On April 11th, FDSD, in collaboration with the the Centre for the Study of Democracy (CSD) and the Centre for the Understanding of Sustainable Prosperity (CUSP), organised an event to discuss the potential to establish a UK-wide Commissioner for Future Generations. We heard from two speakers with intimate knowledge of the work of Commissioners and Ombudsman around the world – both of whom are FDSD trustees:
- Peter Davies, formerly the Sustainable Futures Commissioner in Wales
- Sándor Fülöp, formerly the Parliamentary Commissioner for Future Generations of Hungary
Provocations were then offered by Andrea Westall (FDSD) and Victor Anderson (CUSP). These were followed by discussions amongst the audience on the opportunities and challenges to introducing a Commissioner at the UK level and/or within the nations of the UK, building on the pioneering work of the Welsh Government.
We will produce further reflections on the outcome of the meeting and continue to advocate for new forms of democratic governance that challenge short-termism and the failure to account for our impact on future generations. A video of the presentations and responses to audience questions can be found below. Visual minutes of the meeting were created by Raquel Durán.
Please get in touch at info@fdsd.org or use the comment section below if you would like to work with us, share examples, or want to keep in touch about similar events in the future.
