Have you unlocked the power of storytelling in your work yet? Join Cynnal Cymru in a facilitated discussion on storytelling techniques that can engage your stakeholders, shed light on your important work, or refine your business goals.
We’ve all seen a powerful piece of storytelling that makes us stand up and take action. Maybe it’s a video that wakes us up to crucial climate issues, an interview with a community coming together for collective good, or an animation that spells out technical information in a way that makes sense to us. Storytelling is everywhere, and harnessing the power of storytelling is key to engaging our audiences in our work towards a sustainable future.
In this half-day event, Cynnal Cymru’s advice team will tell you about their recent imagining of a Wales in 2051, joined by speakers who are experts in storytelling. In a Q&A with the speakers and networking opportunities throughout, this exclusive event for Cynnal Cymru members will help you understand where you can develop storytelling opportunities, find new tools to craft engaging stories, and use storytelling to increase engagement in your work.
Who is it for?
This free event is open to all individuals and organisations over the age of 18. Priority attendance is available to Cynnal Cymru Members.
Speakers
Animation to Action: Unlocking your storytelling power with Anthony Green, founder of Motion Manor
Anthony Green’s storytelling background led him to found Motion Manor in 2021. Motion Manor is a B-Corp certified animation and motion design studio focused on creating a positive impact. They help organisations who are working to make the world a better place with awe-inspiring visual content. Through their work with the Centre for Climate Change and Social Transformations (CAST), they have used visuals to inspire hope and show what a future proof society might look like across 7 different cities.
In his talk and Q&A, Ant will tell us about how animation and illustration can elevate socially conscious projects to inspire change in your audiences. Sustainability is at the core of his work, so he can answer your questions about the sustainability of animation and why animation works to engender passion and action towards the climate crisis.
Imagining and Enacting a Sustainable Future with David Clubb, Chair of the National Infrastructure Commission for Wales (NICW)
Dr David Clubb is an expert in energy policy and digital communication. He is a Founding Partner at Afallen, whose projects are rooted in the Well-being of Future Generations approach, bringing value to all Wales’ citizens’ now and in the future. He was previously Head of Digital at RenewableUK and Director at RenewableUK Cymru.
The NICW is an independent advisory body that gives recommendations on the infrastructure Wales needs. They have worked in partnership with the Institute of Welsh Affairs (IWA) to envision the implications for infrastructure in Wales in 2100. As the Chair of the NICW, David will talk to us about the power and importance of this project and how imagining a sustainable future is necessary to creating one. With expertise in pairing digital storytelling with practice structural change, David can answer your questions on how storytelling can uplift gritty technical information, speak to new audiences and help you with business development plans.
Creating a Vision We Can Achieve with Camille Løvgreen, Sustainability Advisor at Cynnal Cymru
Camille joined Cynnal Cymru’s advice team to support clients through a transition to sustainable business operations. This includes carbon accounting, creating action plans, and embedding sustainable principles into operations. Inspired by CAST’s visions of a low-carbon futures report, Camille and Karolina developed a series of stories designed to show readers that everyone can play a huge role in achieving a sustainable present and future. In her talk and Q&A, Camille will tell us about how utilising a creative approach can build hope and momentum without comprising on accessibility or reality.
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, 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.
11:00 Q+A Session facilitated by Clare Sain-ley Berry
11:30 Networking
12:30 Close
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 contactmembership@cynnalcymru.com.
Running a successful and responsible business is perhaps more challenging today than ever before. In a complex landscape of risks and opportunities, technological innovation is moving at an unprecedented pace, resource availability and social instability are immediate challenges, and companies must navigate capricious policy conditions while competing versions of reality have destroyed trust. Nonetheless, stakeholders want businesses to address the pressure our planet and its population are under.
Sustainable Development provides businesses with a clear unifying vision for a viable and prosperous economy of the future.
Ambitious sustainability targets have been set at every level from individual companies to international pacts. Approaching the midpoint of the UN ‘Decade of Action’, the time to deliver on these commitments to avoid the worst impacts of climate change and inequality is now. However, progress is not happening fast enough, and in some cases is reversing. Business professionals must be equipped and empowered with robust solutions to respond to the challenges spanning all three tenets of ESG.
Through panel discussions, fireside chats, hands-on practical workshops, and extensive networking opportunities, the UN Global Compact Network UK’s Annual Summit will bring together stakeholders from across sectors for practical, output-focused discussions, to give you the strategic insights needed to bridge the ambition to action gap and transform your business for people, planet, and prosperity.
All key takeaways from the day will be captured and made exclusively available to attendees, forming a strategic action plan to accelerate sustainability solutions.
Are you starting your sustainability journey? Looking to understand how to apply sustainability strategy to your organisation?Join Camille Lovgreen in our first open Integrated Sustainability Taster Workshop, where you can begin to understand what goes into sustainable strategy and look at next steps for your organisation.
Cynnal Cymru members receive one free place on the Integrated Sustainability Taster Workshop. Spaces are subject to availability – contact Abi to register your free place.
Things you should know
Cynnal Cymru launch new Premium Membership packages
We have launched three brand-new Premium Membership packages, centring around our Advice, Training, and Connections services. If you would like to find out more, please visit our website or contact membership@cynnalcymru.com to book in for a call.
Cardiff Refill Return Cup
A brand-new returnable coffee cup scheme will be launching in the Welsh capital next month. The Cardiff Refill Return Cupscheme – the first-of-its-kind in Wales – will enable Cardiffians to ‘borrow’ a reusable takeaway cup from a participating café and return it at a later date so that it can be washed and used again and again.
Pop down to your local People Planet Pint meetup to find out more about what’s going on with sustainability and how you can get involved.
12th September | Celebrating the Living Wage in Mid and West Wales | Halliwell Conference Centre, Camarthen
Join Living Wage Wales as they celebrate the progress of the Living Wage movement and to recognise the Living Wage Employers making a difference in the Mid and West Wales region. For further information please contact livingwage@cynnalcymru.com.
Join Bumblebee Conservation trust and Cardiff’s Ranger team to search and survey the bumblebees of Hendre lark part. This event is free to attend and suitable for adults of all abilities.
