Intergenerational Foresight 2026

East Asia What if East Asia’s ageing population were viewed not as a burden to manage, but as a foundation for intergenerational capability and a source of resilience, continuity and performance? East Asia stands at the forefront of demographic change. Ageing is advancing faster here than in almost any other region, intersecting with prolonged economic uncertainty, shifting labour markets and rising care demands. Institutions often frame these trends as fiscal and productivity challenges that must be contained. Yet this framing obscures a deeper governance question: how do societies value time, continuity and contribution across generations? For decades, East Asia’s development model has been defined by speed. Rapid growth has accelerated industrialization and swift technology adoption has delivered extraordinary gains. However, intergenerational planning and care systems have not evolved at the same pace.54 Institutions optimized for acceleration now face a mismatch between short decision cycles and long demographic realities. This provocation reframes ageing as a strategic governance asset rather than a constraint. It asks whether recognizing older adults as contributors to intergenerational capability could strengthen organizational performance, social cohesion and long-term resilience. In doing so, it positions ageing as a central concern of intergenerational foresight: a test of whether societies can govern time as a shared resource rather than optimize exclusively for speed. E Intergenerational Foresight: An Approach for Long-Term Responsibility in Governance 30