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Intergenerational fairness strategy – the co-creation process
In 2025 full attention is on the European Commission and the Joint Research Centre (JRC) as they are leading the development of the EU’s first-ever Strategy on Intergenerational Fairness through a collaborative co-creation process.
This interactive online process involves over 100 civil society representatives, working in 14 thematic subgroups and meeting weekly to define a shared vision and propose actionable policy solutions. The Future Generations Initiative is proud to be contributing to five of these subgroups: Long-term Governance, Democracy & Representation, Environment & Climate Change, Impact Assessment & Better Regulation, and Health & Care.
Among other foresight techniques horizon scanning is applied to identify the desirable future shared across the group. Followingly, the necessary policy steps and current gaps are assessed including the corporation of already existing positive examples.
Parallel to this expert process, a variety of public engagement is also ongoing—through open consultations and smaller-scale deliberations, including youth dialogues, and ensuring a wide range of voices are heard.
When the Future Generations Initiative started its work in 2024, three key demands were formulated. Out of them one was already realized: the nomination of a Commissioner for Intergenerational Fairness, now held by Commissioner Glenn Micallef. The remaining two: (1) an interinstitutional declaration to anchor intergenerational solidarity in EU law, and (2) an impact assessment to quantify the long-term costs of political inaction are currently being addressed through the strategy co-creation process by the FGI coalition.
Following the established timeline we are now in the second phase, the visioning, which will be followed by a strategizing phase and then by the writing of the strategy itself.
By the beginning of 2026, we hope to see our contributions brought together into one shared roadmap, shaping a more future-proof and intergenerationally just Europe.
Building blocks for the intergenerational fairness strategy 1# – Legal Principle
To support the intergenerational fairness strategy process, our coalition is developing a series of Building Blocks: concise digests of key arguments and proposals we believe must be reflected in the final strategy. In the coming weeks, we will publish these one by one, offering a brief overview of the main pillars guiding our coalition’s thinking.
The first block is addressing the question of the legal principle, highlighting that ‘‘Intergenerational fairness should be a horizontal principle of European Union law, a principle that can be applied across all relevant policy and legislative domains. The formulation of the principle should be developed based on the established legal principles in international and EU law.’’
Messaging that works
Love for the next generation proves to be the most powerful message framing when harbouring support for climate policies. The Potential Energy Coalition conducted randomized message testing on support for climate policies across 23 countries and the results speak for themselves.
Protecting the planet for the next generations consistently moved people across the globe more than any other message. While ‘limitations’, ‘bans’, ‘fear vs hope’ are losing arguments, protecting what we love works across age, education, income, political affiliation, and family status.
Imagining Europe in 2050
How could Europe look like in 2050?
A new foresight report by the European Environment Agency (EEA) and its Eionet network dares to imagine just that. Exploring the future of Europe’s 𝐟𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐬𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐬, 𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐲 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐲, 𝐦𝐨𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐭 𝐞𝐧𝐯𝐢𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭, the report presents four thought-provoking scenarios that shed light on possible pathways toward sustainability—or away from it. These “imaginaries” offer more than speculation: they help policymakers, businesses, and citizens understand the 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝 as Europe moves toward its climate and sustainability goals.
Interested in what these futures might hold?
Imagining Legal report published in scientific journal
The article by JESC´s legal advisor Katalin Sulyok titled “Future-proofing EU law – Does the EU have a legal obligation to protect future generations?” was published Open Access in Review of European, Comparative & International Environmental Law (RECIEL).
Wales releases its latest progress report on well-being goals
Every five years, the Future Generations Commissioner for Wales publishes a progress report assessing how the country is advancing toward its long-term well-being goals. This role was established a decade ago when Wales became the first country in the world to legislate for the rights of future generations, through the ground-breaking Wellbeing of Future Generations Act (2015).
While the latest report highlights undeniable achievements (ex: investment in sustainable transport) further challenges remain unaddressed. The report has been widely welcomed across the public sector, but it also makes clear that more leadership, coordination, and resources are needed to deliver on the nation’s well being goals.
“We’re not on track to meet our health, climate, and nature goals,” says Derek Walker, the current Commissioner. “Future generations will live with the consequences of every decision we make. With public trust in institutions declining, we must listen more, engage meaningfully with people’s concerns, and involve them without delay.”
Looking Imagining Europe in 2050 for a summary of the key questions on Future Generations?
Want to be part of the #FitForFutureGeneration campaign?
