New collaboration between Trinity St David’s and CAT puts sustainability at the heart of education for the 21st Century

 

The University of Wales Trinity Saint David and the Centre for Alternative Technology, Machynlleth are delighted to announce a new collaboration aimed at placing sustainability at the heart of learning.

Today, the sustainability agenda in Wales receives a boost as two of Wales’ key institutions announce a new strategic alliance which will bring together the University of Wales Trinity Saint David and the Centre for Alternative Technology (CAT) with the common aim of Wales being leaders in the 21st century race to develop new ways of living more sustainably.

The two organisations have come together based on shared values and a joint recognition of the urgent need to place sustainability at the heart of how we plan for the future, how we do business and most importantly how to embed it into all aspects of the educational experience from day-visits to work with schools, colleges and short courses right through to higher education and research. Their joint intention is to ensure everyone receives the information and skills required to become responsible citizens in the 21st century.

Both organisations are looking forward to the benefits this new collaboration can offer. CAT has been catalysing living within environmental limits since it was founded in 1974 and has inspired generations of students and visitors since its inception. CAT has recently opened its award winning WISE (Wales Institute for Sustainable Education) facility based on its pioneering 40-acre ‘living laboratory’ site and provides opportunities for hundreds of postgraduate students to acquire specialist skills.

The University of Wales Trinity Saint David is a new university arising out of the merger of the oldest higher education providers in Wales. The university is rising to the sustainability challenge in a strategic and holistic way by embedding sustainable development into the overall student experience. Last month, the university launched its virtual institute; INSPIRE (Institute for Sustainable Practice, Innovation and Resource Effectiveness).

INSPIRE is part of the University’s ‘fit for future’ framework which will embed sustainable development through the learning, teaching, curricula, campus, community and culture of Trinity Saint David. The intention is to ensure future graduates are globally aware and responsible citizens in the 21st century.

Professor Medwin Hughes, Vice Chancellor of University of Wales Trinity Saint David said,
“I am delighted that CAT has chosen to come into partnership with the University of Wales Trinity Saint David. We are ambitious for our students and committed to working with all sectors to actively support the sustainability agenda. This new partnership will enable us to enhance the learning experience of our students and provide new opportunities for research and development. I look forward to the day when CAT Graduates are our graduates.

Dr Iolo ap Gwynn, chair of CAT charity trustees said,
“This development is welcomed by CAT Trustees in that it will provide for the further development of the Charity’s stated educational mission, in close collaboration with similarly motivated people. A much broader base will be made available for continued widespread development of courses and exploratory research at all levels. CAT will continue to explore new avenues of attempting to secure a more sustainable future for our planet. As a result of this development, we look forward to a much more vibrant and stimulating period for the organisation.

Notes to Editors

· Wales helped lead the world into fossil fuels, and today Wales aims to become a leader in the race to develop new ways of delivering our wellbeing, based on abundant sustainable energy sources. There is still poor public understanding of our global energy predicament. Many experts, scientists and political leaders still fail to grasp the vast quantities of energy that have now become essential for sustaining our current ways of life and the difficulties we will face in trying to maintaining that dependence into the future

· It now looks unlikely that the world will reach a global agreement on mitigating climate change in the near future. This places increased emphasis on national initiatives to pioneer the transition to a low carbon economy, making Wales’ unique commitment all the more important in setting a global lead. Over recent years CAT’s Zero Carbon Britain research and communications programme has been re-shaping how we think about a transition from fossil fuel dependency. There is a vital need to develop a potent new narrative, building on Wales long tradition for innovation in energy sources, but moving beyond the extractive industries to new, renewable sources of energy, every bit as rooted in the landscape as coal, but immune to exhaustion, offering a perpetual economic, employment and science drivers to a wide range of communities across Wales.

· The University of Wales Trinity Saint David is working with Swansea Metropolitan University and the University of Wales to create a transformed university under the oldest Royal Charter of any university in Wales and England outside the universities of Oxford and Cambridge. The transformed University will serve the needs of Wales. It will be nationally rooted but will clearly have a strong international dimension. The aim is to create a strong University that will play a full role in the higher education sector in Wales and will provide scholarship and education of the highest standard for students.