Natural Resources Wales has embedded sustainable principles in all its work. In this session Kester Savage and Joanne Hindes explain how library and information services fit into the wider sustainability goals of the organisation and the challenges faced in putting sustainability in front and centre of their work.

1. Our place in an organisation that cares
for the natural resources of Wales
Jo Hindes
Kester Savage

2. About Natural Resources Wales
• Formed in 2013, bringing together the roles of legacy bodies, Environment
Agency Wales, Forestry Commission Wales, Countryside Council for Wales
as well as certain Welsh Government functions
• Wide-ranging remit including regulation, permitting, advice and emergency
response
• With around 2,000 staff, NRW is the largest Welsh Government sponsored
body

3. The role of NRW
“Natural Resources Wales’s purpose is to pursue sustainable management of
natural resources”
• Produces State of Natural Resources Report (SoNaRR) and area
statements – As set out in the Environment Act (Wales) 2016
• Wellbeing of Future Generations (Wales) Act
• NRW is an evidence based organisation

4. The Wellbeing of Future
Generation (Wales) Act
The Wellbeing of Future Generations (Wales) Act, 2015 draws on the
UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals and articulates them for the
Welsh context as 7 Wellbeing Goals:
• A more prosperous Wales
• A resilient Wales
• A healthier Wales
• A more equal Wales
• A Wales of cohesive communities
• A Wales of vibrant culture and thriving Welsh language
• A globally responsible Wales

5. SMNR Training
• Thorough training programme
delivered to every new
member of staff, with the
option to have your work
accredited by Agored Cymru
• Embeds principles and
enables you to see how your
role – wherever you work in
NRW – contributes to our core
purpose

6. Benefits of SMNR
• A shared sense of purpose to
colleagues across a large and
diverse organisation
• A focus for decision-making
and service development
• A wider appreciation of the
natural world and its fragility
and how our actions impact
upon it
• Personal reflections

7. NRW’s Information and Library
Service
Mission statement from the 2019-2023 Library Strategy
“The Information and Library Services comprise a repository for
unique published and unpublished information relating to the Natural
Resources of Wales. The purpose of NRW’s Information and Library
Services is to continue the development and management of our
knowledge and information, and ensure that our staff have access to
the best evidence and information available to support their decision
making”

8. NRW’s Information and Library
Service
• Procure and manage digital resources and physical collections
• Management and promotion of the evidence output of NRW and its legacy
bodies
• We offer an enabling service to the whole of NRW, catering to a wide range
of information and training needs

9. Supporting an evidence-based
organisation
• Establish an understanding of evidence needs across the
organisation
• Act as a repository for all of NRW’s evidence output
• Manage and promote evidence output to ensure longevity of
access
• Develop and deliver training to enable staff to search
systematically for available evidence
• Knowledge management function

10. Five Sustainable Ways of
Working
The Wellbeing of Future Generations (Wales) Act, 2015
commits all Welsh public bodies to adopt the five
sustainable ways of working, drawn from the principles of
SMNR
• Long term
• Integration
• Public participation
• Collaboration
• Prevention

11. Public Participation
• Public-facing and a source of authoritative information about the
Welsh environment including international requests for our
evidence reports
• Contribute to Natur a Ni, a national initiative consulting with the
public on the future of the natural environment in Wales
• Inspire positive action and a sense of pride, curiosity and
responsibility for the Welsh environment and our natural history
• Work with colleagues to provide a valuable repository for citizen
science

12. Collaboration
• An enabling service working across the whole organisation to
understand the range of information and training needs
• Work with colleagues to support postgraduate studentships
• Working with Centre for Environmental Evidence to contribute to
and benefit from raising standards in the availability and scrutiny of
evidence synthesis
• Collaborate with public and government libraries to provide a clear
and coherent information landscape of material relating to the
natural environment in Wales and the UK

13. Long-term
• Collection management and
conservation
• Working with records
management and data
colleagues
• Having the evidence base from
the past to inform future
decision making
• Balancing short term pressures
with long term evidence needs

14. Challenges
• A small team serving an organisation of around 2,000
• Working with suppliers that align with our values
• Limited funding to trial anything different
• Limited in how we can engage with the public post-covid
• No control over the building and infrastructure
• Challenges arising from remote working

15. Developments
• New and ambitious team always looking for ways to develop the
service
• Demonstrated resilience through lockdown, continuing to provide
a service across the organisation
• Enhanced provision of eBooks to reduce transport and
manufacturing emissions whilst improving access across
dispersed organisation
• Developing a new collections policy to reflect the breadth of NRW’s
work and reflect the crucial role culture plays in our relationship
with the natural environment