Sunday 7 October 2018

Reflections on the 'Ethics of Sustainable Prosperity for All' Symposium


The three day symposium on Ethics of Sustainable Prosperity for All’ held at the Magdalene College in Cambridge from the 11th to the 13th of September 2018 turned out to be an engaging, rich and intellectually stimulating forum to deliberate and discuss the implementation of the Well Being of Future Generations (Wales) Act, 2016. Participants from England, Ethiopia, Kenya (myself) South Africa, Sweden, Sydney, the USA, Wales, WWF, and the World Bank spent the three days interrogating specific concerns related to sustainable development so as to practically inform the implementation of the Act. Panel presentations unpacked the parameters within which sustainable development was to be planned for within the health, education, security, environment and digitalization sectors. Discussions centered around the role of the state in ensuring ethics, justice and equality towards progress in sustainable development in Wales and around the world. The First Future Generations Commissioner for Wales was also present and gave an overview of her role towards working tirelessly to ensure that all local authorities and public bodies within Wales apply the Seven Well Being Goals (see below) he Act towards achieving sustainable development. An excellent practical step by step approach to implementing the SDGs is outlined in the Act.
I had the wonderful opportunity to engage with Sophie Howe (pictured below - right), the First Future Generations Commissioner for Wales appointed under the Well Being of Future Generations (Wales) Act, 2016 - It was a privilege to meet this Wonder Woman and discuss with her how to better enforce the Act and streamline accountability procedures. We also discussed how Kenya can benefit from drawing lessons from the Welsh Act in taking Article 10 of the Constitution on sustainable development a step further. Importantly, on aspects of governance I made mention of how the Council of Governors established by the Kenyan government to streamline policy planning and law making across the 47 devolved counties in Kenya could provide a good example for Wales in setting up a similar body at the national level to engage the local authorities in a systematic and uniform manner in implementing the Act holistically across Wales.








Further details and video clips from various participants including myself reflecting on the symposium is available at: https://www.learnedsociety.wales/2018-international-symposium/ 


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