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Journal of Cleaner Production 17 (2009) 1116–1122

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Journal of Cleaner Production

journal homepage: www.elsevier .com/locate/ jc lepro

The role of academia in regional sustainability initiatives: Wales

Peter Wells a,*, Gill Bristow a, Paul Nieuwenhuis a, Thomas Budde Christensen b

a Centre for Business Relationships, Accountability, Sustainability and Society, Cardiff University, 55 Park Place, Cardiff CF10 3EU, UKb Roskilde University, P.O. Box 260, Roskilde, Denmark

a r t i c l e i n f o

Article history:Received 3 December 2007Received in revised form14 November 2008Accepted 14 November 2008Available online 25 December 2008

Keywords:Regional sustainability initiativesCardiff UniversityLocal governmentClustersAutomotive industry

* Corresponding author.E-mail address: wellspe@cardiff.ac.uk (P. Wells).

0959-6526/$ – see front matter � 2008 Elsevier Ltd.doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2008.11.008

a b s t r a c t

This paper demonstrates the relative non-engagement of universities in regional sustainability initiativesthrough a case study of Cardiff University in Wales. It is argued that the turbulent and often complicatedpolitical and administrative context along with divergent goals and performance targets means thatsynergies are less readily achieved. A case study of automotive industry alternative technology newcluster development is given to illustrate the arguments. In so doing, the paper presents the view that weneed to move beyond mere optimism in order to address fundamental underlying issues.

� 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction

Generally speaking, conferences and academic journals in therealm of environmental issues are suited to the reporting of theexpansion of beneficial activity. That is to say, there is a dispositiontowards research that reveals ‘progress’, pushing out the bound-aries of theory, knowledge and, particularly, practice.

The call for papers on the theme of ‘The role of academia inregional sustainability initiatives’ for the 13th Sustainable Devel-opment Conference is a good example of this general approach. Theimplicit logic behind the proposal is clear: to bring together a rangeof examples from around the world whereby the linkage betweenregional sustainability initiatives and higher education establish-ments is portrayed, thereby leading to greater understanding of theprocesses involved. In turn, this understanding can be used toinform future initiatives, and the entire enterprise of environ-mentalism can move that bit further: good practice can beemulated, while mistakes made elsewhere might be avoided,particularly where they are slight flaws in otherwise positiveinitiatives. Moreover, the participation of higher education estab-lishments with their local communities speaks to a series of relatedagendas including the need to act at the local level, practising whatis preached, and making positive contributions to society.

These are all reasonable expectations. The other papers pre-sented in this special issue redolent with examples of good practice,

All rights reserved.

with perhaps the occasional instance of a project or policy thatwent wrong. The assumptions upon which those expectationsunderpinning the call for papers are based, however, are hugelyoptimistic in at least two senses: first, that there are definitive‘Regional Sustainability Initiatives’ (RSIs) that can be identified andanalysed; and second, that there is a real engagement between RSIsand academia in the region concerned.

This paper, therefore, seeks to portray a rather different story inwhich, using a case study from Wales, it is argued that the devel-opment of cohesive RSIs is difficult to substantiate and, equallyimportantly, the participation of higher education establishmentswith the political and policy process is still under development inmany areas of activity, not least with respect to sustainable devel-opment. In other words, this is a paper about the non-developmentof RSIs, and a search for some explanation of why that might be so.Much seems to depend upon context and expectations for allconcerned. The paper is not grounded in a specific research projectas such, rather it draws on the direct experiences and knowledge ofthe authorsdall of whom have experienced and observed theinteractions that inform RSIs as they have emerged in a Welshcontext of many years.

The paper first provides some context for those not familiar withthe recent history of Wales and its status within the UK. Ofparticular significance is the recent devolution of some (but not all)political powers to the Welsh Assembly Government (WAG), andthe enshrinement of sustainability in the new constitution of thatgovernment. Curiously, in some respects this can be seen asa transition from a region (within the UK, and dominated by

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England) to a nationdironically taking our case study outside theterms of the definition of RSIs! Whatever the case, this sectionseeks to demonstrate the extent to which such RSIs might beidentified in the case of Wales, particularly in the context of so-called ‘cluster’ policies.

