Destination, Travel & Tourism Sector Forum September 2022

by 4theManagement | Oct 10, 2022 | Reports, Travel Transport Tourism

PROJECTS > IMPACT AREAS > DESTINATION, TRAVEL & TOURISM > SEPTEMBER 2022 SECTOR FORUM

Destination, Travel & Tourism Sector Forum September 2022

Catch up with the meeting notes here.

4theRegion members met with businesses and organisations across South West Wales to share perspectives, experiences and opportunities in the travel and tourism sector.

An integrated, sustainable travel network is essential to prosperity and well-being, with tourism also a key economic driver for the region. We should be working collaboratively to address the challenges we face, to create flourishing local places, connected by inclusive and sustainable transport that meets the needs of businesses, serves communities, and improves well-being across the region.

The theme for this month’s event was “Reporting back on the summer season.” We invited Llyr Roberts from Cwtsh Hostel and Geraldine Williams from Visit Swansea Bay to share key insights and updates from Summer 2022,

You can catch up on the discussion surrounding the travel and tourism sector and opportunities in our region by watching the event recording or reading the event notes.

EVENT RECORDING

Catch up on the full event recording and hear from regional organisations who are doing great work in our region’s Travel and Tourism sector. Click the video at the timestamps listed below to jump to their appropriate segment.

0:15:15: Llyr Roberts, Cwtsh Hostel
0:30:00: Geraldine Williams, Visit Swansea Bay

Subscribe to our Youtube channel and save our Destination, Travel & Tourism to be notified when new videos are uploaded.

Thematic Priorities

Support

Visit Swansea Bay are providing the opportunity for tourism businesses to become a partner for free up to the end of March 2023.
Each tourism business can have a free webpage entry on visitswanseabay.com and take part in their year-long destination marketing campaigns.
Swansea Council Supporting small accommodation operators in rural and semi-rural areas of Swansea
In collaboration with Visit Wales, the Development Bank of Wales has a £50 million pound fund to support companies in the tourism sector, the Wales Tourism Investment Fund.

Challenges

The increase in costs of living and energy prices are concerning for hospitality and tourism businesses.
In some cases, the increase in costs may be equivalent to a staff member’s salary.
How will businesses that need to use a lot of energy be able to stay in business?
The proposal for a visitor levy in Wales has received many split opinions.
The levy intends to “raise additional revenue for local authorities to reinvest in the public services and infrastructure that make tourism a success.”
Consultation on the levy will be ongoing until December 2022.
Will the introduction of this levy create a barrier for people who may want to visit Wales?

Messaging

Campaigns during off-peak seasons such as winter are important to encourage visitors into the region.
Extending holiday campaigns may help with post-covid recovery efforts.
Dog-friendly holidays are becoming increasingly common due to the number of dogs adopted during lockdown.
Using a variety of advertising methods and platforms can help target all kinds of target audiences and age groups.
Printed media may not be the most viable option to promote destinations or events, as information may quickly become outdated.
Recovery
Occupancy figures for hotels are encouraging and are almost back to pre-pandemic levels.
New developments such as Swansea Arena, the new hotel at Milford Haven, Penderyn and other new attractions are helpful in bringing tourism into the region.
Integrating circular economy practices are vital for the recovery and success of businesses going forward.
Reusing products and handing out products such as shampoo bottles that have been left behind could be beneficial in reducing waste.
The move away from international travel and preference to stay more local has been seen by many hospitality businesses.

NEXT STEPS

Click here to subscribe to our newsletter and select “Tourism & Transport” to receive updates about work from us and our partners in this space.

Please do get in touch with 4theRegion to tell us about your work in the travel and tourism sector in South West Wales, or to share challenges and ideas about what more is needed.

Future of the Region – Youth Engagement Event

by 4theManagement | Oct 3, 2022 | News, Reports

Future of the Region

Right across the region of South West Wales there are people, businesses, organisations inspiring the next generation to be the best they can be.

There are so many opportunities for young people but do they know what’s available to them? How can we work together to make sure that every young person in our region realises the possibilities for them here in South West Wales?

We invited businesses and organisations across the region to share their work in the youth sector, the challenges faced and the opportunities we have. The goal was to share perspective and uncover how we can co-create solutions so that every young person is empowered.

Click here to download the full event report.

EVENT RECORDING

Thematic Priorities

Why is this conversation important to you?

