What do we owe each other and future generations? Having asked this and similar questions through global surveys, student essays and cross-generational dialogues, our initiative and global community build on seven emerging principles for a New Generational Contract – developed in close partnership with the University of St. Gallen Collegium.

At the 76th United Nations General Assembly session in 2021, UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned governments and businesses of a growing intergenerational divide. Young people, he said, will “inherit the consequences – good and bad” of decisions made by today’s leaders in politics and business.  The UN’s Secretary-General is right that the need to consider the impact of our current decisions on the world left to today’s youth is greater than ever. Multiple ecological crises, intensifying resource scarcities and rising inequities demonstrate that current systems are unsustainable. A lack of future-oriented decision-making will affect current, and particularly future generations: the more than 10 billion people projected to be alive by the end of the century, compared to around 8 billion alive today.

Addressing this challenge, the generational contract captures an aspirational idea: that young and old depend on each other and are bound by mutual relationships and responsibilities. It also reminds us of the importance of being good ancestors and of meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

Today, living up to this idea through our actions is more relevant – but also more challenging – than ever: We need to simultaneously face immediate crises and pursue long-term transformations. So far, we have rarely been able to bring both perspectives together. For too long, a focus on immediate challenges has trumped our concern for longer-term developments. This reinforces a vicious cycle, where short-sighted responses lay the seeds for subsequent crises and urgent structural change is continuously postponed.

While intergenerational relations play out differently across the world’s regions and cultures, there is a growing desire – and need – to reaffirm and renew the ties that bind us across generations. Ultimately, this can act as a crucial lever in advancing systems thinking and transformation: by harnessing the human potential of intergenerational solidarity and learning for the significant changes that lie ahead.

Therefore, the St. Gallen Symposium and the Club of Rome have launched a joint initiative: A New Generational Contract. By convening diverse partners, we foster dialogue and actions around our responsibility for today and tomorrow. In this way, our initiative contributes to a growing global recognition of the need for change. This includes the UN Secretary General’s “Our Common Agenda”, which foresees the creation of a UN Envoy for Future Generations and a Summit for the Future to be held in September 2024.

Principles for Change

In doing so, we are guided by key principles which can serve as values and vision for reaffirming and renewing generational relationality on the levels of individuals, organisations, and communities. They primarily propose the hallmarks of positive collaboration across generations: how the idea of an intergenerational commitment to mutual and future-related responsibilities can be practised.

These principles build on thousands of voices having shared their aspirations with us throughout the past two years, through global surveys, student essays, and research on intergenerational fairness, as well as a stream of global dialogues around frictions and common ground between generations, hosted together with the University of St. Gallen and the St. Gallen Collegium, as well as other partners, such as the 5th Element, the Learning Planet Alliance, the UN SDG Lab and the BCG Henderson Institute.

The New Generational Contract is also an invitation to define and pursue tangible actions on the level of organisations, communities, and societies through a process inspired by these principles. This is what our ongoing work, through dialogue and at as well as beyond the 52^nd St. Gallen Symposium, aspires to do: translating principles into actionable, sector- or region-specific priorities of what we need to do – as individuals, business leaders or policy-makers – to help bring generations together, and to better combine a short term with a long-term view. They will equally be enacted in tangible impact projects, three of which have already been launched in 2022.

Responsibility: Considering our Impact Today and Tomorrow

The principle of responsibility is at the very heart of the generational contract and permeates all principles: it captures the idea that young and old depend on each other to provide mutual support and reminds us to consider our impact on future generations.

Yet, our current incentive structures, institutionalised practices, and mental models prevent us from living up to this idea, as they focus our attention squarely on the here and now. Renewing a sense of responsibility ultimately outlines a transformative agenda: of what we believe we owe future generations, how we structure our economies, organisations, and institutions, and how we conceive of incentives and accountability that drive responsible action.

“Our impulsiveness and myopia often bias us towards the paths that prioritise short-term gains and overlook the ramifications of our decisions.” Somdeepa Das, India (GEC Student Essay)

Care: Seeing and Supporting Each Other

All of us are interconnected and embedded in different webs of human relations. We are carers and recipients of care, sometimes simultaneously, sometimes at specific stages of our lives. In other words: We are obliged to care for and about each other— care is a daily practice as well as an ethical perspective.

In caring for each other, we lend each other support and are mindful of specific vulnerabilities associated with different stages of life – such as providing education for the young and support for the elderly. In caring about each other, we go beyond generational prejudices and stereotypes and strive to truly understand each other’s perspective, our unique knowledge and needs.

“We need to focus on being kind and ensuring that kindness is shown across generations and passed from one to another.” Nicholas Parker, United States (GEC Student Essay)

Voice: Being Heard and Having a Say

Young and old are affected differently by actions – or non-actions – we take today. By promoting voice, we seek to ensure that different generations have equal opportunities to learn from each other and to express their opinions and be heard in decision-making processes. Yet, little is as strongly associated with access to power and influence as age. For instance, while the average age of the world population is around 30 years, it is 53 for parliamentarians globally and 57.3 for new directors of boards in S&P 500 companies in 2022.

