Future Intelligence and Sustainability : The Story of the Israeli Parliament's Commission for Future Generations

As the pace of change in the world has grown more rapid, an emphasis on survival and shortterm thinking has increasingly pervaded the realm of leadership and political decisionmaking. Consequently, the need for creative approaches in addressing the future has become more urgent than ever. In a bold response to this problem, the Israeli Knesset established the Commission for Future Generations and appointed Shlomo Shoham as head of the commission in 2001. Shoham was tasked with the difficult work of representing the needs, interests, and desires of those not yet born. In this book, Shoham demonstrates how we can overcome the pitfalls of short-term thinking by developing our "future intelligence." This kind of intelligence, he argues, is the key to infusing public administration with visionary thinking and creative foresight. As a seasoned practitioner of intergenerational justice, Shoham articulates new ways of conceptualizing and actively shaping the future for the better in education, health, environmental, and economic policymaking.