In 2018/19, the Future Generations Commissioner for Wales trialled a method of monitoring and assessing progress towards the well-being objectives set by public bodies – one of her duties according to the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015.

This asked nominated contacts from each public body covered by the Act to submit a completed self-reflection tool form, reflecting the progress they had made during 2017/18 and providing evidence to support this. All 44 public bodies submitted a response and evidence to the self-reflection tool.   

Following the trial and feedback from public bodies and related contacts, the Commissioner is providing this revised version of the self-reflection tool as an offer to public bodies. Positive feedback included that the process of completing the self-reflection tool allowed people to bring colleagues together from across the organisation to collectively and honestly understand how the organisation was progressing towards objectives, seeking to maximise contribution to the seven national well-being goals within the Act and use the five ways of working to do so. Some public bodies intend to use this method to put together their annual reports and corporate plans. 

The Commissioner found the trial enormously helpful in monitoring and assessing progress, but also in collecting the examples of practice across Wales demonstrating use of the Act.  

 

We advise you use this revised self-reflection tool in any way you find helpful and would be grateful if you could return this document completed, as far as possible, to the Commissioner (contactus@futuregenerations.wales) looking at your progress towards your well-being objectives in 2018/19. 

 

Using this self-reflection tool 

Anybody can use this tool and there are no guidelines on who should submit it from an organisation to the Commissioner.  The Commissioner would recommend involving anyone with an interest in achieving the well-being goals within the area you cover, ensuring those people reflect the diversity of the population.  

The tool is presented in two sections: 

  • Section 1:  Where are we now: using the format of a ‘journey’, this section is to help you discuss what progress you are making towards your well-being objectives. 
  • Section 2: Prompts for reflection: this section provides questions intended to help you to reflect on what you have learned for moving forward. 

This reflection tool will therefore enable you to: 

  • Reflect on your progress to date against your own well-being objectives.   
  • Establish an internal benchmark against which to review next and future years’ progress. 
  • Provide a way of comparing your organisation’s progress with other public sector bodies in Wales and identify which organisations you can learn from and provide lessons to. 
  • Reflect on the strengths and weaknesses and set out the local lessons for change. 

 

Resources to help 

The Commissioner has published some resources, which you can use as tools when reflecting on the progress you are making towards your objectives, as a reference point and to give you ideas on what else you could be doing to make progress: 

  • Achieving the ‘Art of the Possible’: a series of  journeys towards each of the well-being goals and ‘Involvement’.  
  • Considering future scenarios: a guide for using the International Future Forum’s ‘Three Horizons’ model (coming soon). 
  • Developing proposals, planning services and making / scrutinising decisions:  
Self Reflection Tool