Interview with inaugural Future Generations Commissioner for Wales, Sophie Howe: embedding a wellbeing approach in government

Howe, Sophie; Nutbeam, Don

doi:10.17061/phrp3322314

Public Health Res Pract.

2023

DOI: 10.17061/phrp3322314

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Interview with inaugural Future Generations Commissioner for Wales, Sophie Howe: embedding a wellbeing approach in government

Sophie Howe¹,

Don Nutbeam²

Abstract: Delivering wellbeing requires a long-term view with a focus on future generations that goes hand-in-hand with meeting today's needs • A transformational shift is needed to enable policy makers and practitioners to recognise broader connections in wellbeing and to work with partners outside their own area • Building capacity and capability within systems is vital to enable public servants can act on the evidence we already have • It is important to strike a balance between setting broad goals and objectives and… Show more

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The wellbeing economy in practice: sustainable and inclusive growth? Or a post-growth breakthrough?

Hayden

2024

Humanit Soc Sci Commun

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A wellbeing economy (WE) has gained a wide range of adherents in recent years, although the meanings they give to it vary. One point with conflicting understandings is whether a WE is a post-growth economy. Many environmentalists and other growth critics have long called for a move beyond the pursuit of economic growth as a societal priority and an embrace of an ethic of sufficiency. Some WE proponents highlight not only the WE’s post-growth character but also its ability to bring post-growth ideas into the political mainstream, pointing, for example, to the Wellbeing Economy Governments (WEGo), a partnership of governments with shared ambitions of creating a WE. Does increasing support for a WE represent the long-sought breakthrough for a post-growth, sufficiency-oriented environmental approach? If not, how can efforts to implement a WE be taken further in a post-growth direction? These questions are examined through case studies of countries participating in WEGo, using an analysis of government documents and other sources to determine whether they have adopted a post-growth orientation. Expanding on previous analysis of the three founding WEGo members, this article examines three more recent cases: Finland and Wales, which are both WEGo members, and Canada, which has participated in WEGo gatherings. It confirms previous findings that WEGo nations have taken only limited steps in a post-growth direction, with emerging WE practice amounting at most to a “weak post-growth approach.” However, while previous studies have emphasized conclusions applying broadly to all WEGos, this article identifies greater variation among WE cases. One case, Wales, stands out for moving further in a post-growth direction, including significant sufficiency-oriented policies such as limits on road building, although a commitment to economic growth remains evident. Building on the findings, the article concludes with some options that WEGo nations and others could take to strengthen the WE’s post-growth character.

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The wellbeing economy in practice: sustainable and inclusive growth? Or a post-growth breakthrough?

Hayden

2024

Humanit Soc Sci Commun

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The Future Healthy Countdown 2030 consensus statement: core policy actions and measures to achieve improvements in the health and wellbeing of children, young people and future generations

Lycett,

Lane,

Frykberg

et al. 2024

Medical Journal of Australia

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IntroductionThis consensus statement recommends eight high‐level trackable policy actions most likely to significantly improve health and wellbeing for children and young people by 2030. These policy actions include an overarching policy action and span seven interconnected domains that need to be adequately resourced for every young person to thrive: Material basics; Valued, loved and safe; Positive sense of identity and culture; Learning and employment pathways; Healthy; Participating; and Environments and sustainable futures.Main recommendations Provide financial support to invest in families with young children and address poverty and material deprivation in the first 2000 days of life. Establish a national investment fund to provide sustained, culturally relevant, maternal and child health and development home visiting services for the first 2000 days of life for all children facing structural disadvantage and/or adversity. Implement a dedicated funding model for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community‐controlled early years services across the country to ensure these services are fully resourced to provide quality early learning and integrated services grounded in culture and community. Properly fund public schools, starting by providing full and accountable Schooling Resource Standard funding for all schools, with immediate effect for schools in communities facing structural disadvantage. Establish legislation and regulation to protect children and young people aged under 18 years from the marketing of unhealthy and harmful products. Amend the electoral act to extend the compulsory voting age to 16 years. Legislate an immediate end to all new fossil fuel projects in Australia. Establish a federal Future Generations Commission with legislated powers to protect the interests of future generations. Changes in approach as a result of this statementTogether, these achievable evidence‐based policies would significantly improve children and young people's health and wellbeing by 2030, build a strong foundation for future generations, and provide co‐benefits for all generations and society.

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Interview with inaugural Future Generations Commissioner for Wales, Sophie Howe: embedding a wellbeing approach in government

Cited by 2 publications

References 0 publications

The wellbeing economy in practice: sustainable and inclusive growth? Or a post-growth breakthrough?

The wellbeing economy in practice: sustainable and inclusive growth? Or a post-growth breakthrough?

The Future Healthy Countdown 2030 consensus statement: core policy actions and measures to achieve improvements in the health and wellbeing of children, young people and future generations

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