Conference "Preparedness for 2050: Evidence-Based Solutions and Governance for the Future of Lithuania“, 29 November, 2021

Prime Minister: the Seimas Committee for the Future is the initial step towards participatory governance

                                                                                                              Photo by Asta Rubežė

On 29 November, a Conference titled Preparedness for 2050: Evidence-Based Solutions and Governance for the Future of Lithuania, with the participation of international experts in public administration, discussed the development and evaluation of evidence-informed policies, focussing on the future of public governance and regulatory policy.

Conference speakers made their insights into the future of the state and the challenges of public policy in the context of the strategy Lithuania 2050. ‘In my capacity as Chair of the Seimas Committee for the Future, I am delighted that the Committee has contributed to cooperation in preparation to the Conference. This Conference is important not only because of the reports presented by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and remote participation of distinguished experts but also because the improvement of the quality of legislation in Lithuania has been eventually addressed. The State Progress Strategy for 2050 was also discussed with experts. I hope that the discussions at this Conference will contribute substantially to the drafting of the Progress Strategy Lithuania 2050 and to anticipatory governance,’ said Raimundas Lopata, Chair of the Seimas Committee for the Future.

In the second part of the Conference, dedicated to expert discussions with the Chair of the Seimas Committee for the Future on anticipatory governance in Lithuania, Prof. Lopata observed that futures thinking required futures thinkers, trained politicians, and anticipatory experience, since all the problems had a horizontal nature while our governance was based on verticals. According to the Professor, Lithuania possesses the abovementioned capacities and they must be further developed. However, above all, attempts to anticipate the future are associated with a simple and yet a fundamental task of empowering the Republic to act as a Republic, i.e. letting the citizens make their own decisions. 

In her welcome address at the event, Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė emphasised that ‘we need to develop and deepen the direction of anticipatory governance, which emerged with the establishment of the Committee for the Future in the Seimas during this parliamentary term, and the discussions on future governance are also an integral part of such governance.’ In October this year, at the opening event of the State Progress Strategy Lithuania 2050, the Prime Minister referred to the Seimas Committee for the Future as a ‘thinking about the future house’, and called its Chair Mr Lopata “the host of the house of the future”.

Co-organised by the Office of the Government and the Government Strategic Analysis Center (STRATA) in cooperation with the Seimas Committee for the Future, the Conference was the closing event of the project Evidence Based Policy Making and Policy Evaluation at the Centre of Government in Lithuania funded by the European Commission.