Find out more about the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act and the world’s only Future Generations Commissioner

The Committee for the Future is an established, standing committee in the Parliament of Finland.

The Committee’s mission is to generate dialogue with the government on major future problems and opportunities.

Australia’s ‘Measuring What Matters Framework‘ sets out the factors that are important to Australians’ individual and collective wellbeing across all phases of life in five broad themes – healthy, secure, sustainable, cohesive and prosperous.

In her speech outlining priorities for priorities for 2024-2029, European Commission President designate, Ursula von der Leyen, announced her intention to appoint a Commissioner to deal with issues of ‘intergenerational fairness’.

Sophie Howe spoke at the Future Generations Conference in Leuven. Futures took over the city where young people were given the keys to City Hall They came together to share ideas on what the future of jobs and skills might look like through music, art, fashion, and community engagement.

There was also a political commitment from the Deputy Mayor of the City, Lalynn Wadera, to seeing Leuven as one of the first cities in the world to have a Future Generations Commissioner

The Citizens’ Assembly brings together 99 randomly selected members of the public to discuss and debate a specific issue. People from all walks of life – not normally involved in policy development or legislative proposals – are brought together to deliberate and exchange views on a specific topic.

Members of the assembly are asked to carefully consider a range of other views, examine reports and studies, consider experiences in other countries, hear from experts in their fields, as well as hearing the lived experiences of ordinary people affected by the subject matter. This allows the members of the assembly the opportunity to make an informed assessment of all perspectives on the topic.

The discussions amongst the members of the assembly culminate in a series of recommendations for the Government and the Oireachtas to consider.

The Liaison Committee, a bipartisan scrutiny committee of senior MPs, published a report on improving the quality of strategic thinking in government and the civil service. The report is called ‘Promoting National Strategy’, and recommends–among other things–improving long-term thinking in government through an annual published long-term trends assessment, intergenerational impact assessments and a new Committee for the Future.

In New Zealand, departmental chief executives are required to publish a Long-term Insight Briefings at least once every three years. The Briefings are think pieces on the future, not government policy, and are developed independently of ministers.

The briefings are designed to provide information about medium and long-term trends, risks and opportunities that affect or may affect New Zealand and New Zealand society and information impartial analysis, including policy options for responding to these matters.

More than 2500 people contributed to the consultation to create ‘Lithuania 2050’ – a strategy for a national vision and priorities for development as well as guidelines for their implementation by 2050.

The T20 Brasil Communiqué offers concrete and actionable policy recommendations for the Brazilian G20 Presidency, including that “sustainable, future-proof
policies that encompass the rights of children and future generations
in G20 declarations” are crucial.