September 2008
Sustainable Development – the only way forward
Wales is proud and protective of its environment. Renewable energy, conservation, aquaculture and natural materials are vital to its future, and it is looking to lead the world in sustainable technologies. Over the last decade, while other countries have talked about making the environment a priority, Wales has been actively placing it at the heart of government and working to preserve the landscape of Wales which defines it as a nation. At the same time the Welsh Assembly Government has set itself upon an ambitious path of sustainable economic growth, fostering and promoting a sustainable technologies sector that is truly innovative – producing clean energy for all, generating wealth and enabling Wales to become a showcase for leading edge technologies. In the words of the Rt Hon Rhodri Morgan AM, First Minster for Wales, “Sustainable Development is not an option – it is the only way forward.”
Resources have also been pumped into providing technical and financial support to businesses looking to locate or set up in Wales and supporting sustainable technologies businesses as they seek new markets overseas.
In the university sector, a collaboration between the Wales’ West Coast Universities (Aberystwyth, Bangor and Swansea) has formed the WISE Network, created to partner with business to find solutions to the big challenges of sustainable development. The WISE network has particular interest in sustainable aspects of a number of topics such as Food, Marine Environments, Natural Materials and Chemistry, Resource Efficiency, Sustainable Energy, Sustainable Systems - including sustainability health-checks for business - and Water, Land and Conservation.In July 2008 funding for a £55m project was announced as Aberystwyth University’s Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences and the College of Natural Sciences at Bangor University formed the Biosciences and Environment Alliance. This collaboration will deliver the largest group of Biological, Environmental and Rural Scientists in the UK and makes the Alliance a major global competitor. Another new initiative, ‘Environment Centre Wales’ brings together the scientific expertise of the Natural Environment Research Council’s (NERC) Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (CEH) and Bangor University. Housed in a new, purpose-built laboratory on the university campus, the centre will allow CEH and University staff to work together more closely to provide a focal point for environmental research and training in Wales. The new £7m centre of excellence for environmental science was officially opened by the Prime Minister Gordon Brown at Bangor University in February 2008.One of Europe's most advanced research facilities for cultivating fish and shellfish under environmentally-friendly conditions was opened by Andrew Davies, Minister for Finance and Public Service Delivery in 2007. The Centre for Sustainable Aquaculture Research (CSAR), in Swansea University's School of the Environment and Society, is developing new approaches to fish and shellfish farming, focused on providing the highest standards of animal health and welfare, without risk to the natural environment.
Researchers are revolutionising approaches to fish farming, in line with the Welsh Assembly Government's priority of providing new economic opportunities and new sources of high quality seafood through sustainable aquaculture.
At Cardiff University the School of Architecture’s Centre for Research in the Built Environment (CRiBE) has been advising on sustainable building projects around the world for more than two decades. The Centre for Business Relationships Accountability Sustainability Society (BRASS), set up by the University’s Schools of Business, Law and City and Regional Planning, advises on sustainability in its widest form, taking in social, economic as well as environmental dimensions.
The School of Engineering is providing expertise internationally in a number of areas of energy technology. Projects in the field of power generation include leading a team of European partners enabling co-firing of plants with bio-fuels, developing an efficient natural gas engine for trucks with a Dutch partner and assessing the replacement of ozone-depleting chemicals with water in explosion protection devices on oil and gas drilling rigs. Other international areas of research include electrical power distribution and storage, energy waste management, and new materials for energy generation.
Many of these strands of sustainability are now being brought together as Engineering teams up with Architecture and Earth, Ocean and Planetary Sciences to create a new MSc in Sustainable Energy and Environment. The finest young scientific and engineering minds will be trained to think across traditional discipline boundaries about cleaner transport systems, sustainable buildings, ‘smart’ electricity distribution systems, ‘clean’ coal technology and the potential of wind, biomass and the oceans as energy sources.
Other new courses are being launched to meet this growing demand. Current courses in Wales include Environmental Sciences, Sustainable Development, International Natural Resource Development, Sustainable Design, Civil Engineering & Environmental Management, Aquaculture and the Environment, Environmental Modelling, Renewable Energy & Resource Management and Sustainable Engineering.
Throughout higher education in Wales it is evident that research and teaching expertise from wide-ranging disciplines is being drawn together to tackle the demand for knowledge in the Sustainable Technology industries. Further information on courses can be found at http://www.walesinternationalconsortium.com/students/matrix.shtml