Wednesday 8 July 2026
Derek Walker
Future Generations Commissioner for Wales | Future Generations Wales
Derek Walker is Wales’s second Future Generations Commissioner, having taken up the role in March 2023. He is responsible for ensuring the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 is implemented across public bodies, encouraging government and public bodies to take a longer-term view on policy decisions, and protecting and promoting the needs of future generations.
In his first year in post he launched Cymru Can, a seven-year strategy focused on five areas: improving people’s everyday lives, responding to the climate and nature emergencies, preventing ill health, building a well-being economy, and protecting Welsh language and culture.
Prior to this role, Derek was CEO of Cwmpas, the UK’s largest co-operative development agency, for twelve years. He has also worked as Head of External Affairs at the Big Lottery Fund (Wales), Head of Policy and Campaigns at the Wales TUC, and was the first employee of Stonewall Cymru.
Thursday 9 July 2026
Rebecca Coleman
Professor of Sociology | University of Bristol
Her research crosses sociology, media and cultural studies, and feminist theory, with particular interests in digital media and cultures, futures and presents, bodies, affect and new materialisms, and inventive methodologies. She has previously worked in sociology departments at Goldsmiths, University of London and Lancaster University.
She is the author of Glitterworlds: The Future Politics of a Ubiquitous Thing (Goldsmiths Press, 2020) and Transforming Images: Screens, Affect, Futures (Routledge, 2012), and has published widely on time, feeling, and everyday life. From 2023 to 2025 she was Researcher in Residence at Knowle West Media Centre in Bristol, working on community technology and digital futures.