The question of representation is even more challenging when we think of future generations, as it can only be indirect – and knowing their interests will ultimately remain our speculation. Yet, examples such as the Future Generations Commissioner of Wales show that we can promote accountability towards plausible interests of those that come after us: by proactively assessing decisions’ impact on the medium- and long-term future and challenging decision-makers to demonstrate how they are taking account of future generations.

“It is imperative that the voice of the younger generations be heard when policies are crafted. Governments should sparhead the creation of platforms for young people to convene and discuss issues.” Bryan Kwang Shing Tan, China (GEC Student Essay)

Collaboration: Joining Forces and Perspectives

The scale and intergenerational nature of current and persistent crises requires cross-generational collaboration: We can attain more than we would independently, by working together. In collaborating, we acknowledge the power of joining forces across generations, bringing together our unique experiences, skills, and perspectives. At the same time, we recognise the efforts which collective action takes: in terms of listening, trust, and mutual understanding, as we bring together conflicting interests, diverse values and distinct histories.

Collaboration’s challenging nature and positive potential can equally be felt within organisations where at least four different generations work side by side. The fact that ageism has been found to be the most common form of workplace discrimination underlines the need for active efforts to build a culture of cross-generational trust. Only then can we unlock the unique strengths of cross-generational teams, which are key to inclusive work environments, more holistic decision-making and seamless organisational memory.

“While we seek to collaborate with one another, it is our responsibility to heal, to practise compassion and empathy, and build emotional intelligence.” Gia Lim, Singapore (NGC Workshop, February 2023)

Hindsight and Foresight: Looking Back to See Ahead

Generations past and present tend to focus on the short-term, which may seem most pressing, fast, and certain. In other words, our thinking is dominated by the here and now. However, most intergenerational challenges have an important temporal dimension. This calls for both hindsight and foresight: looking back to understand and build on experiences and insights from the past, and looking forward, to cultivate visions and gauge potential – positive or negative – consequences of our current actions on the future, while being aware of the uncertainties and limitations of “knowing the future”.

Ultimately, this means to think, decide, and act on multiple timescales, and to identify the dilemmas and synergies which may arise between the short- and the long-term. We thus become not only better ancestors for those who follow, but also more understanding successors of those who preceded us.

“As youth, we can use the experiences of older generations to see farther into the future and understand the path that may lie ahead.” Mercy-Gloria Ashepet, Uganda (NGC Workshop, February 2023)

Regeneration: Revitalising and Protecting Ecosystems

Regeneration needs to be at the heart of our societies and our organisations. Regeneration goes further than sustainability and circular economy concepts and their technical mindsets. In emphasising regeneration, we acknowledge the need to work together, not just to ‘sustain’ our current way of life, but to repair and recover from social, ecological and economic damage already done, and restore, revitalise, and protect the planetary ecosystems which support all life.

It is about aiming for a healthy relationship with nature and with ourselves. Exploring regeneration implies becoming a learner, moving from optimising to taking care. The principle of regeneration equally challenges companies and organisations to take actionable steps to align their value creation with the ecosystems around them.

“Youth will inherit the consequences of climate inaction and represent critical actors with energy, expertise and impact. They must be given a seat at the table.” Andrea Byfuglien, Norway (NGC Workshop, February 2023)

Openness: Striving for a Living Contract

Some societal and planetary challenges have been with generations prior, effectively address them will require the dedication of generations to come. Hitherto unknown and unforeseeable crises and problems will, however, inevitably concern us and our successors in the future. This calls for flexibility and adaptability, curiosity and an explorative attitude both of our mind-sets and our objectives.

Consequently, our New Generational Contract is constantly re-negotiated – between and within generations, between and within cultures. While its principles stay fundamentally the same, the way we understand and apply them changes depending on time, contexts, and needs. In this sense, the Contract is dynamic and open.

“We should accomodate for different ages to continuously learn from each other by designing spaces that enable engagement naturally in daily life.” Venus Dulani, Hong Kong (NGC Workshop, February 2023)

We are grateful for the many participants of workshops, surveys and interviews whose views and ideas have informed this piece. Above all, we want to thank Mamphela Ramphele, Carlos Alvarez Pereira, Anne Snick, John Gilmour, Nolita Mvunelo, Heiko Specking, Raad Sharar, Claudia Brühwiler, Oleksandra Tarkhanova, Christoph Frei, Patrik Aspers, Felix Rüdiger, Maximilian Pefestorff and Leander Vogler for the joint synthesis of global perspectives.

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St. Gallen Symposium, Club of Rome, HSG St. Gallen Collegium