The importance of helping young people to build skills, especially from underrepresented groups.
The future is uncertain and the challenges may be unfathomable to us. How can we build the resilience of young people?
We need to be better connected and collaborate in order to help young people to figure out what’s next.
Developing an entrepreneurial mindset from a primary school age can be important to get children thinking outside the box.
Empowering them to express themselves, use their voices and help shape the future of their communities.
We need to support and champion what young people themselves want to do. What small interventions can we make to enable them to lead the stuff that they want to do?
Enabling young people to see what’s out there.
There’s a need for connection and positive role models.
We’d like to retain the talent of our young people in the region.
We need to look at bridging the gap between what we’re hearing from young people and how we can involve the private sector to try and help as much as possible.
Transport issues can prevent young people from accessing opportunities and projects that could otherwise help them.

What would you love to see?

There seems to not be a one central point to find out what’s going on.
We need to ensure that young people are part of the process and encourage co-creation.
We need young people voices in this sphere and to co-create solutions.
We need to be led by them and not place the burden on them.
A monthly bulletin/newsletter for people working in young people space. There could be a 4theRegion newsletter specifically for youth projects.
Contact Swansea Council to see if they would collaborate on their monthly newsletter that goes to headteachers.
Use the 4theRegion website as a place to host a youth project directory.
Alternatively, use 4theRegion as a signpost to a dedicated website.
Create a digital space to connect and share ideas.
Dedicated Discord or Slack server, or a Facebook group.
Keeping a dedicated space would be a monumental task to ensure it’s up to date and correct.
Even if we did have the platform, it’s about understanding about how we turn it into how can we support people? How do we collectively do this?
Podcasts to showcase what people are doing and what they hope to be doing.
Quarterly meetings for networking and building relationships.
Meet the employee/organisation events targeted to young people.
An event for young people to find out what projects are available, ask questions and find out what careers are out there.
Employers should take advantage of schemes that help set up placements and apprenticeship.
Educate employers on the benefits of working with young people.
Having more time available to collaborate with others and build networks.
Connecting projects with schools. Opportunities to bring schools in and share.
Working with primary schools can be challenging as they’re overwhelmed from the effects of the pandemic.
Holistic ways to reach out to 16 – 25 year olds.
How do we ensure that we’re also reaching disconnected and underrepresented groups of young people?

NEXT STEPS

With so much to discuss, we are keen to keep this conversation going. Join us on the 14th December 2022 at 10am for the next Future of the Region Event!

And if you are working in this space, have a project in mind, have information or updates to share, or would like to fund or support regional initiatives relating to youth projects, please reach out to us so we can connect, amplify and collaborate! Contact zoe@4theregion.org.uk.

Creative & Digital Sector Forum September 2022

by 4theManagement | Sep 6, 2022 | Creative Economy, Reports

PROJECTS > IMPACT AREAS > CREATIVE ECONOMY > SEPTEMBER 2022 SECTOR FORUM

Creative & Digital Sector Forum September 2022

Catch up with the meeting notes here.

4theRegion members met with businesses and organisations across South West Wales to share perspectives, experiences and opportunities in the creative and digital sector.

We really believe that the creative sector has a big role to play, in creating opportunities for young people, making the region a vibrant place to live, and pooling skills and talent for the benefit of local communities!

We invited experts in the industry, including Helen Bowden, Ffion Rees from Telesgop, Racheal Wheatley from Waters Creative, and Carys Ifan from Canolfan S4C Yr Egin.

You can catch up on the wide-ranging discussion about the creative and digital sector, skills, and opportunities in our region by watching the event recording or reading the event notes.

EVENT RECORDING

Catch up on the full event recording and hear from regional organisations who are doing great work in our region’s thriving media sector. Click the video at the timestamps listed below to jump to their appropriate segment.

0:09:00: Helen Bowden, Voiceover Artist
0:30:00: Ffion Rees, Telesgop
0:24:00: Tony Dowling, Real Inbound
0:30:30: Rachael Wheatley, Waters Creative
0:57:00: Carys Ifan, Canolfan S4C Yr Egin

Subscribe to our Youtube channel and save our Creative & Digital playlist to be notified when new videos are uploaded.

