GUEST COLUMN:
Joseph Kidd
Partner
Afallen LLP
Wales has some powerful tools for sustainable development, and the Well-being of Future Generations Act remains central to how I approach my work. Its breadth mirrors the reality of the projects I’m involved in, from food to energy to circular economy initiatives.
What ties them together is the need to think long term, involve the right people early and design major projects in a way that delivers social value for Wales. That is at the heart of the concept of Design for Planet.
Much of my career has been in project development across the energy sector. Whether onshore or offshore, the same principles apply: you need to identify sites carefully, take projects through environmental assessment and engage widely with stakeholders. The Design Commission produced guidance a few years ago that set out how circular economy and sustainable development principles can be built in at the very beginning of a project. That guidance reflects what I have seen in practice. Early choices shape everything that follows – how the project functions, who benefits and what long-term value it delivers.
This has been especially clear in the work on local area energy plans. Over the past couple of years, local authorities across Wales have developed strategies that look at the whole energy system, rather than electricity, heat or transport in isolation. We led the stakeholder engagement for many of those plans, and it involved bringing together people from housing, local government, environmental organisations and the National Grid. Each group had its own perspective, and the value came from seeing how those perspectives fitted together. When you design energy systems holistically, you create strategies that are more realistic, more resilient and better aligned with people’s needs.
Floating offshore wind is another example of where early design choices matter. The leasing round in the Celtic Sea is a huge opportunity for Wales, and we spent a lot of time encouraging the Crown Estate to include social value in the competitive process. That was adopted, and all three consortiums are now committed to a range of activities focused on local content and wider benefits such as apprenticeships. It shows what happens when social value is built into the design of a process rather than bolted on later. Decisions made at that early stage will influence supply chains, skills and economic benefit for years to come.
The challenge, as ever, is procurement. Decisions often come down to price, especially in the current climate, and that makes it difficult to embed more sustainable products or approaches. The short-term focus on cost and quick returns limits what organisations feel they can do. To change that dynamic, procurement processes need to give more weight to the long-term value of sustainable choices. That includes recognising the social value that projects can deliver, which is currently lost when price dominates.
If I could ask for one shift over the next five years, it would be in procurement decision-making. A change in how contracts are awarded – one that reflects long-term social value – would unlock far more of the potential we talk about. Many of the projects underway in Wales could deliver even greater benefit if that shift happened. It is a practical step that would help turn our ambitions for Design for Planet into everyday reality.
Joseph Kidd talks about this and more in the Government and Not for Profit podcast episode Design for Planet. Listen here.
