Addressing Single-Use Plastic and Waste in Public Health Wales’ Microbiology Labs

The report highlights the highest carbon emission single-use plastic and waste items used in PHW’s Microbiology Laboratories and identifies recommendations to switch to more sustainable alternatives.

The solutions identified can be replicated across the wider healthcare sector.

Authors: Tracy Evans

Understanding the impact of COVID-19 on Public Health Wales’ Emissions

The five infographics share the key findings and recommendations of the research project to look at the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and shift to more agile working on Public Health Wales Carbon Footprint.

The infographics cover the overall findings and the impact on emissions for the four key areas; procurement, homeworking, business/ site and travel emissions. They include detail on the overall recommendations for PHW, along with suggestions on how individuals can help to reduce their carbon emissions.

Authors: Tracy Evans

Research on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and shift to more agile working, on Public Health Wales’ carbon footprint

The report looks at the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and shift to more agile working on Public Health Wales’ carbon footprint, focusing on both operational and staff homeworking emissions.

The report covers four key areas of emissions, procurement, travel, business/ site and homeworking. The emissions for each area have been calculated for 2019/20 and 2020/21 to compare the difference between the two years, identifying the impact on our carbon footprint for each key area, along with key insights and recommendations.

Authors: Tracy Evans

Tackling the public health effects of climate change – find out how you and your team can take action

Public Health Wales has a new strategic priority: tackling the public health effects of climate change, in recognition of the climate emergency being the greatest health threat facing humanity.

This webinar introduced a free online resource that helps individuals and teams to take action to reduce their environmental impact.

Authors: Tracy Evans, Eurgain Powell

Be the Change – Procurement that doesn’t cost the earth

Procurement is costly. Welsh public sector spends £7 billion on procurement. A huge 62% of the 2018/19 carbon footprint for NHS Wales was from procurement.
Sustainable procurement can mean considering not buying things at all, buying energy and resource efficient goods, ethical goods such as Fairtrade coffee, or locally sourced products and services which support local businesses. It can also support the delivery of organisational priorities and well-being objectives, and ultimately improve the economic, environmental, social, and cultural well-being of Wales.
The e-guide gives advice for anyone buying goods and services on ways we can take action by thinking about what we need, where it comes from, how long it will last and the impact it has on people, nature and planet.

Authors: Tracy Evans, Eurgain Powell

Resources for Sustainable Health

Helping organisations and individuals to consider the natural environment and the health of the planet and people in everything they do.

The Resources for Sustainable Health e-catalogue gives a brief summary of all the resources produced by the Health and Sustainability Hub.

The resources promoted in the e-catalogue will help teams and individuals reduce their impact on the environment and climate change, and encourage sustainable behaviour in both their work and home life.

The resources are a mixture of e-briefs, reports and toolkits, which bring together research, ideas, suggestions and practical actions. Some are aimed at individual or team level, some at organisation, national, or international policy level, to support sustainability, improve health and well-being, help embed the Well-being of Future Generations Act and reduce our impact on the planet.

Authors: Tracy Evans

Public Health Wales Decarbonisation Action Plan 2022/24

Public Health Wales’ Decarbonisation Action Plan (DAP) sets out the key actions and strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) supporting our journey to becoming Net Zero by 2030.

The plan identifies deliverable actions for two years from April 2022 to March 2024, aligning to and supporting NHS Wales’s Decarbonisation Strategic Delivery Plan.

Authors: Tracy Evans

Rising to the Triple Challenge of Brexit, COVID-19 and Climate Change for health, well-being and equity in Wales, Spotlight on: Rural Communities

A new report published by Public Health Wales highlights how the combined influences of Brexit, Coronavirus and climate change will potentially see rural communities in Wales experience a time of great change, with both opportunities and negative impacts to navigate.

Authors: Liz Green, Kathryn Ashton+ 7 more
, Michael Fletcher, Laura Evans, Tracy Evans, Lee Parry-Williams, Sumina Azam, Adam Jones, Mark Bellis

Sustainability Improvement for Teams (SIFT): Healthy Environment Workshop

The SIFT Healthy Environment workshop provides an opportunity for teams to identify their environmental impacts and do something to reduce them. It not only looks at the activity of the whole team but also of the individuals that form the team.

The SIFT Healthy Environment workshop is based on four strategic themes (decarbonisation, biodiversity, zero waste and climate change) to enable teams to develop an action plan to reduce their environmental impact and contribute to any existing environmental management systems within their organisation.

Authors: Tracy Evans

Green Opportunities Autumn 2021

Green Opportunities is a new e-briefing from the Health and Sustainability Hub. The quarterly updates capture learning to aid Wales’ green recovery from COVID-19, identifying sustainable opportunities to support population health.