Thematic Priorities

Education

We’re lucky to have many universities and colleges with high standards of teaching creative subjects.
We need to promote a wide range of opportunities to young people.
Visiting schools and inspiring future generations is key to the growth of the creative sector.
Boards such as the Creative Industries Board can identify challenges and help shape the curriculum.
Educators within schools and colleges are not always the best place to know exactly what opportunities exist.
There needs to be more emphasis on the importance of Foundational courses, which are vital for experimentation and creativity.

Communication

We need to understand what opportunities are available in the region.
What networks are available out there for creatives to develop their practice?
Platforms such as Discover Creative Careers are great examples of showcasing creative and digital opportunities in Wales.
How do creatives increase their visibility in the region?
It would be great to have access to a regional creative hub and engage with local businesses.
Businesses should be thinking more creatively about how they get their message out there.
Short videos and explainer videos are becoming increasingly important on social media.
Communication and marketing are not only key for the creative sector, but for all businesses.

Skills

How do we address industry-wide skills shortages in the UK?
How can we get the message across about jobs that people may not know exist?
Businesses can take ownership of skills shortages by training and upskilling new recruits.
It’s been drilled into people to go into STEM sectors, but we also need to sell our creative sector.
As a region, we have new advantages in the digital age to tap into. The digital revolution has provided more opportunities for people to become entrepreneurs, publishers, broadcasters, etc.
Home working has presented a challenge with upskilling new creatives effectively. Ideas, concepts, and suggestions aren’t often shared as freely over digital meetings or team chats.
Venues such as Yr Egin can provide space for SMEs and freelancers across different creative sectors to collaborate.
As an alternative to home working, we could also use public libraries and spaces to work in. Paid hot-desking spaces are an immediate barrier for many.
How can we creatively think about public spaces and support innovation, design, and economic wellbeing?

Innovation

Innovation requires creativity to be successful.
Unfortunately for the creative industry, when recessions hit people tend to stop spending on design, innovation, and creativity.
We need to promote the fact that the creative industries are where money needs to be spent all the time.
How do we strengthen the industry’s resilience in the changing times, how do we address problems creatively?
Traditionally, STEM and arts have sat as separate entities, but creativity and innovation go hand in hand with sciences and other sectors.
Innovation without design is like fish without chips.
How can we ‘creatively’ balance salaries with the cost of living to make sure that entering into the creative sector is as attractive as possible?

NEXT STEPS

4theRegion supports Design Swansea, a free monthly social event for creatives, businesses and students with guest speakers. This event is ideal for creatives to network and continue conversations surrounding the sector! Follow Design Swansea on Eventbrite to stay updated with upcoming events.

We are also holding an event on the 22nd of September to continue the conversation around young people, skills, and ways organisations are empowering them. Get your free tickets for Future of the Region and share what you do to support young people in the region!

Click here to subscribe to our newsletter and select “Creative & Digital Economy” to receive updates about work from us and our partners in this space.

Please do get in touch with 4theRegion to tell us about your work in the creative and digital sector in South West Wales, or to share challenges and ideas about what more is needed.

Green Recovery Conference

by 4theManagement | Jul 4, 2022 | Our Events, Past, Reports

How can we create a sustainable, prosperous future for Swansea’s businesses and communities?

In the context of COVID recovery, economic uncertainty, rising energy prices, the cost of living crisis, and the climate and nature emergency, businesses and professionals from across the city and county of Swansea, in South West Wales, have come together to address this increasingly urgent question.

4theRegion is launching the Swansea Green Business Report, which summarises the emergent priorities for collective, collaborative action. This report is part of an ongoing programme of activity among the business community, to share knowledge, resources, inspiration and ideas to create a resilient local economy, better able to adapt and respond to the challenge and predicaments we face.

The Swansea Green Business Report 2022

NEXT STEPS – COLLABORATION

The Green Business Report identifies priorities for action and collaboration in the transition to a more resilient, relocalised green economy. We are inviting businesses and organisations to register their involvement and submit project proposals, as we work with partners to make progress on our shared priorities over the coming months.

THE GREEN RECOVERY BUSINESS CONFERENCE

In the lead up to the Green Recovery Conference in June 2022, we spoke to our event partners about the 8 opportunity areas for transformation. These thought provoking interviews provide an overview of some of the key issues we should be considering, as we set out to co-create a more resilient, relocalised green economy.

EVENT GALLERY

OPPORTUNITY AREAS

This event was organised around 8 key themes – our Opportunity Areas – which hosted interactive discussions throughout the day. Attendees chose three of these breakout sessions to participate in, coming together with other businesses to share ideas and insights.

