Departments for Future Generations
Instead of reinventing education, we need create something entirely different
I would love it if you could click the ♥️. It helps people find my content.
Future generations are not going to ask us what political party were you in. They are going to ask what did you do about it, when you knew the glaciers were melting. - Martin Sheen
I was on a hike recently, listening to a Next Big Idea Club podcast interview between Rufus Griscom and Will MacAskill . MacAskill, an Oxford philosophy professor and author, makes a compelling case for longtermism—the idea that the actions we take now will shape the future of humanity for generations to come.
He argues that how long we survive as a species may depend on what we do today.
The core question resonated deeply: What can we do now to help the future?
Then MacAskill said something that has continued to buzz for me:
👉 “Governments everywhere need to create Departments for Future Generations.”
Departments for Future Generations. Don’t you love the name? I do.
And it turns out, these departments already exist.
The first opened in 2016 in Wales1 after the passage of the Well-Being of Future Generations Act in 2015. By 2016, the country had appointed a Commissioner for Future Generations whose job was, and is, quite literally, to represent those who aren’t yet born. They focus on ensuring today's decisions—on social, economic, environmental, and cultural issues—support both present and future well-being.
Here’s a beautiful 4-minute video explaining their work.
What would you want to see in a Department for the Future?
This forward-thinking approach tackles challenges like climate change, biodiversity loss, water security, AI risks, and population growth. A wide reach.2
And yet, there’s something I didn’t see in their mission, something fundamental.