The second section then turns the attention to the highereducation sector and specifically Cardiff University. The focus of theanalysis here is the paucity of institutional engagement insustainability issues within the broader context of the pan-UKcompetition for resources at a university level. University engage-ment needs to be understood in terms of the status and function ofthe university within the locality. Put simply, the argument isadvanced that Cardiff University, like many in the UK, has not hadstrong local connections or engagement with local communities.Even for individual researchers, the reality is that career progres-sion depends upon being active at the ‘international’ level invarious ways, not dabbling with parochial concerns. Ironically, thislack of engagement results in a situation whereby there are obviousareas of expertise in sustainable development within the highereducation sector, but these are rarely deployed at the local level.Moreover, the university itself has hardly been at the forefront ofthe adoption of sustainable practices, either compared with otherinstitutions at the local level or compared with other universitiesaround the world. Much is being done now, but this is very much inthe vein of putting the internal house in order first, beforeconsidering integration with sustainable development at the localcommunity level.

The last substantive section provides a brief illustrative discus-sion of the case with respect to sustainable mobility and an alter-native automotive industry. From the perspective of integrationwith RSIs, the contribution from the higher education (HE) sectorhas been partial, ad hoc, piecemeal and dependent upon personallinkages as much as institutional arrangements.

2. Devolution and Regional Sustainability Initiatives in Wales

In July 1997, the new Labour government in the UK published itsproposals for devolution for Wales, which were endorsed bya referendum of the electorate on 18 September 1997. The UKparliament subsequently passed the Government of Wales Act1998, which established the National Assembly for Wales and laidout its powers and responsibilities. The case made in favour ofdevolution to Wales was largely a democratic one. The establish-ment of the Assembly was intended to promote a more responsiveand directly accountable government in Wales, and to supersedethe ‘quango state’ whereby much of the decision making was left tocommittees of government appointees. However, in practice,a fairly conservative model of devolution was adopted for Wales.Thus whereas the Scottish Parliament was granted tax-varying andprimary legislative powers, the Welsh Assembly was granted onlysecondary legislative powers and the ability to exercise powers thatwere previously delegated by Parliament to the Secretary of Statefor Wales. The Assembly has the power to allocate the budgetwithin its control, but has no powers over taxation, macroeconomicpolicy, defence and foreign policy, social security, or the police andlegal affairs. The devolution settlement for Wales is thus one basedon compromise and caution. The powers for secondary legislationcreate scope for policy innovation, but the preservation of the postof Secretary of State and the retention of key policy competencies atcentral government level have created a ‘mix and match’ pattern indevolved powers, and significant scope for tension within theinstitutional architecture [1]. Indeed, the Assembly is a dynamicentity and in 2006 a new Government of Wales Act was institutedin recognition of its extended competencies. This Act enhanced thepowers of the Assembly to modify UK legislation and shape itsdelivery in Wales, as well as placing on the statute book

a commitment to gain primary legislative powers in the future,subject to a referendum of the people of Wales. Furthermore, itformally separated the National Assembly as a legislature and theWelsh Assembly Government (WAG) as an executive.