QUESTIONS

TRANSPORT
How could businesses proactively reduce car use and promote active and sustainable travel?

FOOD
What could businesses do to support a more local, sustainable food system?

NATURE
How can we support and develop products and services that protect and enhance the natural environment?

ENERGY
How could businesses support the mission to decarbonise our energy system?

WASTE & MATERIALS
How could businesses reduce waste, conserve materials and help create a more circular local economy?

SKILLS
What skills do businesses need to be investing in for the new green economy?

BUILDINGS
How could Swansea lead the way in green constuction and the decarbonisation of our buildings?

SUPPLY CHAIN
How could we all make sure we are buying local wherever possible?

Green Innovation Grants

Swansea Council are currently delivering a Green Innovation Grant with the objective of enabling businesses to work towards net carbon zero. The Green Innovation Grants key points are as follows:

Aims to reduce the business’ carbon footprint and increase energy efficiency
Eligible items include installation of new systems, changes in the manufacturing process, new equipment (individual capital items must not exceed £1,000 exc VAT), accreditation schemes, training
Maximum Grant of £1500
50% match funding requirement
Applicants with multiple businesses and/or over 250 employees are ineligible

Click here to download the application form.

Any Swansea based businesses who are currently trading are eligible to apply. Please note that applicants will require a business plan/project summary and 12 month Cash Flow Forecast to apply. For more information, or to submit application forms, please email: growthgrant@swansea.gov.uk

EVENT PARTNERS

Skills Sponsor

University of Wales Trinity Saint David

The University of Wales Trinity Saint David’s Construction Wales Innovation Centre based in Swansea is a leading provider of applied research and specialist training across the pan-Wales construction industry. We’re helping to transform construction into a Net Zero industry – identifying and encouraging new ways of working.

Buildings Sponsor

SPECIFIC IKC

SPECIFIC is a UK Innovation and Knowledge Centre (IKC), accredited by UKRI, leading in energy technology research and full-scale demonstration.

Our vision is a world in which ‘Active Buildings’ can generate, store and release their own heat and electricity from solar energy. To deliver this, we research, prove and promote early commercialisation of building-integrated technologies that can capture energy from the sun and store it in a building until it is needed.

Working with partners, we aim to enable adoption of the Active Building concept, by steering project delivery teams through the process of designing, constructing and operating Active Buildings.

SPECIFIC can provide tours of their Active Buildings on Swansea University’s Bay Campus and provide expert advice on how your business can run more sustainably. Click here to find out more.

Energy Sponsor

Afallen — Energy Sponsor

Afallen is Wales’ leading sustainable development consultancy, helping organisations identify, embed and accelerate sustainability strategies for transparent, inclusive and long-term social, environmental, cultural and economic value. All of our work is underpinned by the Well-being of Future Generations Act, Ways of Working, and Goals.

Afallen’s recent work in the Swansea Bay region includes:

Supporting production of decarbonisation strategies for Designated Landscape Organisations in Wales
Mapping food networks for Swansea Food Partnership
Stakeholder engagement for Pembrokeshire’s Local Area Energy Plan
Marketing support for Swansea University’s Circular Economies Innovation Communities programme
Development of Circular Economy activities in Carmarthenshire

Transport Sponsors

Natural Resources Wales — Transport Sponsor

Working jointly with Swansea Council to design, develop and implement green infrastructure solutions in Swansea. Natural Resources Wales ensures the environment and natural resources of Wales are sustainably maintained and used, now and in the future.

Swansea Environmental Forum — Transport Sponsor

Swansea Environmental Forum (SEF) is an association of organisations and individuals working together to initiate, develop and co-ordinate environmental action in Swansea. Set-up in 1985, SEF is a fully constituted voluntary group with membership open to any individuals and organisations that support its aims and are interested in furthering its work.

SEF recognises that the protection and enhancement of the environment is best achieved by working together in the context of sustainability. The principles of sustainable development are at the heart of the Forum’s work.

Nature Sponsor

Natural Products BioHUB — Nature Sponsor

Swansea University’s, Community Renewal Funded Natural Products BioHUB project, in partnership with Swansea Council, will bring together multi-disciplinary expertise from academia, industry and business, to address the need to:

Harness and develop the unique value of natural products and processes.
Provide environmentally friendly solutions to meet the needs and demands of agricultural, manufacturing and pharmaceutical industries.
Develop Green Infrastructure and create more business and job oportunities.
Help to combat climate change and increase the amount of BioDiversity within the Region.

