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The Democracy Network
The Democracy Network is a network of people and organisations working on issues of power, democracy and voice in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
The Future of Everyday Democracy
The future of everyday democracy is an interactive visualization of a future world, created by Finn Strivens, Eva Oosterlaken, and The National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (Nesta). This vision was also inspired by the 19 winners of the Democracy...
The Democracy Box
By using creative ways to inform and engage people of all generations, The Democracy Box project aims to make sure that everyone understands UK democracy. The Democracy Box is a neutral and non-party political project based in Wales and stems from the understanding...
mySociety | Repowering Democracy Through Civic Participation
mySociety is a not-for-profit organisation promoting and developing online technologies to enhance civic participation. Established in 2003, mySociety operates across three practice areas: democracy, transparency, and community. Additionally, mySociety is aiming to...
Participatory Futures Techniques
Participatory Futures refer to a range of approaches for collectively imagining, exploring, and designing the landscape of possible futures. These approaches can provide a mechanism to incorporate long-term thinking within democratic systems and improve...
Shaping Wales’ Future: National Indicators and Milestones
As part of Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015, national indicators for measuring progress towards the achievement of the Well-being goals must be published by Welsh ministers. A national indicator must “be expressed as a value or...
Future Generations Commissioner for Wales
In April 2016 the first Future Generations Commissioner for Wales was appointed as part of the legal obligations built into The Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act. The Commissioner’s role is to promote sustainable development, to act as the guardian of...
The Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act
The Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act places obligations on 44 public bodies in Wales to meet Well-being goals while maintaining the sustainable development principle. The Act also establishes a Future Generations Commissioner for Wales as a new institution...
The First “Future Generations Report” by the Future Generations Commissioner for Wales
On 4th May 2020 the first Future Generations Report was published by the Future Generations Commissioner for Wales, Sophie Howe, as part of her statutory duties. The report was published under the 2016 to 2021 administration of the Welsh Government and marked 5 years...
#TODAYFORTOMORROW | A campaign for The Wellbeing of Future Generations Bill
#Todayfortomorrow is a campaign promoting The Wellbeing of Future Generations Bill. The campaign, founded by Lord Bird, is led by The Big Issue. The campaign aims to put long-term thinking at the centre of UK policymaking to protect the wellbeing of current and...
The Wellbeing of Future Generations Bill
The Wellbeing of Future Generations Bill is a private members’ bill ensuring that public bodies consider future generations when making decisions and creating new policies. The Bill, led by Lord Bird and co-sponsored by Simon Fell MP, will protect the wellbeing of...
Ecocide Law
In June 2021, an Independent Expert Panel for the Legal Definition of Ecocide produced a definition and proposed a draft amendment to the Rome Statute. This amendment identifies ecocide among the international crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes,...
The Intergenerational Solidarity Index
The Intergenerational Solidarity Index (ISI), created by Jamie McQuilkin, measures the extent to which a nation provides for the wellbeing of its future generations. The ISI covers 122 countries and over 91% of the world’s population. This index is measured by using...
KNOCA | The Knowledge Network on Climate Assemblies
The Knowledge Network on Climate Assemblies (KNOCA), launched in June 2021, is a new European network founded by the European Climate Foundation. The aim of KNOCA is to bring together academics, policy makers, activists and anyone interested to answer the question of...
Citizens’ Assemblies
In the past decade, Citizens’ Assemblies have risen in prominence. This evolving form of democracy uses representative deliberative processes to tackle complex policy challenges by bringing the voice of citizens into political decision-making. Typically, Citizens’...
Climate Assemblies
Alongside climate summits dominated by world leaders, politicians and experts, we are also seeing the rise of Climate Assemblies — a new form of discussion, led by citizens. Climate Assemblies offer a response to the climate emergency by bringing public wisdom into...
Global Assembly – The first global Climate Assembly
The Global Assembly is the first ever citizens’ assembly aiming to involve people from all over the world in proposing a possible response to climate change. This innovative process provides a novel infrastructure for global governance comprised entirely of...
Our Children’s Trust
Our Children’s Trust is a non-profit public interest law firm, providing services to young people with the aim of helping them secure legal rights for a safe climate. By offering strategic and campaign-based legal services, Our Children’s Trust works towards “securing...
Japan’s movement of Future Design councils
Japan’s Future Design movement offers a unique model for overcoming short-termism in democratic decision-making. Drawing on traditional culture, Future Design is inspired by the principle of seventh-generation decision making, with the aim of strengthening...
Green Foundation Ireland
Green Foundation Ireland aims to “create an awareness of the importance of an ecological and sustainable Ireland through education and community projects”. It works in areas such as education for sustainability, active citizenship, clarification of the values which underlie green activism, and the role of the arts in engaging ‘with a global cultural response to current complex economic, environmental and governance issues’.
Scotland’s Futures Forum—the Scottish Parliament’s think-tank
The aim of the Scotland’s Futures Forum “to inform MSPs and others and enable them to consider the effects of decisions taken today on Scotland’s long-term future … looking beyond the five-year electoral cycle and away from party politics”. It explores, for instance, what jobs there will be in a net zero Scotland.
The Democracy Collaborative
The goal of the Democracy Collaborative is a national community ‘”n which wealth is democratised, ecological resilience is regenerated, and the marginalised become the core of concern, as the nation re-knits the economic fabric of interdependence without which our democracy becomes an empty abstraction”. It, for instance, works with anchor institutions, such as universities and hospitals, looking at how to build sustainable community wealth.
The largest Participatory Budgeting project in Europe—Cascais in Portugal
Participatory Budgeting (PB) combines direct democracy with representative democracy; it is a process of democratic deliberation and decision-making, in which ordinary people decide how to allocate part of a municipal or public budget. In PB Cascais, the executive part of the budget highlights and invites all citizens to identify, discuss and prioritise projects for the region, and gives them the power to make real decisions about how money is spent.
Calouste Gulbenkian creating Intergenerational Justice understanding and tools in Portugal
From today to tomorrow is a project on behalf of future generations. “Because thinking about the generations of tomorrow means thinking about a more just society in which all generations are entitled to the same human dignity.” The project provides studies on the perceptions and opinions of Portuguese policy makers and citizens as regards intergenerational justice; and offers tools to citizens and policy makers alike, “that allow tomorrow’s generations to be considered in the commitments made today”