Practices to Generate Care for Future Generations

Introduction

Those of us alive right now hold a disproportionate amount of responsibility  for the future.

The actions we take now will affect the fate of billions of future inhabitants of Earth (of all species). The future is literally in our hands, and yet, most of our organisations haven’t been designed to take future generations into account.

Here, I’m sharing three short practices to help you bring care for future generations into the culture and processes of your organisations so that you can act as better ancestors.

Tool: Three practices to generate care for future generations

Duration: ~5-30 mins

Contributor: Ella Saltmarshe is the co-founder and director of the Long Time Project, which exists to galvanise public imagination and collective action to help us all be good ancestors. She is the host of the Long Time Academy podcast.

On This Page

  • The Empty Chair

  • Acknowledging the Future

  • Human Layers Reflection

The Empty Chair

At meetings, leave a chair empty to represent the young and all those who have yet to be born. 

At the start, the meeting’s leader can recognise the empty chair as representing the needs of future generations and encourage those present to refer to the empty chair in their proceedings.

This tool helps those present to start to consider future generations in their decision-making

The Empty Chair for Future Generations practice is inspired by The Great Law of the Iroquois Confederacy which advised people to look and listen for the welfare of coming generations, “even the unborn”.  

Acknowledging the Future

Create a short statement to acknowledge future generations to use at the start of meetings or events. You can design your own or try out one of the following:

Before we start, I’d like to acknowledge that the decisions we make in this room today may have implications into the future and far beyond the lifetime of this project, team or organisation. We make those decisions with that in mind.

OR

We recognise that the actions we take today have implications for tomorrow. We acknowledge and respect the needs of today’s children and those yet to be born.

OR

As we start this work, we acknowledge the world that will exist beyond our lifetimes and the people, animals and nature that will thrive in it.

This is inspired by Acknowledgements of Country/Territory,  which are demonstrations of respect for the traditional custodians of the land on which a meeting or event is being held.

Human Layers Reflection

Take 5-10 minutes at the start of a gathering to use this reflection to enable participants to strengthen their ability to think like good ancestors.

Below is a script for the exercise: feel free to adapt to suit your context. If doing remotely, encourage people to turn off their cameras to to get into comfortable position where they will not be disturbed.

We are going to do a reflective practice together over the coming minutes. Take a moment to arrive. Rest into the support of the ground beneath your feet and the space of the air above your head. Feel the breath moving in and out of you. Let your eyes slowly come to a close. 

Bring to mind someone you feel warmly towards of your grandparent’s age; they may or may not still be with us. It could be a grandparent, a great aunt or uncle, or someone else of that generation. Think of one of their qualities that evokes warmth in you, it could be their smile, something that made them laugh, a funny habit they had... 

In your mind’s eye, step back one step. You’re stepping back in time. Now imagine that person at 40. How was that quality that evokes warmth present in them then….? Take a moment to connect with them in the past. 

Now in your mind’s eye step backwards another step. You’re stepping back to this person’s 9th birthday. How was that quality that evokes warmth in you present in them then? What do they look like? What party food are they eating? Imagine who else is there. When is it? It could be in the 1920s or 30s, or earlier… or later…? 

Where are they? Imagine you walk over to the window and for a moment turn your back on the party. What do you see outside of the window? What’s the world like back then? 

Now turn back into the room. Take a moment to drink in this birthday party of this person you have cared about and then take your leave.

In your mind’s eye, step forward one step through the generations, and another…

Arrive back in this moment [give the date]. Take a breath. Feel the air moving in and out of you. Let go of the image of that older person. Rest into the support of the ground beneath your feet and the space of the air above your head. 

Now think of a small person you know who you feel warmly towards. 

It could be a child, grandchild, niece, nephew or the offspring of friends. Think of one of their qualities that evokes warmth in you, it could be their smile, something that made them laugh, a funny habit.... 

In your mind’s eye, step forward one step through the generations, and imagine that person at 40. How is that quality that evokes warmth, present in them then? Take a moment to connect with them in the future…

Now step forward another step, to their 90th birthday. They are sitting around a table being celebrated by their friends and family. They are laughing. How is that quality that evokes warmth, present in them at 90?

What do they look like? What food do they love? Who might be there with them? Stay in the warmth of the party. When is it? It’s probably around the end of the century, 2090, 2095, maybe a little earlier, maybe a little later…

Imagine you walk over to the window.  What do you see outside? What’s the world like in the future? 

Back in the room, someone is tapping a knife on a glass, calling for everyone’s attention for a toast. You suddenly notice there’s a framed picture of you on the table. That person you care about who is celebrating their 90th birthday, asks everyone to raise their glass and toast you. They thank you for something you did that helped shape their world for the better. What are they toasting you for? Stay in that moment. Take some deep breaths to connect to your legacy. 

Give them 20- 40 seconds to reflect

Now it’s time to come back.  Take your leave from this party in the future. In your mind’s eye, step back one step through the generations, and  another, to arrive back to the present. Take a moment  to land back here. [give the date] Take a deep breath. Slowly open your eyes. Keep them low at first to let them adjust. 

You’ve just time-travelled about 200 years and crossed 7 generations. How did that feel? If it feels appropriate, I invite you to bring your expanded ancestral capacity to our time together today.

I often end this exercise by inviting people to share in pairs for a few minutes each to enable them to process and connect. This exercise can leave people feeling emotional. It might be worth flagging up that people can step out before the next activity, or ask for support if they need it. 

I co-created this exercise with nature-based experience designer, Hannah Smith. It is inspired by the work of deep ecologist, Joanna Macy.

Further Resources

  • Use the Long Time Tools, co-designed with policymakers from across the world

  • Listen to the Long Time Academy podcast

  • Use this plan to run a ½ day workshop to help your organisation be a better ancestor 

  • Dive into the work of the School for International Futures on a intergenerational fairness policy assessment framework

  • Read Coming Back to Life by Joanna Macy & Molly Brown

Much of our work is inspired by indigenous antecedents. Dive into this via Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer, Indigenous Wisdom for Living Spirit-Based Change by Sherri Mitchell, Sand Talk by Tyson Yunkaporta.