Thank you for the opportunity to review this book in exchange for an honest review.

Particularly, I found it very useful as a researcher in UK politics, and I am looking forward to following up with some of the information I gained from reading this publication. My detailed review will be posted on Instagram (@ahomelibrary) closer to the date of publication, if this is preferable for you.

Key takeaways — #futuregen is centered on a piece of legislation which outlines goals and decision-making mechanisms for current and future generations in Wales. Known as the Well-being Of Future Generations (Wales) Act, the legislation was passed in 2015; the author of this book is responsible for the bill’s creation. The Act creates 7 goals and 5 ways to achieve them — these goals are subjects within Health, Prosperity, Resilience, Communities, Language, Heritage, and Equality, as well as Wale’s role in the world. The aim of the book is to discuss what led to the bill, why Wales was perfect for this sort of legislation, how it is implemented, and what the future can hold for the small country of less than 4 million.

Davidson argues that as Wales passed this legislation, the interests of future generations will be protected, and the laws will drive different behaviours in decision-making. Essentially, it creates a contract between the government and its citizens in order to ensure a sustainable and equitable future.

The book’s layout — Chapters usually include a Quote, personal introduction to the subject / background, and lead into facts or summaries of events. The writing style is accessible, meaning it is not overly technical or specialized. It is sometimes conversational while remaining appropriately academic and professional.

Who I would suggest this to — Academics, professionals, those interested in sustainability, environmentalism, climate change, international relations, EU politics and Wales.

What I would add or change — More figures or illustration to bring information to life.

Thank you again. I found this book helpful and a good start on a possible research project of my own. I highly encourage those interested in the highlighted topics above to give this book a go.

#futuregen is overall an inspirational book about what Wales has done over time to promote environmental sustainability awareness and what had been done to prepare Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015. This book has great suggestions of how to promote more sustainable thinking and practices throughout a community and especially in our younger generations. Being a teacher myself and meeting students that have never really been exposed to nature and the idea of doing more to help the environment around them is something that I agree needs to be addressed more often. The author makes excellent points and suggestions to help approach these issues and I agree completely that our students needs to experience nature to understand the importance of it.. Teaching our future generations are the key and it is important to make it part of their culture. The reason I did not give this book more stars is because I did struggle to get through parts of this book. I loves the parts that gave general solutions that could apply elsewhere, but sometimes the book seemed off topic or unnecessary to make their point., such as the personal stories in some cases.. I would have also liked to see data and evidence of what they did and how well it has worked so far in the younger generations.

Wales is leaving the UK and pretty much the rest of the world in its dust. It has passed a law called The Well-being of Future Generations Act. It is a first of its kind Act that requires government to consider the effects on future generations before blundering ahead. Jane Davidson, who developed and shepherded it, is justifiably proud of it. Her book #futuregen extols the accomplishment from every angle, except one. The one that counts.

As England loosened the chains on Wales (as well as on Scotland and Northern Ireland), the country has moved off in its own green direction. In 2008, it became the world’s first fairtrade country. The fact it did that, led many to have a better appreciation of the planet and Wales’ place in it. A study showed that the Welsh consume three times their per capita share of global resources. In a bid to reduce that to a more equality-minded rate of consumption, politicians like Davidson talked in terms of One Wales, One Planet. It was the right time; the Welsh were receptive.

By 2015, they had passed the Well-being Act, and sustainability became the actual central principle of the government. This is of course unique in the world and a huge accomplishment, impossible in most nations. But a handful of countries are learning from it and noodling around doing it themselves. If enough countries implement philosophies like this, the human race would actually have a chance.

Unfortunately, the book is almost entirely self-congratulatory, with dozens of voices expressing their satisfaction at this development, and thoughts for the future. What is glaringly missing is how the Act has changed Wales and the Welsh in the five years since passage. There are no figures showing how Wales’ carbon footprint has plunged. There are no studies showing Welsh companies changing the world with innovative green solutions. About the only statistic in the book is the amount of disposable bags dropping by 90% in just one year after Davidson imposed a 5p tax on them. This was after a long period of cajoling had little to no effect.

There are mentions that schools are instilling these forward-thinking values, but nothing that shows kids’ attitudes are markedly different because of it or how their own trajectories have changed. There is a lot of debate on carrot vs stick, centered on the powers given to the well-being commissioner, who seems to have only the power of browbeating.

Wales also claims a podium spot for its recycling efforts, which are not described either. How they are different or more effective is not mentioned. There are brief mentions of companies trading with each other, avoiding cash outlays, and of houses built of wood instead of stone and mortar, but not how widespread these things are, how much money or energy is being saved, or even whether they are spreading or merely experiments.

So #futuregen is not a how-to, and not a report on results. It is a rose-colored description of how the Act came to be and how proud everyone is of it. To me, that’s not enough for a book. Especially five years later.

David Wineberg