[ONLINE] - Governing for Future Generations: Lessons from Indigenous Communities

There is growing recognition that our governing institutions need to consider not just the demands of the present but also the interests of future generations. Next year, the UN will convene the Summit of the Future to reinvigorate global cooperation, and at the top of the agenda is a set of practical steps to encourage institutions to better account for the long-term impact of our decisions. As we think about how to safeguard the rights of future generations, governance models from different communities and traditions offer important insights.

Whether it is governments, corporations, or nonprofits, our institutions tend to govern with a focus on the near-term and act in the immediate interest of those who hold power today. Such an approach discounts long-term sustainability and has contributed to some of the worst crises we face, such as climate change and biodiversity loss. 

Long-term-oriented governance is hardly a novel idea. Throughout human history, various indigenous communities have governed themselves in a way that prioritizes sustainability and the interests of future generations. A recent collection of case studies from New America’s Future of Institutions project provides some examples. Join us for an important and timely discussion to learn about how lessons from the past can help to build a better future.

Moderator: 

• Thomas Hale (Professor of Global Public Policy, Oxford University and author of Long Problems: Climate Change and the Challenge of Governing Across Time)

Speakers: 

• Dina Gilio-Whitaker (Policy Director at the Center for World Indigenous Studies, Lecturer on American Indian Studies at California State University San Marcos, and author of As Long as Grass Grows: The Indigenous Fight for Environmental Justice, from Colonization to Standing Rock)
• Krushil Watene (Peter Kraus Associate Professor in Philosophy at Waipapa Taumata Rau the University of Auckland)
• Cecil Abungu (Visiting Researcher at the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk at the University of Cambridge, Research Affiliate at the Legal Priorities Project, and Coordinator of the ILINA Program in Kenya)