In the latest episode of ‘In Conversation with Jane Davidson,’ Jane speaks to Glen Peters, MD of MD Western Solar Ltd & James Williams, MD of Sero Homes. They discuss the Zero / low carbon housing, the challenges and opportunities.
The 2020 Annual Tony Jewell Lecture - Prof. David Pencheon
“Global health: the best of times, the worst of times: how do we address the paradox of progress in global health and equality?” by Professor David Pencheon
Prof Pencheon is the founder-director of the Sustainable Development Unit (SDU) for NHS England and Public Health England, established in 2007. He left the SDU in January 2018 and is now an Honorary Professor and an Associate at the Medical and Health School at the University of Exeter, England.
0:50:41 Response: Jane Davidson - former MS - architect of the Well-Being of Future Generations Act and author of #futuregen: Lessons from a Small Country
Small Farms for Future Generations - A panel discussion
Can small countries and small (and diverse) farms offer solutions to the crises we face? How can we move away from the ‘bigger is better’ narrative that underpins so much of farming today? And what are the key values we need in future policy and legislation to support a small-farm future? Authors Chris Smaje and Jane Davidson discuss these big questions, and more, in a conversation chaired by Sue Pritchard, Chief Executive of the Food, Farming and Countryside Commission. With the enormous challenges of climate change, economic inequality, biodiversity loss, and more, the conversation delves into the myriad possibilities that small farms offer when imagining our future.
The Chancellor's Lecture 2020 - #futuregen: How to be a Good Ancestor
On Wednesday 9 December 2020, the University of Gloucestershire was delighted to welcome Dr Jane Davidson to present this year's Chancellor's Lecture, #futuregen: How to be a Good Ancestor.
Irish Tech News #FUTUREGEN Review: LESSONS FROM A SMALL COUNTRY by Simon Cocking
In #futuregen, Jane Davidson explains how, as Minister for Environment, Sustainability and Housing in Wales, she proposed the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015—the first piece of legislation on Earth to place regenerative and sustainable practice at the heart of government. Unparalleled in its scope and vision, the Act connects environmental and social health and looks to solve complex issues such as poverty, education and unemployment.
Davidson reveals how and why such groundbreaking legislation was forged in Wales—once reliant on its coal, iron and steel industries—and explores how the shift from economic growth to sustainable growth is creating new opportunities for communities and governments all over the world.
#futuregen is the inspiring story of a small, pioneering nation discovering prosperity through its vast natural beauty, renewable energy resources and resilient communities. It’s a living, breathing prototype for local and global leaders as proof of what is possible in the fight for a sustainable future.
#futuregen Lessons from a Small Country, reviewed
This is a positive and interesting book, who knew Wales was doing so many positive things. We are fans of CAT, the Centre for Alternative Technology, and Wales has some beautiful locations, but this book is a great guide to a conscious and intentional strategy to plan for the future and make Wales a more sustainable place.
Jane Davidson, the author, does address concerns and questions about whether Wales is too small to offer relevant insights for other countries around the world. However in many ways it is the New Zealands, Singapores, Finlands and Israels among others that are leading the way in innovative approaches to dealing with climate change and making our planet a better place to live. Davidson explains how they have identified, addressed and planned to get Wales to a better place.
In many ways during this recent lockdown period it has been a clear demonstration that local and small are actually the smartest way to identify what the issues are, and to create locally appropriate solutions. #futuregen is an inspiring case study, and a smart read for other locales, small countries, and even large ones to move forward in a positive and sustainable way.
More about Irish Tech News and Business Showcase here.
In Conversation with Jane Davidson: Andy Middleton
In the latest episode of ‘In Conversation with Jane Davidson,’ Jane speaks to Andy Middleton, CEO of TYF Adventure. Passionate about the environment, Andy founded TYF in 1986, and has since started other eco businesses. They discuss the relationship between sustainability and business, the freedom of entrepreneurship, the evolution of TYF Adventure and more
Oakville News: #futuregen Book Review by Chris Stoate
See the article on Oakville News’s website here
Ever since reading Jane Jacobs’ wonderful little book, Systems of Survival, many years ago, I have developed a clearer and clearer view of the roles of the public and private sectors. The private sector’s commercial ethos is about meeting needs and wants, with innovation, industry, service and trade, in order to improve standards of living and quality of life. The public sector’s guardianship ethos is about protection and preservation: ensuring the sustainability of society including the activities of the private sector. It means environmental foresight and fostering social cohesion among other things, along with security.
To strike this balance is not easy. It involves using taxes and regulation to ensure sustainability without stifling present day innovation and prosperity. Of course, there are overlaps and gray areas when you get down to cases, but broadly speaking the private sector is about wealth generation, while governing should be about creating equality of opportunity and ensuring that wealth generation can continue for future generations.
So, I was delighted to discover the ground-breaking initiative of the Welsh government, which enacted The Well-Being of Future Generations Act. Jane Davidson was the prime mover of this legislation. She was Wales’ former Minister of Education and Minister of the Environment, Sustainability and Housing, and is the current Pro-Vice Chancellor Emeritus, University of Wales Trinity St. David, and associate faculty at Harvard University.
