5th May, 2009

SALLY HOLT

The Future By Us

Hugh Evans and Tom O'Connor (editors) with forward by Kevin Rudd

Hardie Grant Books, 2009
ISBN-13: 9781740667173

"The writers' visions are bold, innovative and sometimes complex. But overwhelmingly, they ooze with optimism. Perhaps it's the obvious engagement that the writers have with their 'issues' that makes each essay so readable."

We all like to contemplate the future. What do we see? What would we like it to be? It's the enduring question with an endless array of answers. However in a freshly-published book, 14 of Australia's emerging young leaders tackle this question with courage and optimism.

The Future By Us, edited by Hugh Evans and Tom O'Connor, is a collection of 10 essays by some of the nation's Gen Y thinkers who outline their visions - and hopes - for Australia beyond 2020.

Launched in March, the book also comes with the ringing endorsement of some prominent Baby Boomer and Gen X representatives: the foreword is by Australia's prime minister, Kevin Rudd, and it receives plaudits from actor Hugh Jackman and veteran social campaigner Tim Costello.

At the book's Canberra launch in March, Hugh Evans (founder of the Oaktree Foundation and now director of the Global Poverty Project) said it was “a call for young Australians to take responsibility for our future - now”, while his colleague Tom O'Connor (currently director of operations for the Oaktree Foundation) said the world's current crises demanded “guts and vision” and The Future By Us argued for the building of “powerful foundations now, to grow prosperity in the future”.

Each issue is an essay and each essay is a chapter. Framed around the themes of last year's 2020 Summit, and government policy areas, each chapter - despite the necessary scholarly facts and stats - is immensely readable. The topics range across a number of fields including indigenous affairs, climate change and sustainability, domestic violence, health, the economy and the media.

The writers' visions are bold, innovative and sometimes complex. But overwhelmingly, they ooze with optimism. Perhaps it's the obvious engagement that the writers have with their 'issues' that makes each essay so readable. (Interestingly, engagement with issues - rather than party politics - is a trait many social demographers happily assign to Gen Y.)

Anna Rose - founder and co-director of the Australian Youth Climate Coalition - weaves a passionate, yet pragmatic, picture about the challenges of climate change and the measures required for a prosperous but sustainable nation. “Australia has a huge opportunity to become the most sustainable nation in the world...we can show exceptional leadership in our region,” she writes, before going on to explore the notions of personal carbon allocations and “green” employment.

In his chapter 'End of the Stone Age - Building Wealth from Knowledge', leading young economist Simon Sheikh explores the critical importance of education and the need to move from a resource-based economy to one built on knowledge, innovation and equity.

His proposal of the Australia Degree - “a program that provides online access to the best lecturers in a diversity of topics to produce world class leaders” - is one that may well resonate with tertiary consumers who are frustrated by the quality, availability and usability of their graduate and post-graduate degrees.

The rapidly-changing world of media technology is tackled by journalist Chloe Adams. She also courageously wades into the deep waters of media ownership and journalistic integrity writing that “concentrated media ownership presents a serious hurdle for a democratic society”, adding that serious weaknesses lie within Australia's media ranks including the lack of resources, knowledge, cultural diversity and incentive.

As well as editing the book, Evans and O'Connor contribute to it. Their chapter, 'Our Future in the World', proposes a “global intelligence quotient” (GQ) that measures an individual's skill in foreign languages, travel as well as inter-cultural knowledge and understanding.

Schools, they suggest, could foster the development and improvement of a student's GQ, employers could complete GQ testing, and the GQ could be a standard component on a person's CV. They argue this would provide Australians with the incentive and skills to engage with the world which could become a 'global ignition switch' for human freedom.

Not all the book's chapters have straight-forward solutions and, indeed, some of the proposals may be deemed idealistic. But The Future By Us is not a 21st century first-aid kit for a nation facing immense challenges and unprecedented uncertainties. It's a publication that's aimed to generate thought, discussion - and importantly - deliver hope.

If the contributors to The Future By Us exemplify the philosophies and aspirations of their generation, then the preceding and succeeding generations may well consider Australia - beyond 2020 - to be in capable hands.

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