Food Sponsor

Castell Howell — Food Sponsor

From small rural beginnings in 1988, Castell Howell Foods are this year celebrating 33 years of business and have grown to become Wales’ leading independent food service wholesaler, servicing the length and breadth of Wales, the Border Counties and the South West of England.

Waste & Materials Sponsor

Gavin Griffiths Group

Gavin Griffiths Group, is an established, family owned company providing transport services, supply of aggregates, waste management solutions and contracting, to a wide range of clients in the UK and further afield.

With a proven track record we continue to grow and develop, making significant investment in our staff, operational facilities, fleet and plant ensuring our capability to evolve whilst meeting the needs of our clients and the environment responsibly.

Exhibitors

Andrew Dauria Solutions

We provide first class commercial and domestic building, heating, plumbing, mechanical and electrical services. We offer a comprehensive solution for all your building, heating, plumbing, mechanical and electrical needs. Headquarters based in Landore, Swansea and Forge Hammer Estate Cwmbran and heading into Pembrokeshire. we serve clients ranging from individual households to councils and other large organisations across Wales.

Awel Aman Tawe

Established in 1998, we are leaders in the field of community based renewable energy. We have many years’ experience of developing and advising on community schemes, including wind, solar, biomass and hydro; and have implemented energy efficiency measures across thousands of homes and community centres in south Wales.

Business in Focus

Business in Focus is a not-for-profit organisation that has been helping businesses to start up and grow for nearly three decades. We have an excellent track record of creating and implementing business support contracts on behalf of a range of clients, including UK and Welsh Governments, other public and private sector bodies.

Bwyd Abertawe

Bwyd Abertawe is a broad partnership with bold ambitions for Swansea to become a Sustainable Food Place with a food system that works for people and nature, where everyone who works, lives, visits, has a business or studies in Swansea has access to good food, and there is a strong support network for local food producers and food businesses.

Bwyd Abertawe wants to take a strategic and collaborative approach to good food governance and action; build public awareness, active food citizenship and a local good food movement; tackle food poverty, diet-related ill- health and access to affordable healthy food; create a vibrant, prosperous and diverse sustainable food economy; revitalize local and sustainable food supply chains; and tackle the climate and nature emergency through sustainable food and farming, and an end to food waste.

Business Wales

Business Wales is the Welsh Government’s fully-funded business support service, helping Welsh businesses and aspiring entrepreneurs to access the information, advice and support they require to start, run and grow their businesses.

Gower College Swansea

An award winning, sector leading Further Education College with a diverse range of training programmes that develop the skills of employees.

Low Carbon Swansea Bay

Public, private and voluntary organisations in South West Wales working together to reduce carbon emissions. We’re excited about developing new contacts and partnerships at this conference.

Pobl Group

Pobl are leading on a community focused green regeneration project in Penderi. In partnership with the Environment centre, Swansea Community Farm Room2Grow and the Council we are working with the community to build knowledge and enthusiasm in the area for developing green spaces for people and nature.

Swansea BID

As the first BID in Wales we’re proud to champion our BID area businesses and to make our city centre a better place to live, work and study.

Social Business Wales

Social Business Wales is helping our economy to become both fairer and greener by growing the number and scale of social enterprises, co-operatives and employee owned businesses in Wales.

We offer a team of specialist businesses advisors with expertise in supporting social enterprises. If you are looking to start up or grow a social enterprise, we’re here for you. Our social business support is fully funded meaning that you get free guidance every step of the way.

The Social Business Wales programme is funded by the European Regional Development Fund through Welsh Government and delivered by Cwmpas.

Swansea Council – Business Swansea

Swansea Council’s Business Swansea team provide a business support service to the City’s Business Community. Main activities include administration of grant funding, business engagement through the Business Swansea Newsletter, delivering business support workshops and networking events.

LOCAL SOURCING APP

4theRegion has developed an app to promote local sourcing, and to showcase local businesses who are a “force for good”. Register your business on the app and then scan the event QR code to collect your GREEN RECOVERY profile badge, to show you have been part of this event.

Wellbeing Region May 2022 Sector Forum

by 4theManagement | May 11, 2022 | Reports, Well-being Region

PROJECTS > IMPACT AREAS > WELLBEING REGION > MAY 2022 SECTOR FORUM

Wellbeing Region Sector Forum May 2022

Towards a Wellbeing Economy Sector Forum

Catch up with the meeting notes here.