The original Government of Wales Act imposed two statutoryobligations on the newly devolved polity which are unique in theUK and which collectively have played a powerful role in shapingits approach to governance and policy. Firstly, the Act stipulated anemphasis upon inclusive governance and the principle of equalopportunities for all. This reflected the powerful argumentsadvanced by advocates of the creation of the Assembly for broaderengagement in the policy process, particularly with those fromminority and previously excluded groups [2]. In practice, theemphasis upon inclusivity resulted in three distinctive develop-ments in Wales: first, the emergence of formal partnership councilsor forums for engagement with local government (the PartnershipCouncil), the business community (the Business PartnershipCouncil), and the voluntary sector (the Voluntary Sector Partner-ship Council); second, the proliferation of the partnership mode ofgovernance across all policy areas within the Assembly’s remit; andfinally, the institution of the so-called ‘three-thirds principle’ ofequal representation from the public, private and voluntary sectorson partnership structures [3]. It is notable that the HE (highereducation) sector was not formally earmarked within this processas a strategic sector with whom to secure effective engagement, butis clearly embraced by the commitment to one-third public sectorrepresentation on local and regional partnerships across Wales. Asa consequence however, the inclusion of HE representatives onsuch partnerships is shaped by the more pragmatic motive ofengagement with ‘expert’ individuals pertinent to particular pro-grammes, policies or institutional activities.

The second unique legal obligation on the Assembly relates to thepursuit of sustainable development. Section 121 of the Government ofWales Act 1998 placed a legal obligation on the Assembly to preparea scheme showing how it would promote sustainable development inthe exercise of all its functions. More specifically, the Act requires theAssembly to consult with all the relevant stakeholders both internallyand externally on the development of its sustainable developmentscheme, to undertake regular reviews in the form of annual reports,and to gauge the effectiveness of its actions and activities every fouryears by formal evaluation exercises. Only two other governments inthe worlddEstonia and Tasmaniadhave a comparable duty,although environmental protection in various forms features in otherregional and national constitutions, notably those of Hawaii, Franceand India.

Following an initial consultation [4], the Assembly prepared andadopted a Sustainable Development Scheme and associated actionplan, and published regular annual reports detailing progress andfuture intentions. The pursuit of sustainable development is thusfirmly ensconced in the Assembly’s strategic planning framework.However, the central challenge appears to be that of movingbeyond acceptance of the principle of sustainable development andturning it into effective strategic sustainability actions. The firstreport on the effectiveness of the Sustainable Development schemepraised the Assembly on its efforts to mainstream the language andobjective of sustainable development into its growing panoply ofstrategies, policies and plans [5]. However, the report also notedthat ‘‘there is little evidence that real change is happening on theground’’ (p. ix). The revised Action Plan for 2004–2007 [6] conse-quently placed greater emphasis on converting strategic intentionsinto effective policies in a wide range of areas and in associationwith key partners such as local government.

This reveals something of a paradox. Whilst there is a uniquestatutory obligation to promote sustainable development in Wales,there is no Regional Sustainability Initiative (RSI) as such. Zilahy [7]defines an RSI as an initiative which ‘‘pursues activities towards a more

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sustainable regional future through participation of different societalgroups based on objectives accepted and agreed upon by the regionalstakeholders’’ (p. 486). Evidence shows that the participation ofdifferent societal groups and interests is an important requirementfor the implementation of successful RSIs. Furthermore, academicand research institutions also play a crucial role in this processby providing training for participants, implementing researchactivities to provide a solid basis for RSI activities, and takinga mediating role during debates of planning and implementation.

The non-existence or relative under-development of RSIs inWales is not unique to the region or to the UK. Rather, the pointhere is that in any particular case the sort of institutional turmoilresulting from (in this instance) devolution will be more or lesspresent elsewhere and may be equally significant in stifling thedevelopment of RSIs. That is, political and institutional instability isboth widespread and inimical to the development of RSIs eventhough, ironically, political and institutional structural innovationmay be a requirement to provide the right framework for RSIs toflourish. The decentralisation of political power in Wales is likely tobe more important as the future unfolds. The key point for thispaper is that the decentralisation process itself generated institu-tional instability that pre-occupied both the administration and thepolitical process, and therefore for a while at least reduced thescope for RSIs to be developed.

