Sophie Howe, Future Generations Commissioner for Wales
Sophie Howe, the Future Generations Commissioner for Wales, has published her Strategic Plan to cover the period 2017-2023. We are delighted to find that we are on the same wavelength: the plan explicitly highlights the importance of effective partnerships and public involvement and engagement – two themes that we emphasised in our response to the commissioner’s consultation process (PDF, 190KB).
In particular, the Commissioner commits to:
- Build strong effective partnerships and develop a movement for change within the public sector, where people champion the Wales approach to sustainable development.
- Champion effective public involvement and engagement, challenging ourselves and others to better understand the needs of our communities, our people and their influence on the decisions that affect them.
Both commitments are made as part of the commissioner’s pledge to work with others, which is one of four broad ‘organisational purposes’ defined in the strategic plan:
- Highlight the big issues, challenges and opportunities facing future generations
- Support and challenge public bodies to think about the long-term impact of the things they do
- Work with others to drive the changes needed
- Walk the talk – challenging our team to be the change we want to see in others
FDSD welcomes the plan and continues to work with the Office of the Commissioner to build its capacity to promote partnership and participation across the public sector in Wales – and to ensure that the Commissioner ‘walks the talk’ in her own activities.
