Future Generations: Success for Amgueddfa Cymru Graduate!

In March, I became Amgueddfa Cymru’s first ever graduate of the Future Generations Leadership Academy (FGLA)! 

Run by the Future Generations Commissioner for Wales, the FGLA brings together a selected group of 18-30 year-olds from all corners of Wales to unlock leadership skills and expand knowledge on the Wellbeing of Future Generations Act. 

This all started when Amgueddfa Cymru announced that they had been awarded funding via the National Lottery Heritage Innovation Fund Project #GROW to sponsor a participant, which then culminates in the person working with #GROW Project Leads to support sustainability and climate action in line with the Wellbeing of Future Generations Act. I have always been passionate about nature and how it can shape our identity, our place in the world and our wellbeing. As a second language Welsh speaker too, I always found the crossover of language with nature, and how it can evoke different connections to our cynefin deeply fascinating. This opportunity felt the perfect opportunity to implement this passion tangibly with the enrichment of the FGLA skills and knowledge I gain. 

I was so excited to be part of FGLA 5.0 this year and Amgueddfa Cymru’s first ever participant - it was both thrilling and a little daunting to be the first person ever. However, it has been an amazing chance to gain skills to drive positive changes within the organisation, inspired by the values of the Wellbeing of Future Generations Act. As a public body, Amgueddfa Cymru is subject to requirements of the Act, and it is pivotal that the next generations of staff have the knowledge and experience of it to channel it into positive action. 

My FGLA journey kicked off with a residency where I met my cohort for the first time. We shared ideas, our ambitions networked as future leaders.  We also met the residency speakers, Academy alumni, and the Future Generations Commissioner for Wales, Derek Walker. This was incredibly inspiring and set the tone for my fortnightly training sessions across the 8-month programme. 

I learned a range of things - from how to act and consider seven generations ahead, building a wellbeing economy, to how other leaders are pioneering the Act. Our final residency in North Wales further sparked my ideas and built my networks with people doing such amazing work across the public, third and private sector in Wales. As training developed, I also shared and explored ideas with different colleagues, and it’s been so gratifying seeing how others are excited at the potential of working in new ways. 

At last, my experience culminated with a fun but bitter-sweet graduation in Cardiff with my cohort, the Future Generations Office, alumni, as well as representatives from Welsh Government and organisations. I even took part as a speaker to present my change plan (more on that below!). It was amazing to be able to share how I’ve embedded my new skills and knowledge into a plan. 

So what’s next? As part of the FGLA, each person creates something called a ‘Change Plan’; a proposal in your area of expertise, which channels your new learning into a practical plan for their place of work to better align to the Wellbeing of Future Generations Act. My change plan looks at how we can blend language, nature and cynefin to develop opportunities for Amgueddfa Cymru audiences which invoke connection, belonging and wellbeing and helps people to connect to their cynefin and to nature overall. Linking these together not only fosters deeper learning and care about the natural world, it invites people to reconnect to nature, shares intangible cultural heritages and links language to ecological literacy.

The outcome of this contributes to a future Wales where growing people’s connections, knowledge and care for nature inspires future resilience. It also shows how Amgueddfa Cymru can be a hub for Welsh language as a way to experience nature and cynefin - inspired by our collections, spaces, programming, events and experiences.

I am immensely proud to have had this opportunity to develop, from scratch, an ambitious, creative plan aligned to Amgueddfa Cymru’s organisational goals. I’m excited to see how it may be applied in order to contribute to a better future for Wales. 

This opportunity would not have been possible without the support of the National Lottery Heritage Innovation Fund Project #GROW, which builds workforce resilience in the face of climate change. I also extend my grateful thanks to my GROW project colleagues, Sarah Younan, Heather Jackson, Steph Burge, and Victoria Hillman for all of their support.