30 April | Growing the sustainability workforce
Upskilling your workforce involves both specialists and non-experts – join us for a facilitated discussion around pathways to do both.
We will hear from Jennifer Rudd from Wales Net Zero 2035 Challenge Group on ‘Climate Education for the Workforce, proposals to steer Wales towards net zero by 2035’ and Finley Povey from Transport for Wales will talk about ‘how apprenticeships can kickstart your own sustainability journey’.
There will also be an opportunity to join the discussion in our Q&A session at the end.
Where: Online (Zoom)
Time: 10am – 11:30pm
This event is free to attend. Spaces are limited so please be sure to register as soon as possible.
Why this matters
In this current climate and nature crisis, green careers are becoming more desirable and necessary. Looking towards a sustainable future, more and more people are rethinking the places they work for and the kinds of roles they play. With net zero goals and the growing visible local impacts of extreme weather, we urgently need more people taking action in their workplace as well as communities. Given that we spend up to a third of our days in the office, too, it’s crucial that you and your staff feel fulfilled and passionate about your work. Learn how to be a part of meaningful change towards a just transition in your job role or staff development.
Speakers

Jennifer Rudd – Wales Net Zero 2035 Challenge Group
Dr Rudd has a decade of experience working in chemistry and the technical circular economy, developing next generation solar panels and working on hydrogen generation and carbon capture. Using this knowledge, Dr Rudd developed the You and CO2 programme in 2018, seeking to teach young people about climate mitigation. Since then, she has worked on a number of climate change education programmes across the disciplines, age ranges and countries. She has helped train teachers in Nigeria, co-created a programme for Welsh primary school pupils to learn about fast fashion, co-developed a new scale for measuring climate capability and consulted for a range of third sector and educational institutions on climate change education programmes.
Dr Rudd is a member of the Net Zero by 2035 commission, advising Welsh Government on pathways to Net Zero, she has been invited to present her work in the Senedd and at trade events in London.
Dr Rudd has communicated the climate emergency through national talks, radio and printed media and gave a TEDx talk in 2019. She is regularly invited to give talks on climate change mitigation and climate change education and was nominated for two Swansea University awards in 2020.
Finley Povey – Sustainability Coordinator Apprentice at Transport for Wales
Finley joined Transport for Wales as a sustainability coordinator apprentice in January 2024 and has worked across the Sustainable Development and Climate Change team supporting on future generations, sustainable impact, heritage, environmental compliance, ecology, and climate change initiatives. This includes supporting policy or delivery plan development, ensuring administration activities and other duties are undertaken effectively, undertaking environmental audits across various TfW locations to assess environmental impact and compliance with sustainability best practice, working on decision-making tools to align with the Well-being of Future Generations Act and social value, as well as supporting the creation of TfW’s first sustainability exemplar project to integrate well-being, energy-saving, and biodiverse features into a depot site. In her talk, Finley will be telling us about why organisations should give apprentice opportunities to help build the next generation of sustainability conscious champions.
Facilitators

Simon Slater, Director at Cynnal Cymru – Sustain Wales
Early on in his career, Simon worked with the late Rhodri Morgan and Welsh Government as they explored what it meant to have the duty to promote sustainable development in your constitution. His Wales experience renewed his interest to work for the benefit of communities and the environment. He has subsequently worked across the world as an environmental advisor with royalty, charities, government, councils, and business. This has included borrowing ideas from Wales, such as creating a Board member for Future Generations for a Regional Development Agency 10 years before the Welsh Act.
More recently he has been running sustainability or community regeneration charities such as Sustainability West Midlands, the Springfield Project, and ecobirmingham. He is looking forward to coming back to Wales to continue to be part of the country’s sustainability story. “Wales changed me, now I want to be part of a charity that is helping Wales to change”.

Clare Sain-ley Berry, Deputy Chief Executive, Cynnal Cymru – Sustain Wales
Clare has a background in delivering partnership projects for the natural environment and sustainable resource use and uses this to help shape our policy and development work. She enjoys facilitating collaboration across sectors and devising practical programmes to deliver strategic aims.
Clare has helped develop our training offer, particularly around the nature crisis, to look at how individuals in all work roles can work towards sustainability with greater agency and confidence.

Our thriving community of mutually supportive members provides an opportunity to share learning, challenge thinking and mobilise action, be this through co-designed events, hosting networking sessions or simply sowing seeds for future collaborations or thought-leadership.
If you would like to talk to a member of the team about how we can support your organisation, please contact membership@cynnalcymru.com.
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