Today's Crossword: An ancient Native American idea could save our planet

How do we live and grow with our planet? It’s a question Expo 2020 Dubai is addressing this week, with its Urban and Rural Development theme.

Click start to play today’s Crossword, which tackles sustainability. Follow our special coverage of Expo 2020 for news and updates from the event.

One answer to that important question comes from an ancient Haudenosaunee or Iroquois Native American philosophy, called the seventh-generation principle. The concept is simple but ambitious: the decisions we make today should result in a sustainable world, seven generations into the future. The philosophy dates back to around 1500 AD, to writings recorded under the Great Law of Haudenosaunee Confederacy.

The question of what kind of planet we are leaving behind for the next, or next few, generations is incredibly relevant in today’s era, as we contend with the causes and effects of climate change. Many countries have acknowledged this fact, and have already adopted the Native Americans’ seventh-generation principle in their decision making.

One example is Japan’s Future Design movement, which began in 2015, in a small town called Yahaba. Local residents regularly gather at public meetings to discuss and draw up plans for the towns and cities where they live. They start off by discussing present-day issues and the problems that are affecting residents. Then, they are given ceremonial yellow robes to wear and are told to imagine themselves as residents from 2060.

The imaginative roleplay has a remarkable effect. An August 2020 study, published in the journal Sustainability, analysed the community’s interactions and found that people systematically favoured much more transformative plans when they donned the robes, whether they were discussing issues related to healthcare, the impact of artificial intelligence (AI), or environmental issues. It’s because the community leaders began imagining how their decisions today impacted the lives of their children and grandchildren, naturally causing their priorities to shift. In economic terms, their ‘discount rate’ diminished – they started placing more value on the welfare of future citizens, whose interests would normally have little impact on their decision-making policies.

The meetings were so successful that, in 2019, the mayor of Yahaba opened a Future Strategy Office, which coordinates the use of Future Design across multiple areas of decision making. For instance, Future Design played a major role in creating long-term investments in the town’s deteriorating water infrastructure.

The concept has since spread to major Japanese cities, like Kyoto and Suita, and is now being used by Japan’s Ministry of Finance.

What do you think of the seventh-generation principle and Future Design? Play today’s Crossword and tell us at games@gulfnews.com.