Tomorrow's earth, today's journey: Exploring pathways to sustainability
Market View
Produced by:
Interview with
Natalie Rees
HEAD OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT & CLIMATE CHANGE, TRANSPORT FOR WALES
Tomorrow's earth, today's journey: Exploring pathways to sustainability
Market View
Produced by:
Interview with
Natalie Rees
HEAD OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT & CLIMATE CHANGE, TRANSPORT FOR WALES
About Natalie Rees
Natalie Rees is the Head of Sustainable Development and Climate Change at Transport for Wales, a role she has held since May 2022. With over 20 years of experience in sustainable development, Natalie leads teams focusing on ecology, environment, energy, climate change, heritage, and sustainable development strategies. She is dedicated to embedding the Well-being of Future Generations Act into the organisation's work and supporting the Welsh Government's vision for an integrated, sustainable transport network across Wales.
What are the primary challenges in implementing sustainable practices within organisations, and how do you address them at Transport for Wales?
The main challenge we face is the perception that implementing sustainable practices will increase costs. This view is outdated, as we're now seeing quick payback on many projects. In the transport sector, there's also a culture of established processes that don't always allow for innovation. We often hear, "We've always done things this way," especially regarding safety procedures, which can sometimes conflict with sustainability initiatives.
To address this, we've introduced behaviour change agents training for our colleagues, embedding behaviour change thinking into our work culture. We now have many examples where delivering sustainably actually helps us reduce costs.
One of our best examples is the fit-out of our headquarters in the Welsh valleys. We took a sustainable approach, working with Rype Office to source remanufactured and reused furniture. Initially, it was a hard sell, but we brought people on board by arranging site visits to other locations that had used the same approach. This project ended up saving us £400,000 compared to a traditional fit-out. Having practical examples like this really helps win people over to adopting a sustainability mindset.
How do you balance environmental goals with financial and operational objectives in your corporate strategy?
In Wales, we have the Well-being of Future Generations Act, which has been law for the public sector since 2015. It sets out a sustainability principle, seven well-being goals, and five ways of working to help us deliver sustainability. TfW was added to this legislation as a named body in June of this year, although we've always tried to follow its principles.
The law states that we should consider society, environment, economy, and culture in Wales equally. This approach really helps us balance our decision-making. We've developed our own decision-making tool based on this, ensuring all these factors are considered when we make decisions.
Our new corporate plan will include well-being objectives for the first time. We're consulting not within the organisation to determine what these objectives should be with aims to consult these with our communities in the future. I believe this will help us not only meet our legal duty but also be seen as acting in a sustainable way.
We now have many examples where delivering in a sustainable way actually helps us reduce costs.
How do you measure the impact of your sustainability programs, and what role do data analysis and visualisation tools play in shaping these strategies?
We've taken a modern evaluation approach to our large externally funded projects. My colleague, Dr. Louise Moon, created what we call the Sustainable Impact Nexus. We wanted to evaluate how effectively we could measure our wider impact. The nexus looks at how we implement, deliver, and realise our long-term sustainable impact and the legacy we're creating, particularly within our communities.
We're embedding this nexus into our project management process. When you work in an organisation that's very process-driven, this is the way to do it. The nexus strengthens our outputs and outcomes to support us in meeting our obligations under the Well-being of Future Generations Act.
To measure effectively, we've been exploring various social value tools, including the Welsh TOMs (Themes, Outcomes and Measures) and the Rail Safety and Standards Board's social value tools. We've also been looking at 'social effectiveness' to demonstrate the benefits of initiatives for both ourselves and the wider community.
In terms of data analysis and visualisation, we're working with startups through our TfW Lab initiative. We're exploring technologies like digital twinning, which helps us predict how processes and products will perform. This has been particularly valuable when looking at how our services will run and how much carbon we can save.
How do you engage and motivate employees in sustainability initiatives?
We use various approaches because there's no one-size-fits-all solution. In most cases, sustainability is about winning hearts and minds rather than enforcing compliance.
We started with traditional methods like induction training, lunch and learns, and tailored presentations for different teams. We also ran a "Simple Changes" initiative, where we asked people to share how they contribute to sustainability in their everyday lives.
Our SD Champions initiative involves 22 champions within the organisation taking a bottom-up approach. We're now changing this slightly to have Senior Leadership Team-level champions feed it back down.
We also organise "Walk in Our Shoes" days, taking people out for environmental audits and ecology activities. Additionally, we participate in the Future Generations Leadership Academy, sponsoring a place for one of our employees each year.
The law states that we should consider society, environment, economy, and culture in Wales equally. This approach really helps us balance our decision-making.
Looking ahead, what emerging trends or technologies in sustainability management are you most excited about?
I'm particularly excited about a project we've been working on with SPECIFIC at Swansea University. We're creating an off-grid railway shelter using thin-film solar panels. These can power things like notice boards, information signage, CCTV, and potentially water fountains for green roofs. What's particularly exciting is that it's generating far more energy than we need, so these shelters could potentially become mini power stations.
I'm also really interested in behaviour change and evolving customer expectations. We're seeing more interest in eco-travel, with people wanting to bring their bikes on trains and explore. They're also increasingly interested in our sustainability credentials.
The Metro Project, our South East Wales Railway line electrification, is another exciting development. Once it's switched on, it will be interesting to see how people respond and start using the increased services.
I'm keen to see how policy and education developments, like the new curriculum in Wales, will shape the way young people entering Transport for Wales think and work. I believe these emerging trends and technologies will play a significant role in shaping the future of sustainable transport in Wales.
Understanding and influencing behaviour change is going to be crucial for us as we try to achieve modal shift, getting people out of their cars and onto public transport, as well as encouraging walking and wheeling.
About Transport for Wales (TfW)
Transport for Wales (TfW) is a not-for-profit public transport advisor, operator and developer established by the Welsh Government in 2015. TfW manages Wales' rail network, operates train services and transport Interchanges, and is developing the South Wales Metro. The organisation aims to create an integrated, sustainable, and accessible transport system across Wales, encompassing rail, bus, and active travel initiatives. TfW reinvests surplus revenue to improve transport services and infrastructure, focusing on enhancing connectivity and supporting economic development throughout Wales.
