A call for fresh, bold thinking to reimagine Britain’s future and its role in the world.

A new book will explore the future of Britain through the perspective of corporate communications and public relations practitioners.

Our vision is to help frame policy that will contribute to the future of the UK economy and society. The project's working title is Renewal.

The book will explore management viewpoints of the relationship perspective of Britain and its future role in the world. It’s a response to the need for fresh thinking to reimagine our collective future.

David Miliband, CEO of the International Rescue Committee and a former Labour Party politician, recently framed the strategic challenges facing Britain in four areas: where do we start, what do we stand for, where do we need to build relationships, and what can we afford?

We hope to explore topics including arts, culture, education, environment, healthcare, skills, technology and work. This list is not exhaustive and will be developed based on open-source contributions. This is where we need your help.

Renewal will be crowdsourced from across the public relations industry and we’d welcome your contribution. It will be based on a series of essays of 800-1,200 words in length. Contributions should be thought-provoking and inspirational.

If you are interested in contributing, please complete this form or contact me via LinkedIn. The deadline for pitch submissions is Friday, 17 May.

Our view is that corporate communications and public relations practitioners are the eyes and ears of organisations, agencies and in-house across all aspects of the economy and society. We have an important, often unrecognised role in helping frame policy at an organisational and societal level.

“Britain is at a pivotal moment. Post Brexit and post pandemic, it has lost power, authority, and credibility on a world stage. All eyes are on our political parties as we prepare for a general election during the continued cost-of-living crisis,” said. Sarah Waddington CBE, #FuturePRoof founder and Wadds Inc. director.

“We know many leaders and their organisations are working hard to stay operational, engage in sustainable working practices, and balance productivity and well-being. If futures and foresight work, stakeholder engagement, and public affairs are our forte, where should the Britain focus its attention right now and why?"

The project will be funded and managed by Wadds Inc. and published by #FuturePRoof in ebook and print formats. We’ll need essay submissions by Friday, 12 July for September publication.

Sarah Waddington CBE, Dr Jon White and I will act as managing editors and determine the scope of topics based on your submissions. I’ll act as editor for the project.

This will be our seventh #FuturePRoof crowdsourced project. The most recent book explored the role of AI tools in public relations. #FuturePRoof was founded in 2015 by Sarah Waddington as a platform to explore the future of practice.

We’ll openly share outputs from Renewal with the industry, including the CIPR, PRCA, and each of the UK political parties.

Update: 28 May 2024: We’ve paused the latest #FuturePRoof while we reflect on options. The original plan was to explore Britain's future through the perspective of corporate communications and public relations practitioners ahead of the election, producing something meaningful before 4 July 2024 would be impossible.