Name: Lessons on leaving the world better than you found it | Sophie Howe
Uploaded: 2020-11-06T18:16:44.000Z
Duration: 5 min 34 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

Transcriber: TED Translators Admin Reviewer: Rhonda Jacobs

Wales is a small but progressive country,

the only country in the world to have legislated

to protect the interests of future generations,

the only country to have appointed someone independent to oversee this.

Across the world, our systems of government, of politics, of economics

discount the interests of future generations and the planet.

But in Wales, we're trying to change that

by passing a law which requires not just our government

to demonstrate how they're acting for the long-term

and how the decisions they take don't harm the interests

and the world's only future generations commissioner,

I want to share with you today some of the lessons we've learned

about how we're trying to leave the world better than we found it.

First of all, you must involve people in setting long-term goals.

Ask them: What's the Wales or the world you want to leave behind

We held a national conversation -- the Wales We Want --

rather than just treat them when they're ill.

We want connected communities and a more equal Wales."

And our government legislated to set seven national well-being goals

Each institution has to demonstrate how they're meeting those goals,

You have to focus on the interconnections between different aspects of well-being.

You need to talk often about why it's just as important to public health

is just as important to economic prosperity

Our institutions have a legal duty to act beyond their immediate remit

And so we're seeing hospitals in Wales working with the National Botanic Gardens

to create spaces for nature on their sites.

We're seeing offices in our environmental agency

helping to find solutions to tackle childhood adversity.

Test everything you do across the four pillars of well-being:

social, economic, environmental and cultural.

governments have tested their success on the measures of economic growth

But in Wales, our measures of success are around our seven well-being goals.

So when the government thought it was a good idea

to spend 1.4 billion pounds building a new motorway,

a simple application of these well-being metrics

told them that, actually, if you want to improve people's health,

if you want to meet your carbon emissions targets,

and if you want to direct your resources to those with the lowest incomes,

a much better option would be public transport and active travel.

Make it your mission to maximize your contribution to well-being.

So when we're seeing plans for economic stimulus in green jobs

and energy efficiency measures in homes post-COVID,

towards those furthest from the labor market,

because otherwise, you'll be missing opportunities to address inequality, too.

Don't save carbon by putting solar panels on your new hospital

by failing to consider how patients are going to travel there sustainably.

we're blighted by high levels of air pollution,

and big differences in life expectancy between the richest and the poorest.

So what is our act doing to make a difference?

Well, first of all, it requires our public institutions to work together.

And so, as a result, the public health consultant

was seconded from the health board to the local council

And when you apply a public health lens to a transport problem,

The public institutions realized that between them,

they were employing 30,000 people in Cardiff,

so they're now incentivizing their employees to travel sustainably.

in investment in safe routes to cycle and to walk,

and we've targeted that cycling and walking infrastructure

towards those neighborhoods who have the highest level of air pollution

And in Cardiff, doctors can issue prescriptions,

not just for statins, but for free bike hire

for those who would benefit from increasing their physical activity.

And when we've constructed our cycling infrastructure,

we've also built in sustainable drainage,

taking away over 40,000 cubic meters of water

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Lessons on leaving the world better than you found it | Sophie Howe

recognize

demonstrate

term

realize