This definition of RSIs points to two potential weaknesses in thepursuit of sustainable development in Wales. First, the policycommunity lacks coherence and effective voice. The emphasis uponinclusive governance and the proliferation of partnership workingin Wales has allowed voluntary groups, charities and NGOs, some ofwhom have a distinct sustainability remit, to participate in thepolicy process. However, these partnerships and other mechanismsfor consultation often fail to engage with hard to reach groups ora wider constituency of community interests and views [3]. TheSustainable Development Forum for Wales, established in 2002,represents an attempt to mobilise civil society in the pursuit ofsustainable development and does include academics amongst itsboard membership. However, one of the aims of this body is toprovide a counterpoint to the work of the Welsh AssemblyGovernment such that it is not clear whether the potential exists inWales for the development of broad agreement amongst relevantstakeholders on appropriate courses of action.

Secondly, the involvement of academics in the pursuit ofsustainable development in Wales remains somewhat ad hoc andpiecemeal. Aside from membership of the Sustainable Develop-ment Forum and certain local and regional partnerships, the mainrole for academics in Wales in respect of sustainable developmentappears to be in providing pertinent monitoring and evaluationexpertise. Academics have, for example, provided evaluations of theSustainable Development Scheme [8] and have helped developsustainability indicators for measuring progress towards keytargets (Munday and Roberts [9,10] on the Index of SustainableEconomic Welfare, and Collins and Flynn [11] on the ecologicalfootprint). However, there is much less evidence that their broaderresearch, training and mediation or advisory roles have beeneffectively enrolled to shape strategic policy development andactions on the ground.

3. Higher education engagement in Wales: the overall picturein Cardiff

Universities are increasingly acknowledged to play a multi-faceted role within local and regional economies. As well as actingas key sites of tertiary learning and research, they are also typicallymajor employers and economic actors as well as providers ofcultural, recreational and infrastructural resources [12]. Universi-ties are increasingly considered to be an integral part of the city or

regional network of public facilities that act as centres of attractionfor individuals and enterprises, modifying the qualification struc-ture of the labour market and improving the skills base. Within thisnetwork universities stimulate job creation, encourage mobility,and have an intrinsic social and cultural effect. The city and regionalsetting of universities places them in a sphere that is oftenextremely dynamic, and offers a collective learning process withthe potential to stimulate local creativity [13].

There is a dichotomy in the economic impact of universitiesbetween income, expenditure and employment impacts, andknowledge impacts. The former result from the expenditures by theuniversity, faculty and staff, students and visitors, which generatechanges in regional income and employment. The knowledge impactrefers to changes in the quality of production factors induced by theknowledge impact of universities, resulting from research and theaccumulation of human capital plus effects related to the university’sservices to the community.

Cardiff University, located in the capital city Wales, is a prettytypical example of the genre. It has a mixed institutional historygoing back over 100 years or so and, if not in the elite group ofBritish universities (it is in the Russell Group, which is regarded bysome as an elite group), is at least generally well-regarded andappears towards the top in most independent rankings. Theuniversity has grown substantially in recent years, having devolveditself from the federal structure of the University of Wales. It hasbenefited from the general economic and social resurgence ofCardiff, and from the enhanced political status of the city arisingfrom the creation of the WAG.

Significantly, the structure of UK higher education (and partic-ularly the ‘old’ universities) has been such that the priorities havemilitated against local involvement and engagement in mostaspects of life, up to and including RSIs. There are a number ofreasons for this. First, while universities took students from thelocal area, there was a strong tradition whereby students weredrawn from across the UK, and of course from outside the UK. Theprovision of student grants and the absence of fees certainly helpedthis student mobility, because students were not constrainedfinancially to going to a university in the area where they lived.While other English universities have adopted the practice ofcharging variable ‘top-up’ fees for undergraduate students, those inWales have not and are limited to charging the basic fee (a policydecision from the WAG Minister for Education, Jane Davidson). Inany case, the traditional view has been that the student body hasbeen an essentially fluid and mobile cohort with no particular localties before or after their period of education.

Second, the universities under the British system are arguablymore focussed on academic links, and less on industry or localgovernment links, than their counterparts in other countries [14].The notion of ‘publish or perish’ is not confined to Wales or the UK,or indeed the Anglo-Saxon academic world [15] although it mightbe said to be more dominant here. The UK has a particularlyformulaic, journal publication-centric and well-documentedapproach in the form of the Research Assessment exercise [16], butis by no means unique.

