The 4theRegion Podcast

27. Regional Transport in South West Wales

We need greener, cleaner, healthier and better connected travel and transport for South West Wales, for transport that meets the needs of businesses, serves communities, and improves well-being across the region.  In today's roundtable discussion, we are talking about future of transport in Pembrokeshire, Carmarthenshire, Neath Port Talbot and Swansea: What should the government be investing in, what could the local authorities be doing, and how can people, communities and businesses be part of the solution?  Join us to discuss all this and more at Moving Forward Together - our regional transport conference for South West Wales on 9th and 10th February 2021 - Register via Eventbrite

 

Round Table Guests:

• Christine Boston, Sustrans
• Jayne Cornelius, Swansea University, formerly SWWITCH Regional Travel Plan Co-ordinator
• Jeffrey Davies, DANSA bus service in Neath Port Talbot
• Mark Barry, Professor of Practice in Connectivity, Cardiff University
• Alan Kreppel, former chair, Traveline Cymru
• Andrew Davies, former chair of ABMU health board
• Tom Porter, Public Health Wales  
• Mary Sherwood, Fairer Future (poverty & equalities consultancy)
• Co-hosted by Dawn Lyle (4theRegion) and Phil McDonnell (Swansea Environmental Forum) 

 

26. Young People & Politics in Wales

Young people aged 16+ will be able to vote in Wales for the first time in the Senedd Elections this year. So we spoke to young people from across Wales about politics, what's important to them, and what they value most. We heard from a passionate and inspiring group of young people from a range of backgrounds, who shared their own opinions and talked about what they're already doing to make a difference - especially on climate and equalities. This will be essential listening for anyone that's interested in how to engage more young people in politics, and in how we can build a Wellbeing Economy here in Wales.

25. Resilience Network Pembrokeshire

Collaboration and connection with all of the amazing organisations that are working across our region is a key theme at 4theRegion and we believe that the power of working together can benefit all. Another organisation focusing on collaborative power is the Rhwydwaith, a resilience network based across Pembrokeshire. Today, director Vicky Moller shares the impact the network has had across communities.

Set up in May 2020, the Rhwydwaith was formed as a result of weekly collaborative meetings between community support groups across Pembrokeshire. As a result, the Rhwydwaith links local businesses, government and communities together in order to collaboratively work through present and future challenges in an inclusive and kind manner.

Find the Rhwydwaith here: www.rhwydwaithcommunityresilience.simplesite.com

24.Sustainability at the DVLA

We're delighted that DVLA has come on board as a partner of our alliance. We speak to the DVLA's Senior Sustainability and Travel Services Manager, Rhian Thomas, about the organisations commitments to reducing carbon emissions, increasing on-site biodiversity, sustainable transport methods (such as electric vehicles) and the success of the DVLA's performance against the Greening Government Commitments. #BuildBackBetter

23. Empowering Young People with Bethany Roberts

Next year in 2021, the Senedd Elections will mark the first time people aged 16 will be able to vote. That means in May, approximately 200,000 people will be voting for the first time. We need to consider what this means for election campaigns, manifestos and what this means for the future of wales.

Today we're speaking to Bethany Roberts, an inspiring young woman and the Learner Voice Coordinator at Pembrokeshire College. Bethany has been passionate about getting involved in local projects and volunteering since the age of 11 and using her voice to ensure that young people are involved with and heard by decision makers in the region. #BuildBackBetter

22. Starting Up In The Region

As a region we need to do what we can to support start ups and entrepreneurs and encourage them to stay within South West Wales. 

We speak to one of many entrepreneurs based in our region, creator of Dill delivery service and Swansea University student, Alex-Ioan Coldea. With the support of Swansea University and Young Business Dragons, Alex created Dill, a food ordering platform designed to cut queuing times at university catering venues. In this episode, Alex shares his entrepreneurial journey with us.

We also hear from Kelly Jordan, Kath Penaluna and Kim Mamhende, who are part of the enterprise teams at Swansea University, University of Wales Trinity Saint David and The Centre for African Entrepreneurship respectively about the importance of fostering effective business sense, creativity and innovation.

For those who are very young entrepreneurs, Young Business Dragons share the success of the Swansea Primary Enterprise Challenge which saw a successful children-led market in the city centre.

 

We're also pleased to share the launch of our new project; 4theRegion has teamed up with Swansea University’s School of Management to create Starting Up in the Region.

 

Find out more: www.4theregion.org.uk/4theregion-forms-partnership-ready-to-help-new-businesses-make-the-right-connections

21. Innovating Active Buildings with Joanna Clarke

This week we speak to Joanna Clarke, Design Manager of Swansea University's SPECIFIC project. SPECIFIC focuses on energy technologies and systems, from the fundamental science of materials and products to full-scale demonstration on buildings. These principles link together in one design concept called Active Buildings, in which buildings are designed to generate, store and release their own renewable energy. We discuss with Joanna the challenges that designers face when designing energy efficient buildings and how innovative projects such as SPECIFIC can lay the foundation for greener, cleaner housing. 

Joanna has developed the ‘Active Buildings Toolkit’ in order to share the principles and learnings from Active Buildings, with the aim of encouraging others to adopt or improve on them and to support wider uptake of low carbon designs.

Learn more about SPECIFIC and Active Buildings: www.specific.eu.com/what-are-active-buildings

20. Digital Skills

If there's one sector that may have been resilient throughout the pandemic, it would be the digital sector. For other sectors, those who quickly embraced technology, digital skills and remote working have been in a better position compared to those who haven't. Digital skills are a key growth sector for our region and there are many opportunities for people to find a career in the digital sector.

How can we grow this sector and ensure that people are aware of the opportunities to develop their skills and what does our region need to be doing in order to support businesses in upskilling the workforce across all sectors?

Download as a podcast: https://buildbackbetter.podbean.com/

19. Inspiring Entrepreneurs with Rachael Flanagan

Rachael Flanagan founded Mrs Buckét Cleaning Services at the age of 18, starting with a mop and £20 of promotional flyers. Rachael has worked hard over 15 years to grow her business and today Mrs Buckét employs over 250 people across Wales and the South West of England. Rachael is passionate about helping others and positive collaboration, mentoring other entrepreneurs and small business owners. In this inspiring episode, we speak to Rachael about the personal and professional growths she has discovered from entrepreneurship, what drives her and advice for budding business owners. #BuildBackBetter

18. Wellbeing at Work

Taking care of our physical and mental wellbeing are even more important than ever. In this episode, we're having an interesting conversation about how organisations across South West Wales have managed the challenges of maintaining staff health and wellbeing during the pandemic,  whether working at home or in the office, shop, or teaching environment. We discuss different structures put in place to help employees get the support they may need, whether it be signposting to an external service or company support.