In a world marked by uncertainty, placing the future at the heart of public policy has become a necessity. In Wales, it was by giving a voice to its citizens that the government rethought its long-term approach, embedded sustainable development into its actions and placed future generations at the heart of its decisions. Sophie Howe, Wales’ first Commissioner for Future Generations and now an advisor at the School of International Futures, shares her experience.
Missions Publiques. You were the first Future Generations Commissioner for Wales from 2016 to 2023. Could you explain why this position was created, and how you worked in this role to ensure that the impact of decisions on future generations is considered within the public policy cycle?
Sophie Howe. In 1999, when the Welsh Parliament was first established, the legislation included a clause stating that sustainable development should be a central organizing principle of the government.
It was an admirable goal on paper, but in practice, it had very little influence on policymaking. This caused frustration within civil society, among NGOs, community groups, and others—who wondered how the government was concretely implementing this commitment. That’s how a citizen-led campaign emerged to question the government and hold it accountable: how is sustainable development truly integrated into your policies, and how could it be improved?
From there, working with policymakers and NGOs, the idea of legislating for sustainable development emerged. However, when drafting the legislation, the government wasn’t entirely sure what it should contain. So, they decided to ask the citizens directly.
In 2013–2014, a national conversation was launched, supported and funded by the government, and conducted by an organization called “The Wales We Want”. Citizens were asked: what kind of Wales do you want to leave for your children, grandchildren, and future generations? This was unusual because governments rarely have such open conversations with their citizens, typically opting instead for more targeted questions.
The national conversation engaged communities across Wales, bringing together businesses and community groups around roundtables. The Women’s Institute and the Young Farmers’ Association each organized their own discussions. Schoolchildren were also involved, writing letters to their future selves. All of these contributions were then collected to build a collective vision for the future – the vision of the citizens of Wales.
This vision was later enshrined in law through seven interconnected long-term well-being goals. The legislation evolved from being a law on sustainable development to one on the well-being of future generations, more faithfully reflecting the ambition expressed by citizens.
Now, all public bodies are required to evaluate their actions in terms of their impact on future generations, both those alive today and those not yet born. They must also ensure their decisions contribute to achieving the vision defined by citizens, rather than undermining it.
The law also mandates a preventative and integrated approach to public action. Institutions must demonstrate how they anticipate problems before they occur or worsen, while considering the interactions between different policies This ensures better coordination of decisions and, crucially, strengthens citizen involvement by including them more closely and continuously in decision-making processes.
The word “involvement” was specifically chosen in the legislation rather than “engagement” or “consultation”, as it carries a deeper meaning: it asserts the necessity of co-creating public policies with citizens.
Missions Publiques. Could you give us a concrete example of how citizens are involved in these decisions?
Sophie Howe. I think the ultimate form of co-creation we achieved was the vision developed with citizens themselves during that national conversation. Since then, numerous examples demonstrate how public bodies have implemented this principle of citizen involvement. In Cardiff, our capital, young people serve as youth commissioners, participating directly on procurement committees where services for children and young people are allocated. Their participation is full and meaningful, making them integral to the decision-making process.
Across Wales, every school has a youth council, and there is a national youth parliament. Furthermore, the voting age has recently been lowered to 16. Other initiatives, such as citizen panels focused on social care issues, also demonstrate commitment to involving citizens more broadly in political decisions.
Some approaches are particularly innovative. The arts and creative sector are leveraged to explore new ways of engaging citizens. For example, in a health board managing hospitals in one area, storytellers were integrated into the complaints service. This allowed people who had difficult experiences with the health system to share their stories. The impact was significant, for both the citizens and the health board executives, who now begin each board meeting by listening to these testimonies. This serves as a constant reminder of why they are committed and refocuses their work on what matters most: the citizen.
During my tenure as Future Generations Commissioner, I also created the Future Leaders Academy. This program brought together 30 young leaders aged 18 to 30 from across Wales, forming a panel through which the government could test ideas. For example, when developing the post-Covid recovery strategy, it was submitted to this group for feedback.