4theRegion members met with businesses and organisations across South West Wales to explore the range of ways that young people are being supported to create flourishing futures for themselves here in South West Wales.

Younger generations are our future, so how can we equip young people across South West Wales with the skills and mindset to THRIVE?

You can catch up on the wide ranging discussion about young people, skills and opportunities in our region by watching the event recording or reading the full event report.

EVENT RECORDING

Catch up on the full event recording and listen to presentations from regional organisations who are doing great work to ensure that young people in our region can thrive. Click the video at the timestamps listed below to jump to their appropriate segment.

0:15:00: The HOW People
0:30:00: 2B Enterprising
0:41:00: Technocamps
0:58:00 Open Discussion and Sharing

Subscribe to our Youtube channel and save our Wellbeing Economy playlist to be notified when new videos are uploaded.

Thematic Priorities

Education

There should be an emphasis on education surrounding screens, internet usage and the type of content accessed.
There’s a huge focus on exams and not what’s beyond, including opportunities for volunteering and other skills outside of the classroom.
Engage with children from a primary school age to get them to consider future opportunities in order to empower them and be innovative.
Acknowledge the hospitality sector as an important way to build confidence, emotional intelligence, and communication skills.

Support

Anxiety surrounding life and world events need to be sensitively addressed.
We should consider the pressure of the question of “What do you want to do when you grow up?” and perhaps reframe it to be “What kind of person do you want to be when you grow up?”
Be aware of the inequality of access to opportunities, depending on whether or not parents or other supporting figures can make introductions.
We need to make sure that young people have opportunities and links, whether they want to pursue university or not.

Skills

Amplify the great work going on between organisations and educational institutions that support young people to grow their skills.
Encourage collaboration between organisations and educational to get young people thinking.
Break down misconceptions and remove gender bias towards digital skills, STEM subjects and emerging technologies.
Maybe we should drop any reference to “careers” and talk more about people being happy, and having a flourishing future.
Volunteering experiences are important even from a young age. It would be great to encourage businesses to do this more often.
Schools need to increase the value of what industries and employers can and do offer and to work closer with other sectors and provide training.

Communication

We need to diversify the way we communicate to young people. It can be like trying to hit a moving target with how rapidly things change.
It’s difficult to keep up with developments and the best ways to deliver key messages.
Some organisations including Bouygues expressed that they find older primary school pupils are most engaging and interested in their work.
Organisations such as Vocaleyes Democracy CIC have demonstrated platforms where pupils can come up with ideas on ways to improve the school, teaching children how democracy works.

NEXT STEPS

As a founding member of the Wellbeing Economy Wales, 4theRegion helps to host the monthly Wellbeing Economy Discussion Forum on the second Thursday of each month. Follow Wellbeing Economy Wales on Eventbrite to stay updated with upcoming events surrounding the wellbeing economy.

Click here to subscribe to our newsletter and select “Wellbeing Region” and “Young People” to receive updates about work from us and our partners in this space.

Please do get in touch with 4theRegion to tell us about your work in empowering future generations in South West Wales, or to share challenges and ideas about what more is needed.

Regional Food Conference April 2022 Follow Up

by 4theManagement | Apr 28, 2022 | Past, Reports

PROJECTS > FOOD FOR THE REGION PROJECT PAGE > APRIL FOLLOW UP

FOOD FOR THE REGION APRIL FOLLOW-UP

Regional Food Conference April April Banner

5th April 2022

A Major Conversation about our Regional Food System, brought to you by Swansea Environmental Forum, Grwp Resilience and 4theRegion.

Following the first Regional Food System Conference in October 2021, we regrouped to share updates, explore emerging projects and encourage collaboration on all things relating to growing, producing, distributing, sharing and caring about food in South West Wales.

The goal was to share perspectives and co-produce priorities for regional collaboration and to bring local residents and organisations back together to discuss initiatives to transform our regional food system here in South West Wales.

Click here to download the full event report.

Click here for the previous event report

EVENT RECORDING

Catch up on the full event recording and listen to presentations from thought-leaders and experts in the food sector. Click the video at the timestamps listed below to jump to their appropriate segment.