Join Policy Insight Wales as they showcase best practice organisations from across Wales and share insights to help you design and implement an effective ESG strategy.
Have you unlocked the power of storytelling in your work yet? Join Cynnal Cymru, Motion Manor, and NICW in a facilitated discussion on storytelling techniques that can engage your stakeholders, shed light on your important work, or refine your business goals.
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 contactmembership@cynnalcymru.com.
Every month in Cynnal Cymru’s excellent newsletter (subscribe here), we explore a different question or topic through the lens of our core organisational aims of a fair and just society, an inclusive low-carbon economy, and healthy, restored ecosystems.
Last month, we thought about how to handle complexity within times of change in our job roles or the wider sustainability conversation. This month, we’re thinking about what it means to craft and build a new future together. We’re a few weeks out from an election that saw the Conservatives leave office for the first time in 14 years, with Labour winning a majority of 172 seats. Labour’s campaign slogan was simple: Change.
The public policy landscape has started to shift already, with 40 pieces of legislation introduced by the new government (and an additional two carried over from the previous parliamentary session).
Unsurprisingly for an organisation called Cynnal Cymru – Sustain Wales, we have a core focus on sustainability. We also want to ensure that action on climate change leads to a better society, and doesn’t leave workers behind – that’s where our Fair Economy team comes in. For an organisation that has this focus on sustainability and a fair economy (such as fair working practices), there is plenty for us to sink our teeth into.
Sustainability
One of the new government’s flagship policies has been the creation of a new organisation called GB Energy – a new, publicly-owned green power company. The UK Government intends to invest over £8bn in this organisation over the next five years – a major spending commitment.
It’s still early days for GB Energy, and there’s more to learn about how it will operate as it comes into life. However, it seems that a core remit will be co-investing in emerging renewable energy technology and scaling up investment in more established technologies. Essentially, it will aim to unlock private sector investment in renewables by de-risking and clearing the way for this investment.
Chris Stark – former Chief Executive of the Climate Change Committee – has also been appointed to lead a new ‘Mission Control’ that will aim to break down barriers and accelerate progress on clean energy projects.
UK Labour appears to lean on some of the work of economist Professor Mariana Mazzucato. Labour’s ‘five missions to rebuild Britain’, chime with Mazzucato’s 2021 book ‘Mission Economy: A Moonshot Guide to Changing Capitalism’. This book was inspired by the space race, which, in the US, took a ‘missions-based’ systems-engineering approach to coordination of the public and private sectors to put human beings on the moon.
Sound familiar? This appears to very much be the approach of the new UK Labour government with regards to its ‘National Missions’, ‘Mission Control’, and the public-private approach of GB Energy.
This plan is not without controversy. Many will question the need for private sector involvement, with the inevitable siphoning off of proceeds into private profit, particularly where the public purse is de-risking projects – although the government would counter that private expertise and buy-in is necessary.
There is a particular sensitivity in Wales, too. GB Energy has already announced a partnership with the Crown Estate in England and Wales. The Crown Estate owns a substantial amount of Britain’s land, including the majority of the seabed, and public money will be used to lease this land to develop windfarms.
There have been calls for the Crown Estate to be devolved to Wales, a position long supported by the Welsh Government. However, the UK Government does not have this as a proposal in its legislative agenda.
Fair Work: Policy Highlight
There is news on the fair work front, too. The King’s Speech included a new Employment Rights Bill. The UK Government has said this Bill will enhance a long list of working rights:
Banning ‘exploitative’ zero-hours contracts
Ending ‘Fire and Rehire’ and ‘Fire and Replace’
Making parental leave, sick pay, and protection from unfair dismissal available from the first day of employment (whilst retaining the option of probationary periods)
Removing the lower earnings limit for Statutory Sick Pay
Flexible working the default from day-one for all workers
Making it unlawful to dismiss a woman who has had a baby for six months after her return to work (except in specific circumstances)
A new Fair Work Agency to strengthen enforcement of workplace rights
A new Fair Pay Agreement in the adult social care sector, with potential expansion to other sectors
Removal of some restrictions on trade union activity
Simplifying the process of statutory recognition for trade unions
Introducing a regulated route to ensure workers and union members have a reasonable right to access a union within workplaces
This appears to be a strong set of proposals to strengthen workers’ rights in the UK. However, the detail will be crucial – for example, the ‘teeth’ that the new Fair Work Agency is given, the exemptions for employers around new rights such as protecting new mothers, and how broad the definition of ‘exploitative’ zero hours contracts is.
The Fair Pay Agreement in the adult social care sector will be particularly interesting, and is under-remarked on. ‘Fair Pay Agreements’ are essentially an industry-wide employment agreement, where government brings together trade unions and employers to agree minimum pay rates and conditions across the sector.
The UK model of collective bargaining currently focuses largely on the firm level. Research has found that this model poses a significant challenge to trade unions, which have to secure agreements workplace-by-workplace. It also found that no country which operates on this model has collective bargaining coverage of over 35%, with collective bargaining coverage only remaining high and stable in countries where multi-employer or sectoral agreements – such as these Fair Pay Agreements – are negotiated.
That the UK Government is now proposing to bring sectoral agreements into the social care sector, potentially as a ‘proof of concept’ for other low-paid sectors, is significant. If rolled out successfully and more extensively, this could be the start of a quiet revolution in the UK’s industrial relations settlement.
Given Cynnal Cymru’s longstanding work on the real Living Wage (we’re the Living Wage Foundation’s Accreditation Partner for Wales and host Living Wage Wales in-house), there’s a particularly interesting commitment to deliver a ‘genuine living wage’. The Low Pay Commission, which suggests the minimum wage rate (or National Living Wage as it’s now called) will now have to consider the cost of living when making its recommendation.
For our part, the real Living Wage is set directly according to the cost of living, based on a basket of household goods and services. That’s a different remit to the one of the new Low Pay Commission, so we’ll be keeping an eye on any differences in the two rates.
What does this mean for our future?
