This case study details the impact of participating in the HEA Green Academy programme (2011 – 2012) for the University of Wales Trinity Saint David. The case study consists of an overview of the University's sustainability strategies and activities within an institutional context and a detailed explanation of the specific impacts of the Green Academy programme.
The Green Academy shaped thinking about how to take forward sustainability strategically. In February 2011 the institution had announced that the new University was ambitious to lead the Welsh agenda on sustainability and was seeking expressions of interest to develop a new Wales Institute for Sustainability. Fifty expressions of interest had been received and in March – around the time of the Green Academy residential meeting – the bid led by a former Minister for Environment Sustainability and Housing in the Welsh Assembly Government was selected which was supported by the leader of the Green Academy team. Over the period up to September 2011 the concept of INSPIRE (the Institute for Sustainable Practice Innovation and Resource Effectiveness) was developed and its prospectus was formally launched in January 2012: “putting sustainability at the heart of the new University’s strategic vision”.
