The Well-being of Future Generations Act has “never been more needed” and current challenges prove we need “bigger and faster change”.
That’s the message from the Future Generations Commissioner Derek Walker on the 10th anniversary of the passing of the Well-being of Future Generations Act.
Wales is the only country in the world with a Well-being of Future Generations Act, which was passed on the floor of the Senedd on March 17, 2015.
The nation’s commitment to the well-being of future generations takes inspiration from indigenous wisdom and the Seventh Generation Principle and since the Act was passed, several other countries across the world are acting in the interests of the not-yet-born.
The approach calls for a new mindset and mandates Welsh Government and public bodies like health boards and local councils to improve social, cultural, environmental and economic well-being and take long-term action. It has led to a “progressive” school curriculum, a greener direction for travel in Wales and a new way to define prosperity, free universal school meals for primary school children and Wales becoming second in the world for recycling.
Mr Walker said:
“If you’re a family living through the cost of living crisis, you want to know you can put food on the table and you also want to know your child will live a good life in the future. The Well-being of Future Generations Act has never been more needed.
“Wales was bold when it committed to the well-being of future generations 10 years ago and we know that people across Cymru feel proud of this pioneering law.
“But Wales is still facing challenges that prove we need bigger and faster change, and we need everyone to feel like their lives are better and will continue to be better. I urge those in power and running public services to do everything they can to realise the ambitions of this world-leading commitment so we are truly thinking decades and centuries ahead and creating a Wales fit for future generations.”
On April 29, to mark the legislation gaining royal assent, the Future Generations Commissioner will publish recommendations for public bodies including Welsh Government, to create more change using the WFGA.
When Derek Walker took on the role in 2023, he called for ‘urgent and transformational change’ and through a new strategy, Cymru Can, he has made making the law work harder his top priority.
Mason Rodrigues-Edwards is one of the Future Generations Leadership Academy who graduated at a recent event at the Wales Millennium Centre.
The Academy supports young people to bring about lasting social change under the Well-being of Future Generations Act. One hundred young people have now graduated from the academy, from where alumni have spoken at climate conferences, joined Welsh Government advisory boards, become elected officials and represented Wales on the UK Future Generations Commission.
Mason, an Assistant Producer with National Youth Arts Wales, said:
“To me the Well-being of Future Generations Act and its goals represent a chance to work collaboratively to take control of our future, helping guarantee that future generations get to experience a thriving, resilient and prosperous Wales. Its importance can’t be overstated.”
The commissioner is organising a Future Generations Action Summit on April 29 to work with public bodies and others to create more action around the Well-being of Future Generations Act.
According to Future Generations Cymru, some of the ways Wales has changed since the nation took action to commit to the well-being of future generations are:
- ‘The Welsh way’ of doing things now means systems thinking, understanding and taking action on root causes, and involvement of people are a must. The Act supported public bodies working together during challenges of a Covid-19 pandemic, from Swansea Council reducing homelessness to Swansea Bay University Health Board supplying unused field hospital beds to families to reduce bed poverty.
- Public bodies are maximising well-being, but businesses which are not covered by the legislation also are, from Football Association of Wales to Bluestone National Park. Câr-y-Môr seaweed and shellfish community enterprise used the WFGA to win a 20-year marine license after a successful NRW appeal. Derek Walker later said seaweed could be ‘Wales’ super power’.
- A new, progressive school curriculum with an emphasis on mental health and developing well-rounded ethically-informed citizens of Wales and the world, taught eco-literacy, and new qualifications to teach people to be planet stewards and a National Nature Service for Wales.
- Transport is on a greener, healthier journey, from rejecting building new roads as standard, to a plan to increase public transport, walking, and cycling to 45% by 2045, and 20mph speed limits to keep communities safe. In 2019, the WFGA informed the overturning of a plan to spend £1.4 billion on a 14-mile, additional stretch of motorway bypassing Newport. A nationwide campaign by climate voices, and an intervention by the commissioner, saved wetlands housing rare birds, plants and insects and led to changes in transport policy in Wales.
- Instead of the M4 extension, it’s announced that a sustainable network of additional rail stations, rapid bus routes and cycle corridors will be built in what’s described as a ‘landmark moment and testament to the change that the Act is bringing about’.
- The Act’s new way to define prosperity means we evaluate progress based on well-being, not GDP, so government and public bodies must, by law, deliver fair work and a low carbon society, which has led to a focus on social enterprises.
- Wales is aspiring to be an Anti-racist Wales and a Nation of Sanctuary.
100 people graduating from a Future Generations Leadership Academy, putting the WFGA in action across society. - Wales is helping to put the future on the map, influencing the UN and countries across the globe, accelerating action on climate change as the first nation and parliament to declare a climate emergency, ranking second in the world for recycling.
- The understanding of the importance of arts in the role of health is growing, from Arts Council of Wales and NHS Confederation’s partnership, upskilling of NHS staff in arts within a health setting, to more social prescribing.
- Food is one way Wales can really make a difference, and primary school children have free universal school meals. The commissioner’s team is committed to food as a focus area, and is challenging Welsh Government to use the Well-being of Future Generations Act to create a fundamental shift in how we think about food. In a polycrisis of health, poverty, nature and climate change, and as one in five people are hungry, disproportionately affecting more disabled, Black, Asian and minority ethnic people, the commissioner says we need a new food plan for Wales.
