The Heywood Fellowship Podcast

How can governments look beyond the next crisis, and govern for the long-term? This podcast series explores how nations set and sustain long-term strategic goals. In a political culture often dominated by short-term pressures, we ask what it really takes to think ahead: to align government, business and society around a shared sense of purpose; to develop resilience in the face of uncertainty; and to make decisions today that shape the country we want tomorrow. Through conversations with experts and practitioners from the UK and other countries, we explore how national strategy works in practice. How do different countries embed long-term thinking in their institutions and culture? What role do foresight, place, memory, and collective endeavour play? And what lessons could the UK learn? This series is part of the Heywood Fellowship, hosted by the Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford, and supported by the Heywood Foundation, which enables a senior UK public servant to reflect on a major question in public life. This series is hosted by Lucy Smith, the 2024-25 Heywood Fellow. For more details on Lucy's project go to: https://www.bsg.ox.ac.uk/fellowship/heywood-fellowship