There is so much we could say around policy that relates to fair work and sustainability, and the impacts these changes could mean for our foundational economy too.
There is clearly a huge amount of change being undertaken that speaks to the things we care about at Cynnal Cymru, encompassed by our vision of a fair and just society, an inclusive low-carbon economy, and healthy, restored ecosystems. .
We know that legislation can’t deliver everything and it doesn’t work on its own. We also believe in the power of partners, citizens and action-focused advocacy to bring about the transformative change that we need.
Harry Thompson is Senior Programme and Policy Lead: Fair Work and Economy and manages the Fair Work and Living Wage team, which work towards Cynnal Cymru’s strategic goal of a fair and just society.
Counting down to the 2024 National Eisteddfod in Pontypridd next week, I am filled with a sense of excitement and nostalgia. This year’s festival is not just a celebration of Welsh culture; it’s like a homecoming, both for the Eisteddfod and for me personally.
The Eisteddfod has always been a special place in my heart. Growing up, it was more than just competition – it was a gateway to new experiences and learning opportunities. As a young attendee, I discovered hands-on science activities, engaged with charities, and explored new fields of interest from agriculture and Welsh wildlife conservation to animation and robotics. These experiences helped shape my interests and ultimately led me to where I am today, working for Cynnal Cymru.
It has been 68 years since the Eisteddfod was last held in Rhondda Cynon Taf, when the first modern Eisteddfod was held in Aberdare in 1956.
Pontypridd, one of the former coal and iron industrial centres of the three valleys, often does not get the recognition it deserves for its vibrant Welsh community and culture. By bringing one of Europe’s biggest festivals to this area, we are drawing attention to a community that really deserves it.
The aim of the Eisteddfod is not just to celebrate our past; it is also about shaping our future. Over 160,000 visitors were expected, it gives our organization an opportunity to engage with people from all over Wales.
Our presence at the Eisteddfod is about more than just showcasing what we do. It’s about making sustainability accessible to everyone, regardless of age, background or circumstances. The sustainability and environmental sectors are not only among the least racially diverse in the UK, but they are also dominated by individuals from middle-class backgrounds. We want to inspire the next generation of Welsh environmental champions, just as I was inspired years ago.
Wales has been at the forefront of sustainable policies and actions in the UK and beyond. The Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 is a great example of Wales’ innovative approach to sustainability. This groundbreaking legislation requires public bodies to consider the long-term impact of their decisions, work better with people and communities, and adopt a more joined-up approach to tackling persistent problems such as poverty, health inequalities, and climate change. Wales was also one of the first countries in the world to declare a climate emergency in 2019 and has set ambitious targets for renewable energy and waste reduction. Our aim is to celebrate these successes and encourage even more people to join Wales’ sustainability journey.
The Eisteddfod embodies the Welsh spirit – inclusive, progressive, and deeply connected to its roots. It celebrates our language and traditions and our links with cultures across the world. As a sustainability charity, we see our participation as an opportunity to weave environmental awareness into the fabric of Welsh culture. By attending the Eisteddfod, we’re not just taking part in a festival; we are investing in the future of Wales.
It is necessary to create opportunities for young people who would not necessarily be able to access the world of sustainability and environmental work otherwise. And looking after our planet is an integral part of looking after our Welsh culture and communities.
We invite you to join us on Monday 5th and Tuesday 6th of August at the Voluntary Sector Hub. Come and discover how sustainability and the environment intertwine with Welsh culture, and help us build a greener, more inclusive future for Wales.
Alys Reid Bacon is the Living Wage and Human Resources Administration Officer. Alys is passionate about sustainability and is currently working on her PhD in Biological Sciences, titled, “The influence of genotype, environment & management factors on yield development, grain filling & grain quality in oats.”
Living daily on this planet, particularly in Western countries, we are all faced with the reality of our disproportionate contribution to the climate crisis. We know that we have a responsibility to do something – but what? With so many conflicting and changing sustainability narratives, it can be difficult to know the right thing to do when faced with complex and complicated advice. How can you know that the information you’re receiving is accurate, timely, and the best option for you and the wider world around us?
We are in a time of climate anxiety, with so many apparent ‘quick fixes’ that make us feel good but turn out to do more harm than good. The fear of accidentally causing more harm can lead us to become frozen by indecision, stuck with old sustainability policies and practices and no real shift in our mindsets. It’s scary to look carefully at our climate impact, particularly when we know that everything we do necessarily impacts our environment and other people. Will we be judged by others for not knowing the newest advice? What if we can’t make the changes suggested to us because of issues like finances, staffing shortages, or accessibility?
As an organisation working to help people change their behaviours around climate and nature, we’ve thought carefully about the nuance and complexity of sustainability conversations. We know that shame is not a good motivator and that the weight of eco-anxiety can take a heavy toll. In order to make collective change, we must be each other’s allies and cheerleaders. Our model of training, membership, and advice services all seek to meet every organisation where they’re at, without judgement, and work together to get you to the next step of your journey. We also don’t shy away from recognising the emotional impact that dealing with these issues can bring. We aim to create space for understanding and managing that emotional impact.
Our staff have reflected on how they manage the complexity of sustainability conversations, as experts who have spent years working to help change mindsets and behaviours across small and large organisations. If we can carry the complexity of knowing our lives necessarily contribute to climate change, while still reducing our impact and protecting our land, we can find the hope that leads to action.
Making Climate Science Accessible
Our climate is one of the few things that impacts all of us all of the time. Yet climate science is often siloed and separated from the general public, who receive advice and instructions without always knowing why and the costs and benefits of both action and inaction. As sustainability experts, we must be open to these questions and concerns from the general public and translate what we know into language that resonates with them.
Phoebe Nicklin, our Policy and Engagement Officer, uses her background in community engagement to connect dense policy research with the people whose lives will be affected by it.
“It always comes back to the people for me. Who am I trying to make the world a better place for? I think about the people in my community, my friends and family, and future generations, and I’d like to make the world a better place for them. For me, when I get bogged down in details or disheartened at things not moving fast enough, I bring things back to that personal level. We like to say that by grounding it in the earth and bringing things back to basics the complexities become less scary.”