The autumn edition focuses on biodiversity.

Authors: Tracy Evans, Richard Lewis

Rising to the Triple Challenge of Brexit, COVID-19 and Climate Change for health, well-being and equity in Wales Spotlight on: Food Security

This paper highlights how the combined influences of Brexit, Coronavirus and climate change will potentially impact everyone through the food that is produced, accessed, available and consumed.

Authors: Liz Green, Kathryn Ashton+ 7 more
, Adam Jones, Michael Fletcher, Laura Morgan, Tom Johnson, Tracy Evans, Sumina Azam, Mark Bellis

Rising to the Triple Challenge of Brexit, COVID-19 and Climate Change for health, well-being and equity in Wales

This report provides a strategic overview of the impact, and interconnectedness, of the enormous events of Brexit, COVID-19
pandemic and climate change. It identifies the key determinants and population groups affected by the Triple Challenge and provides a key example against a determinant.

Authors: Liz Green, Kathryn Ashton+ 7 more
, Michael Fletcher, Adam Jones, Laura Evans, Tracy Evans, Lee Parry-Williams, Sumina Azam, Mark Bellis

Green Opportunities Summer 2021

Green Opportunities is a new e-briefing from the Health and Sustainability Hub. The quarterly updates capture learning to aid Wales’ green recovery from COVID-19, identifying sustainable opportunities to support population health.

The summer 2021 edition focuses on sustainable and active travel.

Authors: Richard Lewis, Tracy Evans

Wales and the global goals infographic

This infographic, ‘Wales and the global goals: Ensuring that no one is left behind’ was commissioned by the Health and Sustainability Hub in Public Health Wales to provide a background summary of the global and Wales’ approaches to sustainable development, including the steps to deliver the global agenda in the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015. The infographic also provides information on elements of Wales’ approach, covering:

• A literature review on embedding Wales’ Sustainable Development Principle (‘five ways of working’)
• Annual ‘Well-being of Wales Report’ on progress towards sustainable development
• Wales’ national indicators to measure progress
• A short case-study on Wales’ ‘Health in All Policies’ approach to public policy

Authors: Cathy Weatherup, Richard Lewis+ 1 more
, Tracy Evans

Step Change for a Sustainable Planet: Implementing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals – A toolkit for global organisations

The Step Change for a Sustainable Planet toolkit was developed as part of the response by the Health and Sustainability Hub in Public Health Wales to take clear and positive action to help organisations and their staff respond to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs)
Providing information and knowledge, the toolkit also supports staff, on an individual level or by working together as teams, to become ‘changemakers’ by helping them to put into practice the principles of sustainable development.

Authors: Sara Peacock, Tracy Evans+ 1 more
, Richard Lewis

Be the Change – Sustainable Home and Agile Working

We are living in a fast-changing and uncertain world, in the time of a global climate emergency and a global pandemic, which highlight the importance of acting and living sustainably to preserve and protect our world for both current and future generations.

Covid-19 has changed the way people live and work, instigating an immediate reorientation to home working, where feasible and providing opportunities to live more sustainably.

For those who are able to work from home, the rapid shift to home and agile working has brought both positives and negatives, some more challenging than others. This e-guide will help individuals take sustainable steps while working at home to reduce their impact on the environment.

Authors: Richard Lewis, Tracy Evans

Be the Change Well-being Goals Challenge

The Well-being Goals Challenge sets out six separate behaviour change challenges that inspire us to act to live more sustainably. They are designed to be undertaken on your own, with your team mates or as a team to team challenge.
Drawing on Wales’ Well-being Goals and the wider United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, the challenges focus on Slow Fashion, Plant-based Diet, Towards Zero Waste, Healthy Travel, Ethical Consumer and Supporting Wildlife, with sustainable steps provided to guide you on your challenge journey.

Authors: Richard Lewis, Angie Kirby+ 1 more
, Tracy Evans

Green Opportunities Spring 2021

Green Opportunities is a new e-briefing from the Health & Sustainability Hub. The quarterly updates capture learning to aid Wales’ green recovery from COVID-19, identifying sustainable opportunities to support population health.
The spring 2021 edition focuses on energy and air pollution.

Authors: Richard Lewis, Tracy Evans

Be the Change – A Healthy Heritage

‘A Healthy Heritage’ highlights some of the practical ways in which we can contribute to Wales’ Well-being Goals by supporting our culture and Welsh language in the workplace.

By preserving and learning from our history and culture we can re-energise, safeguard and share our heritage for future generations.

Our heritage is a key tool to support positive change, people who know more about each other and their local area tend to get more involved in their local communities, building a sustainable future where people feel they belong.

Authors: Richard Lewis, Tracy Evans