We have come to realise that gathering communities of engagement around anchor projects can help islands of excellence to emerge and generative ecosystems to develop. But it cannot embed the type of powerful change that national transformation requires. Transformative change needs large-scale interventions. It needs unconstrained momentum.
It needs broad-based collective mobilisation towards a common goal. Civic support and societal engagement are its backbone: that means input and action from government, civil society, policy makers and professionals from all walks of life, whether citizen or diaspora. It needs a vision that is owned by all because it has been codesigned from inception. The first step towards ownership of one’s future is recognising oneself as a Future Armenian. The Future Armenian is not a concept you need to be persuaded of. He or she is a fact.
Recognising yourself as a Future Armenian means taking ownership of both your identity and your future. But ownership without responsibility cannot be enjoyed.
It is time we stopped leaving responsibility for our destiny in the hands of others. Survivorship is a legacy left by those that came before us. But we must set our sights beyond it. It is our duty to both ourselves and our forebears to thrive in 2041. Such prosperity may go on to become our own survival legacy for our children and grandchildren.