Connecting to people and their stories is crucial to maintaining hope for our future, and remembering that sustainability is interconnected with all our other social concerns. We believe that most people and organisations want to care about sustainability and the world around us. We are all living in the world, so why wouldn’t we? It is unfair to suggest that people don’t care about sustainability issues, when maybe they just don’t yet understand them. We’ve all experienced that feeling of embarrassment when we don’t know something we think we should. We aim to not make anyone feel that way, and we do that by creating ways for groups to engage in and understand climate science in the format that suits them.
“Most people don’t know the language of sustainability, and I don’t blame them – it’s really jargony. I want instead to connect them to the day-to-day of what does this look like in practice, making it more tangible so it isn’t this theoretically abstract thing. Our Wales in 2051 stories were an example of connecting people to those tangible things, bringing in practices towards a better quality of life with more inclusion, more collaboration, and seeing how that can look in real life.”
When we envision a better future for our communities, we may imagine access to nutritious food, great healthcare, and a thriving natural world. How do we get there from where we are now? The practical work to get us there can take different forms, and we must think about the ways people in all positions of society can come together to create change. If we think of sustainability as simply farming or cleaning rivers (although these are certainly crucial parts!), we neglect many of the human elements of this work that are blocking us from making progress.
What is blocking us from making change?
In a country suffering a cost-of-living crisis and still recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s not surprising that people are still focused on rebuilding and trying to regain lost ground, with less time to focus on sustainability. If people are struggling to meet their basic needs, how can they find the time and energy to take care of our world? In our roles as agents of change towards a better climate, we must recognise those who have been excluded from and forgotten in climate conversations. How can we claim to be looking after our planet without looking after those who are most marginalised within it?
“I’ve always been someone who wants to do a job that helps people. When an organisation becomes Living Wage accredited, they obviously have to pay the real Living Wage as a minimum. So in order to accredit, lots of organisations will give their staff a pay rise to meet that minimum. I think that’s the biggest part where I see that we’re making an impact, changing people’s lives for the better.”
Have you ever rushed into sustainability action, only to find that people don’t seem to want to engage with it? Especially within organisations, leaders can sometimes be out of touch with their staff, not knowing how to engage them with new sustainability practices. Instead of simply introducing new mandatory policies, we can dig a little deeper into understanding what our staff need. When our staff are paid well, feel respected, and trust us to support and nurture them, they are more likely to engage with new policies and practices.
How do we effectively change hearts, minds, and actions?
While most of us are aware of the climate crisis, we are all on different steps on our journey to understanding our sustainability responsibilities. Every individual and organisation has a different idea of the best steps for them. With different values, priorities and concerns, one path of action may be perfect for one organisation and impossible for another.
If we meet these conversations with rigidity, assuming that we know what is best for an organisation or individual, we are bound to experience resistance and may even end up pushing them further away.
Our new Sustainability Trainer, Chris Woodfield, is used to encouraging conversations with people on all steps of their journey, having started his career working within community activism.
“For me, it’s about framing what we’re doing. One tool I often use is called The Business Transformation Compass from Forum for the Future. It looks at what mindset we’re coming from, and looking to shift our thinking from a risk mitigation and zero harm mindset towards a do good and just and regenerative mindset focused on building capacity for justice and regeneration. This helps us look at the system as a whole to move beyond sustaining and maintaining to enabling life to flourish and thrive.”
Conversations around changing attitudes and habits can be tricky and need to be handled with care. If we want to turn sustainability aims into actions, we need to recognise that a sense of control and agency to act for the things that we care about are far more powerful motivators than fear or shame.
In our sustainability advice services and training courses, we think about the values and needs of each organisation and develop sustainability goals to match them. That’s where our membership programme becomes so useful. Learning from similar organisations across different sectors has helped our members discover appropriate sustainability goals for them, feel less alone on their sustainability journey, and practice peer accountability.
Can the sustainability journey be made easier?
In the past few years, our lives have all changed hugely, meaning our habits have changed, too. It can be difficult to focus our attention in a specific direction, which can result in our sustainability aims getting left behind. Even with the pressure on organisations to meet sustainability goals and a widespread awareness of climate issues, time-poor organisations may struggle to find the time to dedicate to meaningful sustainability work.
Noticing this, we’ve adapted things like our membership offer to fit with the needs of our members, particularly when it comes to their time. Our large quarterly member events always bring in a great crowd, alongside our digital events that are held each month, but developing this programme has required a lot of listening and adaptation from our Membership Officer, Abi Hoare:
“Members ask us for networking opportunities, and they are always so engaged at our in-person events. But there are always practical issues, from people’s availability to wider issues of transport infrastructure and budgets. With the shift to remote working, people are more spread out and structuring their lives around being online, so in-person events can be tricky. We balance our in-person sessions with online sessions, having taken accessibility concerns into consideration, but we’re always listening to ways we can expand and evolve our programme.”
If your events are under-attended, it’s worth thinking beyond the idea that people don’t ‘want’ to engage, and questioning how these events might be inaccessible. This could be down to practical issues, such as the space used and the time chosen, as well as interconnected issues such as clear event marketing, pricing, and the return on investment for your attendees.
Many organisations are struggling financially, particularly in the third sector. One question that comes up sometimes is why should we budget for sustainability? When budgets must be cut, it makes sense to ensure that this sustainability work is, in itself, sustainable for us. This is why we think carefully about our pricing structure, offering different tiers and kinds of support to meet each organisation’s needs and budget.
Fiona Humphreys, our Finance Officer, has seen the organisation grow and evolve over three years. She has reflected a lot on the value sustainability training provides.
“As climate science changes so rapidly, we need to ensure that we continue to develop alongside it. The paid services we offer factor in our team’s research into evolving climate science, and purchasing our training helps an organisation to remember the value and importance of climate consciousness. We put a value on our work because we believe it has worth – and doing so allows us to offer pro bono work where it’s most needed, while also ensuring that we can continue to provide a service that is both up to date and effective in helping our clients become more sustainable.”
