piece with some of the young people's reviews of the hustings: Holyrood elections 2026: Teenagers quiz Edinburgh candidates at special hustings.