After South Africa, Cameroon and Algeria, Mauritius hosted the fourth Our Future forum from November 3 to 5, 2023. Gathered around the theme "Horizons beyond borders", speakers and participants came from the host country, France, as well as Europe and the region's island states and territories. Organized by the Institut français de Maurice with the support of the Institut français de Paris, the forum also welcomed personalities from 3 continental African countries bordering the Indian Ocean: Mozambique, Kenya and Tanzania.

Why this theme?

In no other territory than that of an island state, such as Mauritius, is the border so visible and total, a shoreline separating land and sea expanses, the Here and the Elsewhere, Us and the Others. Beyond the frontier shore, seen from the island, the horizon is everywhere you look, a distant line inviting you to get away from it all and go beyond it all. It's hardly surprising, then, that this reflection was born on an island. Indeed, Mauritius is the ideal place from which to reflect on and conceptualize both the processes of closure and withdrawal, and those of opening up, overcoming and creating links that loom on the horizon.

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A forum by and for young people

The program was developed over the course of 2023 through an inclusive and participatory approach. Indeed, the Institut français de Maurice brought together over fifty young people - Mauritians, but also of other nationalities, including students or professionals settled in Mauritius - for two days of reflection. It was these discussions that brought out the axes around which the workshops were designed.

The forum offered a total of ten activities, including workshops and debates, artistic installations and performances, and a serious game on borders, specially designed for this event. Participants were able to discuss a wide range of topics, such as new university models, youth engagement, food and its ability to create or transcend borders, among others.

A media platform, with an editorial team made up of young people, was active during the days to develop live content and broadcast it on online media. Keynote speakers Kantuta Quirós, filmmaker, curator, art theorist, Alyosha Wald Lasowski, musician, philosopher and teacher-researcher, and Eirini Linardaki, artist and curator of public art projects, will join in the reflections, exchanges and creations.

Muriel Piquet-Viaux, Director of the French Institute of Mauritius.

Mauritius was chosen from all possible territories to host three days of immersion around the notions of horizon, borders, overcoming and dialogue. Together, the region's young people will imagine new zones of exchange, built on new paradigms that give pride of place to cross-disciplinary, diversified and disruptive thinking.

The "Identités rhizomiques" podcast

Launched during the Africa-Europe Dialogues in Mauritius, "Identités rhizomiques" is a podcast that explores the richness and complexity of our contemporary identities. Inspired by the thinking of philosopher Edouard Glissant, this podcast gives a voice to those who embody the diversity of our globalized world. "Identités rhizomiques" travels across continents and cultures.

Podcast recorded in November 2023 during the Notre futur forum organized by the French Institute in Mauritius.

Relive the Forum in videos