When we have conversations around the need for sustainability action, it’s important to remember the nuanced factors that affect people’s behaviour. Through our training, advice, fair work, and membership services, we work with organisations of all sizes to take the next step towards more sustainable ways of working. When we’re honest with ourselves about our progress and our pitfalls, we can begin the journey of deepening our positive impact on the planet. Even as experts, we all have a way to go, and we hope you’ll join us in navigating this complex journey.
Ready to start your sustainability journey?Get in touch to hear about our membership, training programmes, and sustainability advice.
Over the past six weeks, Karolina Rucinska and Camille Lovgreen have shared a series of short stories, each one highlighting a key element of sustainable development that has helped shape a post-Net Zero Wales of 2051.
In this post, we aim to distil the key lessons we’ve learned and talk about how we came to write the stories. We know from trailblazers like the Arts Council of Wales and Futerra how important storytelling can be in moving towards transformational change. We also know that these stories need to reflect people from all walks of life and recognise that we can all drive change, whatever our role or job title. These stories aim to ignite conversations and add more puzzle pieces to the exciting, complex mix of solutions we’ll need to reach a fairer, more secure future.
Whether it’s through sharing these stories, applying some of these initiatives in practice, or sparking conversations about sustainable development, we believe that each of us has a part to play in this ongoing narrative.
How it all started
We, Camille and Karolina, originally wanted to organise a series of hands-on workshops to help SMEs explore how different, and sometimes overlooked, skills can help ready their workforce for a low-carbon economy.
But to do so we needed an introduction, preferably a vision-setting piece that describes the impact green skills can make on one’s work. And we wanted to describe the impact of green skills in every line of work, not just in the energy or manufacturing sector.
Before we knew it, we had created six characters and a future vision in which people in Wales live better lives through a complete system makeover.
How it went
Every week, we published a story, set in the future, describing a day in the life of a person who meets a journalist who wants to learn about what went well for Wales.
In doing so, we described what Wales could look like and what work, housing, schooling, farming and local governance could look like.
In telling these short stories and giving voice to our six characters – Adi, Cameron, Luke, Aman, Cleo, and Gwen-Eddo – we wanted to highlight the role of skills that made that future possible and, more importantly, the role of government in creating conditions to use, elevate, and apply diverse skills, knowledge, capabilities and lived experiences.
Although it was fiction, we drew inspiration from real people, social enterprises and initiatives, and the solutions we hear and read about but which have not yet become mainstream.
Many ideas we presented in our stories were based on Welsh social enterprises. Having lived, studied, and worked outside Wales, we also drew on inspiring examples from other countries that show different, more inclusive, more holistic ways of doing things. We know that there are many more examples, from all sectors, that we could not include.
When writing the stories, it became apparent that each sector we described, whether infrastructure, farming, or education, had to support another sector and that the demise of one business can negatively impact the ability of another business to stay afloat. This reinforced us in the conviction that all sectors are connected, and with them, the lives of our characters and the lives of people now, here in Wales and the world.
The creative aspect of writing was relatively easy compared to our efforts to translate the vision of green skills into recommendations for hiring managers, recruiters, and directors of small and large organisations.
To do so, we had to come back to reality and create events in which we explained green skills by giving examples, showing ways to embed these into existing jobs, and exploring what the future could hold for all families. We drew on existing toolkits, live job descriptions and reports to inform two online sessions.
The Wales 2051 story series and practical sessions we delivered made us realise that the green skills agenda must not be taken for granted. It needs continuous reinforcement, whether through training, events, tutorials, or storytelling, to show that green skills matter to every job.
Where next?
This exercise has sparked excitement across our team as to how else we can use storytelling and initiatives like the Wales 2051 series to make sustainability concepts more relatable and achievable. We invite you, the reader, to share any ideas about how these stories can be further built upon and utilised.
We’d like to thank all the individuals and organisations that provided the inspiration for this set of stories. You can find some of them below. We also drew from our experience in supporting the Mainstreaming Evidence in the Just Transition evidence panel and discussions around future skills linked to the foundational economy.
We hope these stories and others like them become a talking point around creating conditions for everyone to thrive.
If you would like Karolina and Camille to share more insights from this creative process, the role of storytelling in bringing about change, and of course our suggestions around recognising, valuing and embedding green skills, please get in touch! Email us at shwmae@cynnalcymru.com.
Please note that some AI-generated content is included in the featured image for this piece.
The journalist’s interview with Cleo had given him another glimpse into how Wales had come to be so focused on people’s well-being and environmental prosperity, and he was starting to realise that all the different working blocks of Wales’ society and its different sectors served to support each other – healthy food, clean and safe environments, rooted in education and put into practice.
He wondered how such a transition, in which all sectors simultaneously worked towards a similar vision of a healthy society, was made possible. He realised that many other countries had talked of similar ideas and tried them.
But they hadn’t managed to put all their ideas into practice simultaneously, and thus hadn’t supported each other’s continuous progression. The journalist’s curiosity as to how Wales had succeeded had prompted Cleo to suggest he speak to Gwen-Eddo, the leader of the local governing structure called the Citizens Assembly.
A day in the life of Gwen-Eddo
A few days after meeting with Cleo, the journalist was walking around the local park, full of families and groups of people out enjoying picnics, barbecues and games.
He was due to meet Gwen-Eddo by the fountain, and when she came into sight, guiding her wheelchair along the path to meet him, she gave him such a warm smile that he immediately felt comfortable, returning her smile with one of genuine pleasure.
Gwen-Eddo introduced herself as the leader of the Citizens Assembly, the local governing body. “But unofficially,” she said with a grin, “people call me the chief connector and sense maker.” This role had once had a largely administrative function, but was now, Gwen-Eddo explained, very much a governing role. “I listen to people, facilitate their listening to each other, and put what I hear into our plans.”
“I attend community events to speak to residents and get their honest opinions on challenges they experience, and ways they think these challenges could be addressed. I log all concerns and bring them to the rest of the council for further discussion. The citizens are the real heroes; I’m just the facilitator and enabler.” She paused and gave the journalist another disarming grin. “I’m getting ahead of myself, aren’t I? You’re here to ask the questions but I’ve just jumped in and started talking.”
