Wales Celebrates 10 Years of World-Leading Well-being Legislation at The Meetings Show
26 June 2025
25th June 2025, The Meetings Show, UK: Meet In Wales is marking the ten-year anniversary of the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act this week at The Meetings Show. The destination will be celebrating the act’s legacy and continued global relevance—most recently with news that Japan is exploring similar legislation inspired by the Welsh model.
Enacted in 2015, the Wellbeing of Future Generations Act was a world first: a legal commitment by a nation to protect the interests of future generations by requiring public bodies to consider the long-term impact of their decisions. A decade later, its influence is spreading.
At a recent event in Tokyo, former Welsh environment minister Jane Davidson, architect of the legislation, presented the Act’s guiding principles, which include seven well-being goals and five ‘ways of working.’ The event sparked strong interest among Japanese policymakers, who are now actively exploring how similar frameworks could help design a more sustainable society.
For Meet In Wales, the act has become more than policy. It has looked to position itself at the centre of a move to turn policy into practice, and then into experience, working with organisers to encourage an environmental legacy from the events they bring. Examples of this include the Clean Seas legacy of the Volvo Ocean Race 2018, as well as the work conducted by the Centre for Alternative Technology (CAT), the research centre instrumental to Wales’s commitment to forward thinking. The venue now offers advice for businesses looking to build their own sustainability strategy, as part of the incentive meeting programmes it runs.
Heledd Williams, Head of Business Events at Meet In Wales, commented, “The Well-being of Future Generations Act is not just something we are incredibly proud of in Wales, it has now become a model for the world. It’s something that means an awful lot to the events that come to Wales. It shows, that by becoming part of the Wales story, they are sharing values with a destination that puts people, place and planet at the heart of every event we support.”
Meet In Wales continues to champion events that create meaningful legacy, whether through community engagement, environmental stewardship or knowledge transfer that benefits Welsh society well beyond the conference room. Within the outdoor incentive and team building community in Wales, both TYF and Adventure Tours UK, have both achieved B Corp certification. Meanwhile, sustainability, nature, and the importance of outdoor environments was baked into the building of the ICCWales and continues to resonate in every event the business hosts.
As global focus intensifies on sustainability, inclusion and lasting legacy, Wales continues to offer a compelling model for how destinations can deliver beyond the immediate economic impact of events.
Whether it’s through carbon reduction, community investment or cultural enrichment, events hosted in Wales are increasingly designed to leave a legacy that benefits not only today’s delegates, but tomorrow’s citizens.
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