Summary

The BRIDGES Flagship positioned our high-level Action Days session for the Summit of the Future in direct relationship with our Wales Hub and the Wales Protocol for Future Generations, using the Futures Generations Commission as a model for how practical frameworks can translate the commitments of the Declaration on Future Generations into action. We noted, too, how the Future Generations Commission is reflected in Stanley’s novel, Ministry for the Future.  By aligning fiction and the Protocol, the Flagship’s high-level session demonstrated how global agreements can be operationalized in the imagination, in storytelling, and across multiple scales of governance, from local communities to international collaborations.  BRIDGES specializes in modeling such “humanities-led” approaches to governance. Key issues discussed also included the roles of storytelling (highlighted by Kim Stanley Robinson and Mamphela Ramphela), the engagement of indigenous communities, governments, and international collaboration, shaping policies for future generations, balancing urgent and long-term needs, building 21st-century skills, and applying ethical AI.  

Building on this foundation, further efforts by BRIDGES and its Flagship Hub will extend into late 2024 and early 2025 through consultation workshops and labs in cities worldwide, co-organized with partners including UNESCO, the Office of the Future Generations Commissioner for Wales, ASU’s Global Futures Laboratory, and The Club of Rome, among others. These activities aim to identify effective approaches for implementing the Pact for the Future, the Declaration on Future Generations, and the Global Digital Compact, while expanding a database of demonstration cases to inform policymaking.