“No, this is exactly what I want to hear,” the journalist assured her. “How does that work? How do you go about considering everyone’s opinions?”
Between technology and empathy
“Well, it depends on what they’re asking for,” Gwen-Eddo replied. “Some people talk about having cleaner local rivers and anti-littering practices, while others want more opportunities for young people to get involved and gain skills. At the same time, we have people telling us that they struggle with loneliness, especially those from older generations, or wish for greater wheelchair access or improved cycle safety on the roads. So what they want and need varies a lot, and depending on the complexity of the challenge and whether there’s a diversity of opinion on how to address it, we either arrange a citizens’ assembly or tally public opinion from our community app.
“For context, the community app is our local community’s tool for democratic decision-making around expressed challenges and concerns. Any local resident can either anonymously or in their name log a concern or a suggestion they have for the town.
“Every resident can view a collated list of concerns and suggestions, and there’s an option to either agree or disagree with them, so we can get an overview of public interest. The app allows everyone to get more involved with local development and gives people a place to communicate about their hopes and desires.
“At the citizens’ assembly, we get a sense of the people’s voice so that we have a better compass for acting on democratic opinion. Although we have this app, I still like to speak to people in person to feel more connected to those I serve. It helps to build trust, get more people involved in the democratic processes, and get an even better understanding of their individual views.
“The app has been developed to be as accessible and easy to use as possible, but we know there will be those who struggle to use it, such as visually impaired people or people who for whatever reason are uncomfortable using digital technology. Our office has several dedicated mobile community champions who can meet in person with anyone who doesn’t use the app, and they’ll listen to any requests and write them up.”
Prioritising with the end in mind
“So how do you decide what to focus on first, and how do you determine an appropriate outcome for a community challenge?” the journalist asked.
“The concerns or suggestions with the greatest community support are the ones we focus on first,” Gwen-Eddo told him. “Then we move down the list to address the least popular requests later. However, we do discuss and address all queries. When it comes to deciding how to tackle a given community challenge – for example older people experiencing loneliness – we at the council look through all the suggestions that people had made on the app, as well as setting up a citizens’ assembly for people to discuss the matter in person and exchange ideas.
“Ideas are shaped through facilitated conversations that turn everyone’s insight into action using the Three Horizons Framework. In the case of loneliness among older people, the citizens collectively decided on three different ways to involve older people and lonely people in general more within the community, one of which was to put nurseries and elderly living homes together. Another measure was a befriending service that organises social outings for people to meet, cook together, go for walks or play games. The third measure was an intergenerational exchange, where a younger person might learn how to cook or learn a new language from an older or lonely person. In exchange, the younger person might teach the older person about the newest technology or help where help is needed.
“All residents voted together using participatory budgeting techniques to decide the share of resources going to each project. All three measures then became implemented as a community-led scheme. Social enterprises saw this as a business opportunity when they realised that this gap existed in the market, so they created affordable services for all three ideas, which created jobs but also tackled some of the societal challenges facing young and old people.
“For other challenges the council will work with existing companies in the local community and subsidise them for projects around infrastructure – to build safe cycle lanes or more accessible parks, for example. But we still go through the process of gathering both public and expert opinion to learn about the best ways to ensure that any undertaking is inclusive and user-friendly.
“All we do here at the Citizens Assembly is facilitate the conversation, offer a platform for people to discuss the challenges in a safe environment, and connect the right people and companies to the right projects.
“We have this model of democratic decision-making in place for local residents of all ages, but have also seen a rise in younger people expressing their opinions through the community app. Young people’s voices are as important as anyone else’s, so we created a youth assembly to give them equal value to the older generations’ voices. And as part of every project, we consider the impact our decisions and actions will have on nature and our environment.
“The great thing about this participatory democracy model is that it feeds into the national governance structures. So we don’t just carry out these projects as a one-off, we also inform policymakers of the challenge and our decisions, which can help other communities and improve funding models. The citizen assemblies, of course, can vote on national policies too. And the council is also responsible for holding companies accountable for their actions and ensuring that they follow legislation, via whistle-blowing schemes and audits. This is because the role of the Citizens Assembly is to ensure that the well-being of future generations is being implemented on the ground.”
Connecting skills
“My job is to sense-check proposals – and not just those submitted by companies,” Gwen-Eddo added, “but also by the council and other authorities. There are more people in roles like mine around Wales, and we were selected because we were the most vocal, the most radical, but also the most down-to-earth. I come from an activist and nursing background, and others in my position come from social care, teaching and campaigning or with backgrounds in psychology, and most of us haven’t had any political training. We were selected because of our ability to listen, to connect a wide range of issues, and communicate them effectively to others.
“We’ve had rigorous training, though, provided over many years to prepare us for the massive challenge we had ahead of us. Over the decades many versions of this job have existed, and we’ve been called everything from community engagement officers to rebels.” Gwen-Eddo chuckled. “But, here, in this age, we are seen as chief sense-makers and facilitators of radical democracy.”
—
Did you like this story? How did it make you feel? What aspects of the story provoked you the most? Email us on your response on shwmae@cynnalcymru.com.
This being our last character, in the next week we will wrap up the Welcome to Wales 2051 with a short summary.
—
How can we develop and use the skills needed to create a 2051 we are proud of?
Following a stimulating visit to a city-based community farm the day before, the journalist travelled to a more rural area to meet Cleo – a doctor at a community practice known for its innovative approaches to health challenges.
A day in the life of Cleo
When he entered the practice, he met Cleo and a team of five nurses in a clinic that contained three medical examination rooms, the reception area, an office space and lounge area for the staff.
The journalist was keen to know what made this clinic so different to the others he had visited on his European journey.
Cleo responded, “Well, a lot of our work deals with public health and prevention. One example is our work with schools, as we used to see so many kids under ten with cavities and poor dental hygiene.
