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Fixing the future:
a manifesto for recovery through innovation

As Europe’s economy slip into recession we believe that Europe needs to respond in ways that don’t just address immediate needs but also ensure that Europe can thrive in the recovery. Too many of the actions being taken now are focused on putting right the mistakes of the past rather than investing in future success. And too little is being done to promote the entrepreneurship, innovation and infrastructures that will be essential to Europe’s future growth. We believe that Europe’s governments, businesses and NGOs now need to commit to a set of principles that can guide recovery plans and policies, and put at their heart a clear commitment to investment in the future. Specifically we argue that Europe should:

  1. Reshape recovery plans to address the long-term challenges that Europe faces, in particular adaptation to climate change, ageing and chronic disease

  2. Prioritise the sectors with the greatest prospects of future jobs growth, including health and care, education, environmental services, tourism and the creative industries.

  3. Promote pluralism and local creativity, shifting investment to many small scale local and regional initiatives rather than putting all resources into grand but risky national projects

  4. Invest in innovation with a significant share of investment directed to creating new products and services, including innovation in the public, social, educational, creative and tourism sectors.

  5. Back entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship, whether through tax incentives and guarantees, or provision of space for microenterprises

  6. Support new infrastructures, accelerating investment in the decisive new infrastructures for the future, like universal high speed broadband and low carbon energy grids

  7. Guarantee security by protecting social spending and supporting temporary job creation as the precondition for healthy risk-taking

  8. Reward investor responsibility by reshaping policies to support those institutional and private investors who have invested long term in sound enterprises with high standards of governance and risk management

  9. Mobilise public creativity by using the radical potential of web 2.0 and social networks to develop public ideas for mitigating the impact of the recession

  10. Learn fast with more systematic ways of evaluating and learning from Europe and the world about what works.

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  • on July 16, 2009 at 14:04, Rui Miguel Silva Seabra said

    This is too vague to be supported by anyone. What sorts of concrete measures are proposed?

    Too many of the items can go either way, and none of them are sufficiently reassuring for Free Software users and companies.

    I would like to support this, but it really needs to be less vague.

    Rui

  • on July 16, 2009 at 14:33, Paul Hofheinz said

    How do you say “yes” in a hundred different ways?

  • on July 16, 2009 at 14:47, JoĂŁo Miguel Neves said

    I think 2 and 3 are in contradiction. I believe 3 is the correct, let the people try ideas, some will fail, some succeed. History as shown us that obvious job-creation industries usually aren’t.

    6 should be done with the results of new developments. It’s added-value is zero (as any investment in commodities). Put too much money on these will result in killing the rest of the economy.

    8 is useless, as it already happens.

    I’d prefer 9 to be rephrased “Promote best practices on living and money usage”.

    Other than that, a fine document that I’d love to see a list of policies to go with it :).

    Best regards,
    JoĂŁo Miguel Neves

  • on July 16, 2009 at 15:00, Vasco Matos Trigo said

    Let’s fight recession. With innovation, what else?

  • on July 17, 2009 at 03:31, andrea Mendoza said

    a pertinent example with implications (and hopefully replications) world-wide

  • on July 17, 2009 at 07:55, Brian Cox said

    I think this is excellent and happy to support an agenda based on localism, sustainability etc. I particularly think 3. is important, - widening ownership and control. I would like to see more on ways inwhich resources and responsibility can be passed driectly into the hands of communities, people who use services, etc.

  • on July 17, 2009 at 08:28, Emmanuel said

    I think it is a very good initiative. I want to be part of it that is can we partner with you and introduce the programme in West Africa, Nigeria. We have an NGO which is very young with the name Youth Empowerment & Social Development (YESD), We’ll very much appreciate if you can let us know and allow us to partner.

    Emma

  • on July 24, 2009 at 16:30, Lessons from Lisbon « Learninglaunchpad said

    [...] youth unemployment are a unifying force and an opportunity. The Young Foundation-Cisco new website Fixing the Future has some exciting ideas for how to tackle the challenges of the coming generation. Exchanging ideas [...]

  • on August 2, 2009 at 18:06, Gordon Morris said

    What you propose makes good - intuitive - sense. Quite why our elected politicians are so stuck in the past, are so keen to maintain current structures and support discredited methods, is beyond me. All power to your elbow. The more that organizations and individuals become involved in the wider political process, the better for all of us (including our politicians!).

  • on August 5, 2009 at 08:59, Sergio Carvalho said

    100% for it! Investment in Innovation is a long term policy, pretty to talk on business forums but hard to understand from voters. It requires leadership, a long term vision, which means a commitment across Government and opposition. In a country like Portugal, where people is used to look at the Government as the source of all solutions (and problems), entrepreneurship is kind of bizarre; “serious people” don’t create their own companies, they work on corporations, they are public servants. Is that mentality that we have to change, because we have an immense power and creativity that has to be unleashed. I’m all against subsidization and all for rewards, that means that one should incentivize companies that grow and create employment trough taxes AFTER results are made; and that would lead us to a long discussion :-)

  • on August 27, 2009 at 19:59, Pedro Lagido said

    I agree completly with your 10 great lines of action but I would like to Know your opinion about the “european fast train connections” that are in project or constrution.

  • on August 28, 2009 at 10:42, Arnaldo D. Carqueijo said

    It´s my first visit to this site and the Manifesto coincides with my vision that present actions to cure the current economic and social crisis effects have to be taken considering a global and long term perspective, after analysing the root causes of the problems/conflicts of interests.
    Adding to this perspective, I would suggest that studies should be conducted to find which industries, starting with the agriculture sector, should be limited of growing thru fusions and acquisitions by limiting the so called “free market laws” from killing small and median explorations/enterprises.

  • on September 1, 2009 at 17:25, manifesto « fixing the european future a manifesto for recovery through innovation « Fredzimny’s CCCCC Blog said

    [...] http://www.fixingthefuture.eu/manifesto home [...]

  • on September 13, 2009 at 10:21, Douwe said

    Who are the initiators of this? What organisations / companies are involved?

  • on November 6, 2009 at 17:44, InĂŞs Lourenço said

    Great initiative… people from Portugal come together and let´s rock!:) make our places around stimulating, inovating e creative spots for everyone, specially young people and active middle age young people that are incredible inspired and wanting to change the world!
    The time is it! is NOW
    contact: ineslou21@gmail.com

  • on November 21, 2009 at 04:17, Pedro Ferreira said

    I am a Portuguese potencial entrepeneur working on the area of “creative industries”.
    How and whom should I contact to apply for finacial support for my future projects on the internet?

  • on November 23, 2009 at 23:18, manuel said

    From seeing this site (and social networks), it seems to me that this initiative is loosing a bit of momentum.Here my contribution hoping to cheer it up a bit.

    I would like to comment on point 2 by saying a word on the need to support artists. In my opinion they are true researchers. They are high boosters of technological innovation because they use a lot of technology to create. Society relies heavily on them in order to be happy and to not to get depressed by homogeneus bloody fritz-tommy-catholic dominated bureaucrats that self-inflict boredom. They should be a lot more involved in innovation since they can bring lot of ideas to companies on how to innovate.
    3. Go local: facilitate public spaces with internet connection where people can gather and exchange ideas. coworking spaces should be facilitated in order to boost social innovation.

    best.
    manuel
    @olebrussels

    Congratulations for the initiative.

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