The idea
In early 2023, Derek Walker was appointed as the new Future Generations Commissioner for Wales, a unique role created under The Well-being of Future Generations Act. This role involves promoting sustainable development and ensuring that public bodies and the government consider long-term implications in their decision-making.
The Office wanted to use Theory of Change as a tool to help define their strategic focus with the new Commissioner in place. They wanted to find a partner with Theory of Change expertise to help them do this.
Urban Foundry was selected through a competitive tender process to provide them with support.
What we did
Urban Foundry, in collaboration with Urban Foundry Associate Amy Shephard from Shepherd & Moyes, facilitated a series of Theory of Change workshops with the Office. The objective was to assist in shaping the future direction of travel for the team.
Our work took place over Summer 2023 and built on the extensive stakeholder involvement that had been undertaken to help shape their ‘Our Future Focus’ approach. Alongside helping to develop the areas of work for the Office, we also built the capacity of the team so they could confidently use Theory of Change in their broader work.
Impact of our work
Our approach was met with high praise from the Office, highlighting our understanding of the issues and commitment to making a real difference. The full results and future impact of this collaboration will unfold over the seven-year term, but the immediate outcome has been a set of clear, measurable tasks for the Office to focus on, summarised in their recent ‘Cymru Can‘ publication that outlines their focus for the next term.
These tasks simplify a complex array of challenges into manageable actions, showcasing Urban Foundry’s leadership in applying Theory of Change methodologies.
- "I highly recommend Urban Foundry as experts in the theory of change model, as consultants helping with organisational change, and as a B Corp organisation caring for people and planet. Ben was great in setting the work parameters and Amy got the spirit of the organisation and our remit very fast. She has managed perfectly the different groups within our team and helped us design a whole theory of change model for our strategy within very tight deadlines. Her work and attitude were appreciated and praised across the whole organisation and she became one of us very fast. We will miss working with her on a daily basis but she leaves us with long lasting change and an amazing set of new skills."Marie Brousseau-Navarro - Chief Operating Officer and Deputy Commissioner