One of the most remarkable initiatives was a reverse-mentoring program. These 30 young leaders mentored 30 of the most influential leaders in Wales, ranging from the head of the Welsh civil service to the CEO of the Football Association of Wales (FAW). This experience showed that young voices and perspectives were genuinely heard and now influence public action. Today, these young leaders also serve as an advisory council for the FAW’s new strategy, which places the achievement of the seven well-being goals at the heart of their work.
"Conversations about the future are incredibly powerful in moving beyond polarization, because when discussing the future, there is often a great deal of consensus.
Sophie Howe
Former Commissioner for future generations in Wales
Missions Publiques. Do you have any advice or suggestions for helping embed long-term thinking at the heart of decision-making for both policymakers and citizens?
Sophie Howe. The first thing I would say is that, in today’s world—shaped by social media, increasing polarization, and worrying social disintegration—co-creation with citizens should not be seen as a luxury, but as an essential component of democracy, governance, and public service delivery. A recent UK study even found that 27% of young people would prefer a dictatorship to democracy.
Conversations about the future are incredibly powerful in moving beyond polarization, because when discussing the future, there is often a great deal of consensus. People often want the same things: community, clean air, open public spaces, a sense of belonging in their neighborhood, and greater fairness. Listening to citizens helps define a shared vision for the future, a kind of “North Star” to guide public policies and services.
From my work with the School of International Futures (SOIF) globally, and observing OECD research on well-being frameworks, I’ve noticed that citizens’ aspirations for the future are remarkably similar across countries.
Another key point is that to have effective public services, we must first understand how to design them around the people they are meant to serve. I often recall an early example, before the Future Generations Act, when I worked on a policy for free school breakfasts. The goal was to reach children from low-income families who arrived at school without a healthy breakfast. The intention was good, but we didn’t engage enough with the communities the policy was meant to serve. As a result, it didn’t reach the children most in need. Many parents were not working, so there was no incentive to arrive earlier for breakfast. Instead, it benefited children like mine, who gained a free half-hour of supervision. Useful, yes—but did it meet the actual needs of the target children? Not really. Better community involvement could have reshaped the policy and improved its impact.
Missions Publiques. Can you tell us what you are currently working on at the School of International Futures (SOIF)?
Sophie Howe. Since the end of my mandate in Wales, I have joined the School of International Futures, a global organization promoting long-term governance. We work in many countries, from Kenya to Australia to Spain, and we hope to collaborate soon with Missions Publiques here in France (1).
We observe that each country approaches long-term thinking very differently. The European Union, for instance, ran a citizen panel on intergenerational equity, which informed its strategy. In San Mateo County in Silicon Valley, a group of citizens successfully used the arts, culture, and youth engagement to adopt a futures-focused approach. In Kenya, the Senate engages young people in discussions on what intergenerational equity could mean for them.
In each of these countries, early involvement and deep dialogue with citizens are essential components for advancing the future generations agenda.
Missions Publiques. You mentioned a reverse mentoring approach to empower young leaders. Could you explain this approach in more detail and how it is implemented?
Sophie Howe. The Future Leaders Academy and reverse mentoring program grew and evolved, and we learned a lot from its first phase. Initially, we paired 30 young leaders with the 30 most senior decision-makers. As you can imagine, these senior leaders did not always understand that they were the mentees being guided by a young person. Many expected a traditional mentorship, where they would impart their knowledge and wisdom. We had to provide significant support and interventions to shift mindsets toward the goal we wanted to achieve.
It required substantial resources at first, but gradually, as the young people gained confidence, the senior leaders began to realize that these young leaders brought a radically different perspective. They offered new insights, challenged established practices, and asked questions such as: why are you doing this this way? They highlighted that certain decisions did not meet their needs. For example, when information is sent by email, they do not read it and prefer other communication channels. Similarly, when a new road is planned, their priority is not to learn to drive on it, but to improve access to and the quality of public transport.
To illustrate with football: if you have the power to mobilize an entire nation through this sport, why not use it to communicate messages about reducing carbon emissions, show what your organization is doing on climate, and use football’s influence to promote arts, culture, and language? This approach was incredibly powerful but also very challenging at the start, especially in shifting the mindsets of senior leaders.
(1) Missions Publiques is launching and will lead the French hub of the School of International Futures. More information to follow shortly.