Jane Davidson has written a remarkable account beginning with her personal path to “living lightly” as she calls it, and of the development and passage of The Well-Being of Future Generations Act, and of what the Act has meant to governing in Wales. The book is called #futuregen: Lessons from a Small Country, Chelsea Green Publishing, 2020.
“What Wales is doing today, the world will do tomorrow.” - Nikhil Seth, UN Assistant Secretary General
It has always seemed to me that the most profound ideas often seem beautifully simple and obvious. What struck me most about the project of the Well-Being of Future Generations Act is how clearly non-partisan it is: no one can argue that we should provide for the well-being of current and future generations.
We can argue about whether health care should be provided publicly, privately, or both; if it is good to have students pay for their own post-secondary education; and if market forces alone will preserve shrinking resources or if taxes or regulation is required…but good government means thinking long-term. All parties know this even though as a practical matter electoral considerations and imminent crises drive most decisions. It is not easy to think beyond the next time the government must face the public at the polls. The public is busy with its own immediate needs, wants and worries. Long-term considerations are often addressed in banal if high-sounding promises, rather than in the meat of legislation.
What Wales has done is to make thinking about future generations the law. Who could argue that this should be the guiding principle of governing in every country in the world?
Getting the Act passed was a feat of determination and political skill. The book is a fascinating read for anyone wondering what is actually involved in creating legislation. Getting it passed was only the first step. The key to making the Act really mean something was to align the machinery of government, the civil service, around the Act as not simply one of many competing priorities, but as the guiding principle that must inform every government decision. The paradigm shift Wales achieved should be a model for every country on earth.
In the face of the ecological degradation which we are barely coming to terms with, The Well-Being of Future Generations Act provides for a re-ordering of government priorities and a mission-driven approach to government that could not be more-timely. Jane Davidson was behind that paradigm shift in Wales. She describes the fascinating journey to making her vision of government as guardian of sustainability into a reality in #futuregen: Lessons from a Small Country.
In my own view, if government were to follow the principles enacted into law in Wales, the private sector would be liberated to maximize our well-being and quality of life.
Some of the debates we have about shareholder versus stakeholder corporate governance, which risk entrusting profit-seeking enterprises with the future of the planet and either undermine or let government off the hook, would be moot. It would allow the private sector to get on with maximizing shareholder value by innovating and meeting the needs and wants of its customers. In turn the government could focus on its role in ensuring sustainability through environmental protection and social cohesion (the Seven Generation model the first Canadians followed, and the Peace, Order and Good Government which were Canada’s founding principles), as well as help the private sector flourish with as light a touch as is consistent with the guiding principle of The Well-Being of Future Generations.
The book is an undramatized account of the unglamorous business of making real change. It should be required reading for everyone working in government. The Act is a template for governing towards a world in which future generations profit from the wisdom and foresight of their predecessors, rather than suffering from their focus on short-term self-interest. The passage and implementation of the Well-Being of Future Generations Act is a game changer. #futuregen: Lessons from a Small Country is a remarkable contribution by this purpose driven political leader and thinker.
Green Party Conference: The Future Generations Act
When we work together, our common ground becomes our path to progress. That is how we turn ideas into action, and action into lasting systems change.
That’s exactly what happened in Wales. It started as a radical idea, the first of its kind: The Future Generations Act, weaving together regeneration and social justice for generations to come. It’s time England followed suit.
Now? They have the ‘world’s first commissioner of the unborn’, responsible for delivering social, economic and cultural well-being for current and future generations.
How does it work? How do we measure impact on the future? Are mindsets changing in Wales? Is the act creating the systems change it set out to achieve? Why do we need an act for future generations? And what can England and beyond learn from Wales, as the Future Generations Bill is brought to Parliament?
Hiraeth Podcast - US Election: What did we learn from Biden's win?
The dust is far from settled on the US Presidential Election 2020 but the clear Biden victory suggests a revived (and welcome) role for coherent policy making at home and abroad for the next four years.
What does this mean for Wales, the UK and the wider world and what did we learn about America during the election? To discuss with Matt and Ceri is political scientist Dr Jac Larner - a specialist in political psychology and Fullbright Fellow - and Jane Davidson, former Welsh Government Minister and author of #FutureGen, the story of the Wellbeing of Future Generations Act.
Festival of Ideas: Jane Davidson
Creating a better future means planning, action and change now. As Minister for Environment, Sustainability and Housing in Wales, Jane Davidson proposed the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 – the first piece of legislation in the world to place regenerative and sustainable practice at the heart of government. The Act connects environmental and social health and looks to solve complex issues such as poverty, education and unemployment. Since the act, the Senedd Cymru/ Welsh Parliament has appointed a Future Generations Commissioner.
Davidson reveals how and why such ground-breaking legislation was forged in Wales and explores how the shift from economic growth to sustainable growth is creating new opportunities for communities and governments all over the world. She talks about the changes that have resulted and are to come. As other countries and places look to introduce similar acts, Davidson offers an essential guide to getting this right and having an impact.
Chaired by Stephen Hilton, founder and director of Bristol Futures Global and formerly leader of Bristol Futures at Bristol City Council.