Nature finance and well-being economics: an introduction

A well-being economy is one in which everyone’s basic needs are met without the destruction of the environment that supports us. This means directing the flow of money towards activities that benefit nature, such as sustainable farming, the creation of new habitats and measures to reduce pollution. Nature finance can be public money (such as the Sustainable Farming Scheme and Lottery grants) or private (including carbon offsetting, nutrient trading and philanthropy). It is important to design this funding carefully in order to avoid unintended consequences for communities, and for Wales to achieve a well-being economy. This requires a shared vision that balances food security, energy security and biodiversity. How can we draw people together to find common ground and pragmatic solutions? Come and hear from some organisations that are looking at this question, and bring your questions to the discussion.

This is a co-production between CyFAN Cymru and the Dyfi Biosphere.

Chair: Dr Liz Lewis Reddy specialises in the ecological and economic viability of sustainable land management. An active partner in a beef and sheep farm in mid Wales, she is Principal Scientist at FERA Science Ltd.

Cath Howell is the Head of Natural Capital Developments at Bannau Brycheiniog where she is responsible for piloting and scaling nature finance opportunities to achieve landscape scale nature recovery. Over the last twenty years she has worked across multiple sectors in finance, development and humanitarian settings building partnerships and designing innovative funding mechanisms.

Chris Harris is Programme Manager for the Living Levels Landscape Partnership on the Gwent Levels in south Wales. Over the last seven years, the Partnership has been working with local stakeholders and communities, environmental charities, local authorities, statutory agencies, and Welsh Government to ensure a sustainable future for this historic and unique Welsh landscape.

Alice Briggs, programme manager for Tir Canol, has a background in museum curation and as a socially engaged artist. Tir Canol, which covers the area between the source to sea of the Rheidol river to the South, and Dyfi to the North, is a co-designed community partnership designing and providing positive outcomes for nature and people. It emerged from the Summit to Sea project, after important lessons were learnt by the partnership on the need to collaborate and share power.

Jane Powell is joint co-ordinator of the UNESCO Dyfi Biosphere in mid Wales, which is a living lab to test ways of bringing nature and the economy into healthy connection. It is committed to building trust from the bottom up, so that people can work across differences and through conflict. Drawing on the Welsh internationalist tradition, it shares learning locally and with a network of over 700 Biospheres around the world.

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Economi llesiant yw un lle mae anghenion sylfaenol pawb yn cael eu diwallu heb ddinistrio'r amgylchedd sy'n ein cynnal. Mae hyn yn golygu cyfeirio llif arian tuag at weithgareddau sy'n fuddiol i natur, fel ffermio cynaliadwy, creu cynefinoedd newydd a mesurau i leihau llygredd. Gall cyllid natur fod yn arian cyhoeddus (fel y Cynllun Ffermio Cynaliadwy a grantiau'r Loteri) neu'n breifat (gan gynnwys gwrthbwyso carbon, masnachu maetholion a dyngarwch). Mae'n bwysig dylunio'r cyllid hwn yn ofalus er mwyn osgoi canlyniadau anfwriadol i gymunedau, ac i Gymru gyflawni economi llesiant. Mae hyn yn gofyn am weledigaeth a rennir sy'n cydbwyso diogelwch bwyd, diogelwch ynni a bioamrywiaeth. Sut allwn ni ddod â phobl ynghyd i ddod o hyd i dir cyffredin ac atebion pragmatig? Dewch i glywed gan rai sefydliadau sy'n edrych ar y cwestiwn hwn, a chymryd rhan mewn trafodaeth.

Tickets

The event is free, but we invite you to make a donation of £5-10 which will enable CyFAN Cymru to run more events like this.

Tocynnau

Mae'r digwyddiad yn rhad ac am ddim ond rydym yn gwahodd i chi roi £5-10 a fydd yn helpu CyFAN Cymru redeg mwy o ddigwyddiadau fel hyn. Diolch!