“Several times a year we visit schools and work with the teachers to find fun ways to teach kids and their parents the right way to brush teeth. It’s a simple intervention, but we collaborate with the two dental offices in town and so we know it’s effective. Engaging with the children at their own pace and in ways that they can relate to have been important strategies.
“We also have a programme to support parents, and particularly pregnant mothers, with nutrition and access to healthy, affordable food – sometimes connecting them with cookalong clubs or food co-ops. We listen to the challenges that people face – which might be money, time, fussy eaters, allergies – and find solutions that can work for the whole family.
“Although the visits are only a small part of our work, it has been rewarding to see a decline in the number of children coming in with basic, preventable health conditions. This gives us more time to deal with more challenging health cases, and it feels like we’re building a closer connection to our community.”
Sharing is caring
“Another initiative we have successfully implemented focuses on reciprocity – capturing the enthusiasm of many recovered patients to ‘give back’ to services that supported them. The programme allows previous patients to help current or recovering ones – for example those leaving hospital who may not yet be completely independent.
“For those where practical and emotional support cannot be provided adequately by friends or family, our programme can help. Regular visits from a previous patient who has undergone the same thing helps manage isolation during recovery. Practical support lets patients recover faster with less worry about tasks such as cleaning or shopping.
“This approach, building on the successful Helpforce programme, has been instrumental in enabling nurses and other staff to focus on duties where their competencies are more acutely needed.
“It’s an optional programme, but many former patients have themselves thrived on the reciprocity and love it so much that they have become permanent volunteers in the programme.
“It works because we are constantly listening to what our patients and volunteers need, so we know how best to use their skills and benefit from their ideas.”
Relating and tuning into systems
“Another important programme we run has been inspired by Hilary Cottam’s Wellogram Programme.
“Like other social prescribing models, it’s for our patients who suffer from a complex range of social, emotional, economic and physical ailments that cannot be solved in one doctor’s visit.
“We have trained ‘listening’ workers who take time to meet with these patients to simply listen and understand their challenges and needs – and the barriers that may be blocking good physical and mental health.
“A plan is then decided together, to be worked on at a patient’s own pace, which may or may not involve medication. Other options to combat loneliness, increase exercise, provide more access to nutritious food or help solve financial or emotional anxieties can be equally important.
“This programme also works to build trusted relationships, support continued good habits, and combat the social isolation that underpins so many problems. Being patient-led is a key ingredient.”
Supporting patients to take active steps towards healthy lifestyle changes was not only empowering, Cleo explained, but was effective in reducing patients’ ailments. “I feel immensely proud to have seen the changes over the past fourteen years that have successfully tackled some of the issues related to low incomes, poor diets and limited access to or confidence around healthy food and lifestyles.”
The journalist asked how people on low incomes now had access to nutritious food. Cleo replied that many community-led initiatives had highlighted the health issues of a food system where cheap junk food dominated less affordable fresh, whole foods.
The response, backed by communities and public bodies, was to encourage and support more home growing, more community allotments, and increased investment into organic farming. Initiatives to support both community and commercial farmers to secure a decent income from sustainable practices had also flourished.
“And how are all these programmes funded?” the journalist asked. It seemed to him that such programmes would require a lot of funding and resources, and where had that come from?
Cleo explained that all medical services in the local area shared an allotted health care tax, but just sharing out the money hadn’t been enough to guarantee effective responses. So they had decided to collaborate, to refer patients across the different services, to support and learn from each other’s innovations, and take the best practices forward.
In addition, the programme’s focus on reciprocity, volunteering and learning actively saved money that could then be invested in other programmes, as well as delivering social and well-being returns.
Drawing on personal experiences
Intrigued by what he had heard, the journalist asked how Cleo herself had ended up trialling these programmes.
“Well, as a kid I looked after my younger brother a lot,” Cleo said. “Which ended up being my entry into care. He’s blind and so needed a lot of assistance. I learned to simply listen to him, to understand the challenges he was facing, his need for emotional support and the best ways to help him. I realised that I enjoyed it a lot and it let me be closer to my brother.
“Later, I found a medical degree that looked at new ways of managing public health services. There were three mandatory internships as part of the programme, so I learned from different practices. I was also lucky enough to travel to different parts of the world that had innovative social health care programmes, where I either volunteered or was hired for entry level positions.
“When I came back to Wales I was eager to experiment with several of the models I’d seen and experienced, and I was fortunate to find a practice already involved with social prescribing and community connectors. By collaborating with others in the region, we have developed more activities and programmes – and here we are!”
The next week we introduce our last but most important character of all, Gwen-Eddo, a local wellbeing-of-future-generations officer.
Did you like this story? How did it make you feel? What aspects of the story provoked you the most? Email us on your response on shwmae@cynnalcymru.com
How can we develop and use the skills needed to create a 2051 we are proud of?
Wales in 2051: Agricultural healing and indigenous knowledge
In this fifth instalment of the Welcome to Wales in 2051 stories, we introduce our next character, Aman, a community farmer who tells us about the use of ancient agriculture practices to mitigate the impact extreme weather conditions have on food growing.
Our previous story was about Luke, who told us how he remodelled the way in which the private sector works collaboratively to address pressing challenges. This week, our journalist turns his lens on a community farmer, Aman, a former refugee who shares his experience of developing a food cooperative with little prior knowledge in farming.
A day in the life of Aman
Just as the journalist was about to leave the hub, Aman, one of its members, arrived for a planning and brainstorming session with other growers and innovators. Luke insisted that Aman take the journalist to see his cooperative farm, and they agreed to meet the following day for a full tour of the farm.
