The Synnwyr Busnes-Business Sense programme is run by a team based at the University of Wales, Bangor working with field-based experts across Wales . We are jointly funded, as an Objective 1 project, by the European Union, the Welsh Assembly Government and the University.

Our service has grown from a project called Wales SCEnE (Wales Sustainability: Community, Environment and Economy), commissioned by the Welsh Assembly Government. The project involved business and sustainability experts from the University working with a wide range of organizations from across Wales to define exactly what sustainable development means, and developing an appraisal to measure how sustainable an organization is. We have adapted this appraisal, and are now using it as a HealthCheck to help businesses understand where they’re at, in terms of sustainability, and how they can move forward.

The work of the SCEnE project is summarised in the document “Sustainability for organisations: A guide to best practice in Wales”, which can be downloaded by clicking on this link

Until recently sustainable development has been a priority and considered good business practice mostly by large corporate companies; however the drive to take up sustainable development is being transferred through the supply chain from large companies and the Welsh Assembly Government. In order to tender for many contracts, suppliers will need to show that they are taking action.

At a Synnwyr Busnes Busnes Sense event during the National Eisteddfod in Swansea, August 2006, the minister for Enterprise, Innovation and Networks, Andrew Davies, said that companies taking-up the service will be helping the contribution that Wales as a whole is making to sustainable development on a global scale.

 “Wales has one of the few legislatures in the world which has a commitment to sustainable development built into its basic constitution,” he said, and

“It is a duty we take very seriously – and I am pleased that this innovative approach helps deliver on our drive to ensure a cleaner, greener Wales.”