Hampshire is an economically successful county, with a good quality of life and an outstanding environment – however, we are well aware of the huge challenges we face in protecting this legacy against the headwinds of change. In 2018, we convened the Hampshire 2050 Commission of Inquiry to develop a framework to establish what we and our partners can put in place so that Hampshire is in the best possible position for future generations.

This is an ambitious project, we are in the apex of rapid changes coming from all fronts – climate, technology, society, population. Looking back 30 years, most homes did not have a computer, few people had mobile phones, not many had heard of climate change, and the economy and population structure has changed significantly. The only certainty about 2050 is that the world, and our part in it, will be very different from how it is today, and in ways that are hard to predict. What has become clear from the commission, however, is that it is possible to identify the forces that will shape Hampshire in the future and how, collectively, we can best respond.