When Aman arrived the next morning he was carrying a flask of a freshly-brewed local alternative to coffee, a malted and roasted wheat drink that Polish people had popularised in Wales. “You see,” Aman said, “when coffee plantations were no longer suitable for producing coffee at scale, we turned to alternatives. It was really difficult at the beginning because coffee means so much to me, but if it weren’t for the intercultural exchange we have here in Wales, I would never have discovered the weird and wonderful alternatives that were at our doorstep.” While the journalist sipped the surprisingly delicious hot drink, Aman showed him pictures of the founding members of the cooperative. The photographs all showed smiling people standing in a field, and Aman was smiling too, even as he explained, “They, like me, lost everything they had due to a lack of adaptation in the places where they grew up. We all ended up here. Over time, as we began sharing our stories, we realised that we had all been through similar forms of pain and loss. That’s why we formed this cooperative, to ensure that none of us had to suffer alone. While we slowly worked to heal the soil that had been damaged and eroded by decades-long use of toxic pesticides and herbicides, we managed to heal some of our own traumas through sharing our stories and rebuilding together. What makes our cooperative unique is not just our innovative agricultural practices, but also our shared experiences and the sense of community we’ve built.”
Multi-Cultural Learning and Collective Effort
Aman gestured for the journalist to follow him. He wasn’t prepared for what he saw as he followed in Aman’s footsteps. A beautiful landscape rich with wildlife; trees bright with colour and the sparkle of water from ponds and pools; the air filled with the calls of birds, and nearby a folk song being sung by a group of women. It was all quite remarkable, and appeared to be a safe haven for people, wildlife and nature alike. But how was that even possible? he though dazedly. Haven’t all agricultural skills been lost by now because of mechanisation and automation, not to mention soil degradation and extreme weather conditions that make traditional farming in soil unsuitable? Clearly not here. The unexpected beauty and vibrancy of the farm left the journalist in awe, challenging his preconceived notions about modern agriculture.
When he asked about it, Aman said, “I was lucky. When I arrived in Wales I was an asylum seeker, but the Welsh Government was keen to keep skills like farming going. So, like many other asylum seekers, I went to college, and alongside learning English, I learned about farming here. But I was also able to reflect on how we used to grow things back in my home country. This was encouraged as part of the multicultural exchange, and although it was difficult at first, over time I was able to heal some of the wounds, and soften those difficult memories of the journey of leaving my home.
“Many other farmers worldwide participated in this programme, and we formed a little after-college club. Initially, we used the knowledge we gained from the programme to grew food at the local charity, simply as a collective and sociable hobby. We tried multiple different farming methods, and we saw that while some were largely unsuccessful, others were incredibly fruitful. A common denominator of the successful farming methods involved nurturing the soil and restoring healthy bacteria and fungi, to create fertile growing grounds for produce. So by trying, failing, experimenting and succeeding, we learned which methods worked well for the local land, and once this happened we started producing a lot of good-looking fruits and vegetables. This gave us the confidence to seek a bigger plot of land, to grow even more food. With the help of volunteers, we joined a community growing place in Cardiff, and again, we saw that urban centres with the right farming methods can produce food. Interestingly, an environmental researcher found that our farming practices enabled great drought and flooding resistance, which has since encouraged other local and distance farmers around Wales to try our mixed methods. Together we learned how to grow food in harsh weather conditions, and doing so gave us hope and became a metaphor for our own lives. We promised each other that whoever was granted their leave to remain status would open a cooperative.
“And that’s what we did. I was the first to get granted permanent settlement, but there were others who quickly followed me, and we could provide further training for entrepreneurial refugees. It was a lot of work, and a lot of learning, and I came close to giving up more than once; but I had made a promise to my fellow farming buddies, and I couldn’t back down. So I continued, and I’m glad I did. Where you’re standing is the first plot of land that we all worked on as a farming cooperative, run by refugees for the whole community here. We distribute most of the food we grow to local schools and nearby hospitals. We also get lots of volunteers and we organise excursion days where school students can come and learn how we manage food.”
Exploring Different Farming Practices to Accommodate Biodiversity
While the journalist was jotting down notes, Aman moved to another plot, which, as he explained, “Has been written about by scholars.” He described how a few decades earlier, a type of open-field farming system was being practised onthe Vile on the Gower peninsular. This medieval method of communal agriculture would once have been common, with farming families each attending to their own strip of land but working in cooperation to plan for the harvest. Fields would be left fallow every few years to allow the soil to recover, providing ground-nesting birds with camouflage and protection from predators. The ‘baulks’, soil-covered mounds that separated the strips, allowed small mammals to safely move across the cultivated land. Animals could find shelter and food within the nooks and crannies of medieval farms, along with a wide variety of plants.
“So we replicated it,” Aman said, “and we also used other techniques, like communal watering methods from Spain, or the Kenyan dry weather method of growing from seeds, called “bunds”. These ideas were all locked inside peoples’ memories, or sometimes in books, stories that had been passed down through the generations, telling us how people used to tend to the soil to nourish it. So, through attending to each other’s cultural background and spending time together, we not only healed our wounds but also created this place.”
Aman led the journalist to a new area, one very different to those he had seen so far. Tall vertical tubes had been placed in a circular formation, and a variety of different plants and vegetables grew out of openings in the tubes. They towered high over the journalist, who considered himself to be of above-average height, and he wondered who would have to ascend the structure to harvest the high-growing broccoli and kale. Aman explained that this was their aquaponic system, with fish swimming in water-filled tanks connected to the tubes. The fish waste provided nourishment for the plants in an almost closed-loop system. Aman added, “It’s an ancient system that originated in Japan, but over the last few decades it has been adopted by other countries. The knowledge was developed many years ago, so all we needed to do was bring ourselves up to speed. Well, I say ‘all’ – not many of us knew how to look after fish, plants, water, nutrients and bacteria all at once! But we learned, and this is the result.
“We don’t just use multicultural and ancient farming practices, we also use technology to help us prepare for the changing climate. We work with the hub’s researchers and innovators who help us identify suitable land for both nature and agriculture. We learned our lesson, to use local and indigenous knowledge and science together, not apart.”
—
Follow next week’s story about Cleo, a doctor in rural Wales who practices preventative care and explores the root causes of people’s ailments rather than treating the symptoms with medicine.
—
How can we develop and use our skills needed to create a 2051 we are proud of?
Have a look at our range of advice and training services.
—
Did you like this story? How did it make you feel? What aspects of the story provoked you the most? Email us your response on shwmae@cynnalcymru.com
Wales in 2051
In this mini-series, we follow six characters as they explore sustainability, working life and community in Wales in 2051
