UNESCO

The 2025 Scoping Report for the EU Intergenerational Fairness Strategy, under the remit of Glenn Micallef, European Commissioner for Intergenerational Fairness, Youth, Culture and Sport, is a very interesting document for ‘heritage futures’. It does not give culture a specific role. But heritage and the past are explicitly considered, which is interesting.

The report stresses the benefits of “intergenerational dialogue” and adopts a perspective of human generations as “intertwined lives” resulting in “intergenerational solidarity”, leading to the conclusion that “it is our responsibility to care for past, current, and future generations’ well-being” (p. 13).

Significantly, the authors argue that “the intertwining can be extended to past generations, with their heritage, legacy and traumas, and future generations, with their needs, interests, and rights. (…) This new approach extends the focus from the now to a broader horizon, encouraging us to act as “a good ancestor” to future generations.” (p. 13)

The report expresses among the preliminary elements of a vision for an intergenerationally fair EU that what may be required includes “bringing the past and the heritage to enrich the long-term perspective” (p. 21).

These formulations remain a little vague and it remains open not only how we can care today for past generations’ well-being but also how the distinct contribution of heritage differs from that of knowing the past. But this is still the first time I can remember having seen in such a transnational document an explicit appreciation of a positive value of heritage in the context of future-making (and not just in the context of present-day benefits for living people or in relation to safeguarding existing forms of culture in the future).