From Wales to Westminster: Embedding Design for Future Generations in the UK’s Industrial Strategy
From Wales to Westminster: Embedding Design for Future Generations in the UK’s Industrial Strategy, by Professor Anna Whitcher
Prompted by Design Council, the Policy Team here at PDR have been reflecting on how best to embed design in responses to the Government’s consultation on its 10-year flagship policy: Invest 2035: the UK's modern industrial strategy.
The Government’s green paper was published on 17 October 2024 and aims to position the UK as a leader in green industries and drive long-term economic growth. How can they do this? For anyone working the field, the answer is design.
One of the questions in the consultation is: “How should the Industrial Strategy align with devolved government economic strategies and support the sectoral strengths of Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland?”
A policy framework we're very proud of in Wales is, of course, the 2015 Wellbeing of Future Generations Act, which is overarching legislation permeating all Welsh Government policies. It aims to improve the social, economic, environmental and cultural wellbeing of Wales and is the first of its kind in the world mandating public bodies to consider future generations when developing public policies and services.
Although it is not specifically linked to Industrial Strategy, it has 7 goals (A Prosperous, Resilient, Healthier, More Equal, Cohesive, Vibrant Wales) and 5 ways of working (long-term thinking, prevention, integration, collaboration and involvement).
From a design perspective, there is a specific document Future Generations Framework for Service Design demonstrating how user-centred design can achieve these outcomes. Design is also already part of the Digital and Data Profession in Wales where Service Design, UX Design, Content Design and User Research are explicitly codified capabilities. In essence, design is one of the approaches underpinning how the Future Generations Framework is implemented in Wales and this principle could be considered best practice for wider UK strategies. Design therefore is a way of working in government but also a skill that we need to build for the green transition across industry.
So to answer the exam question in a succinct way, building on the Welsh experience and our sectoral strengths in design:
The UK Industrial Strategy should be broad encompassing social, economic, environmental and cultural factors; it should focus on current and future generations and be underpinned by user-centred design.
Find out more about our Design Policy team’s work here