0:02:44 Dawn Lyle, 4theRegion
0:25:00 Augusta Lewis, Bywd Sir Gar Food
0:41:40 Peter Howells, NFU Cymru
1:00:00 Alice Coleman, WCFD PLANED

Subscribe to our Youtube channel and save our Food & Farming playlist to be notified when new videos are uploaded.

Thematic Priorities

Local Authorities & Policy Makers

We need to get policy makers more involved and increase the amount of support available for smaller scale producers, growers and suppliers.
A policy-led top-down approach is needed to change the systems.
Are we able to better map out what’s working? Local growing projects, schemes, etc. Identify the gaps and best practices that could be scaled up.
Evidencing our needs better, particularly around land.

Communities

We perhaps need to shift our collective regional identity towards the sense of ourselves as a food producing region.
Connecting farmers back to their communities is also a huge benefit to all concerned.
Promoting ‘local’ isn’t the only thing but is a principle that may be getting traction with influential bodies and could be the door into the wider changes that are needed around production methods, etc. By local do we mean regional or national?

Individuals

Consumers should ask where their food comes from.

Businesses & Producers

We need more urban and peri-urban farming.
To get people in using food hubs, we need a massive marketing push.
Ultra processed food is often cheaper and therefore it brings us back to the issue of food poverty.
The impact of food price inflation is yet to be fully felt.

Education

Food growing needs to be part of the national curriculum.
Food for life partnership is in England and luckily more schools are getting involved, but sustainability and food growing needs to be in mainstream culture.
When an effective food labelling system incorporates the real price of food – including environmental impacts – this may encourage people to avoid some supermarket products and look local.
Educating and informing businesses has the potential to trickle down to educate the consumer.
The new curriculum allows schools in Wales to access more creative and holistic resources.
Help schools to map the life cycle of food at different levels.

Health

Regenerative practices produce crops with increased levels of phytonutrients – needed for human health
We need to teach a lot more about links to food/nutrition and our health.
Online marketing campaign comparing the nutritional value of local produce vs mass produced produce.
Hidden costs of cheap foods are in the health sector, and loss of money in the local economy.

Procurement

The impact of world events has a major impact on supply chains.

Environment

We need to change the way we farm – stop ploughing, increase soil biology, use traditional seed varieties, small scale mixed farms. We don’t need toxic fertilisers and synthetic fertilisers.
Anaerobic digestion using animal manure and turning it into renewable energy.
There could be a lot of work done to loosen compacted soils. Regenerative farming practices.
There needs to be more focus on carbon net-zero strategy.

Land & Forestry

Farmers in Pembrokeshire have given land access to growers.
Social Farms and Gardens have some good resources and support for how to secure long-term success for community growing projects leasing private land.
CSAs are reaching out to farmers to discuss common problems and find solutions.
Land management skills are also in short supply.
A farmer must be sure his or her land is being well managed.
The land around rural and town communities should be ring-posted for the needs of the community.
Regarding access to land, it’s not just the land availability, but the type of land suitable for different types of production,
I think we need to better understand and evidence the demand for land for food growing / production so that the task can be more specific / informed.
The size of land to produce adequate amounts of food to feed large numbers of people.
Start up funding for infrastructure etc, business support, finding experienced growers or training new entrants etc.
For successful food businesses, it’s more of a collaborative approach than just relying on farmers offering up land.
The key to diversifying food production will be whether subsidies will be available for small-scale intensive horticulture enterprises of 5 acres and under or not.

NEXT STEPS

Prior to this event, we supported Bwyd Abertawe in hosting an online food assembly for the City & County of Swansea – the first step in Swansea’s bid to become a Sustainable Food Place. Find out how you can get involved by connecting with the group on Facebook.

We are collaborating with Wales’ Wellbeing Economy Alliance “Transformational Food” meeting, bringing together all those working on the food system across Wales. If you are doing something interesting related to food – or thinking about it – or if you would like to hear what others are up to across Wales, please come along on Thursday 12th May from 7pm!

Food will be a key theme at our Green Recovery Conference & Exhibition on June 16th. Hosted on behalf of Swansea Council, we are showcasing businesses, projects and organisations who are leading the city’s green recovery. Register for free here, and if you’d like to be involved, please contact zoe@4theRegion.org.uk

And if you are working in this space, have a project in mind, have information or updates to share, or would like to fund or support regional initiatives relating to food, please reach out to us so we can connect, amplify and collaborate! Contact zoe@4theregion.org.uk.

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