Although some policy initiatives, such as collaborative researchprogrammes that seek to bring industry and academia together,have been adopted that seek to transcend this practice (an examplebeing the Foresight Vehicle programme), the main mechanism fordetermining academic status and funding remains the so-calledResearch Assessment Exercise (RAE) [17]. The RAE measuresresearch quality by way of publications, using the somewhatbizarre formula of ranking academic journals within subject disci-plines, and then allowing each academic to submit four qualifyingpublications over a set time period. The resulting ranking ofacademic schools and departments (and hence of whole universi-ties) is critical in determining the research funding made available

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to the universities. It is also indirectly influential in that suchrankings may allow or preclude participation in various publiclyfunded research programmes, or indeed influence the attractive-ness of the institution to prospective students and staff. The RAEhas come to so dominate British academic life that there is littleincentive or reward for any other activity, be it teaching or localengagement, or any form of publication outside the mainstream,top-ranked, academic journals. It need hardly be added that thereare no environmental journals ranked within the British businessand economics disciplines, or highly ranked generally [18]. Giventhat individual career prospects are also heavily influenced bypublication in top ranked academic journals, there is a ‘double bias’against engagement on local RSIs: they involve a subject matterthat is not recognised as a legitimate and defined field of activitywithin the discipline of business, economics and management inacademia; and by their local and practical orientation they are lesslikely to form the basis of a publishable piece of work in a leadinginternational (by which one can often read ‘American’) journal. Thecompetition for resources is conducted at a ‘national’ level (i.e.England and Wales) and against other universities, whereas thelocality is not a significant source of funds.

Third, as with many aspects of life today, universities in Britainhave become more international in focus, particularly with respectto research. Partly, this arises from the pressures of the RAE andacademic journal publishing noted above. Partly, it arises becauseincreasingly the available money (either from within or outside theUK) is tied to international efforts, consortia, and research subjects.The key here is to build networks of international partners, not localnetworks that, whatever the quality of the participants, would failto meet the selection criteria of e.g. European Union Frameworkfunding. It is valid to observe that there might be some potential forcollaborative and comparative research involving multiple RSIinitiatives, funded with an EU-type framework. Despite thisobservation, however, it can be seen that the underlying premise isone of internationalism not localism.

Fourth, the traditional British university discipline structure(again somewhat reinforced by the RAE) finds accommodation ofsustainability rather difficult. It is illustrative that within CardiffBusiness School, one of the largest in the UK, there is absolutely noformal undergraduate course on business and the environment andonly one at post-graduate level (started in 2006/7 academic year bytwo of the authors of this paper). Of course there has been muchactivity in British universities on sustainability issues but there isstill a sense in which social scientists involved in sustainability aresomewhat ‘downmarket’. The integration of sustainability issues(including RSIs) into Business Schools and other disciplines is itselfproblematic [19] and might be achieved through three main routes.These need not be considered either the only way possible, orindeed mutually exclusive, but are offered up as a means of stim-ulating consideration of how change might happen. These are thatsustainability can:

� be integrated into the appropriate sub-disciplines whererequired, without substantive change to the overall structure ofthe discipline;� be accorded a separate sub-discipline status of at least equal

merit to those that currently are usually defined; or� be integrated as a foundation or entry-level theme across all

sub-disciplines, while leading to the point where it is regardedas naturally embedded in the subject area.

3.1. Integration into sub-disciplines

To some extent the integration into the appropriate sub-disciplines is already under way in various disciplines. It might be

supposed that this is the ‘high water mark’ of the absorption ofsustainable thinking into business and management education forexample. There are some problems however. One issue is that thetreatment of sustainability in general tends by its very character tobe integrative, multi-disciplinary and holistic: it sits somewhatuneasily with the fragmentary, specialist approach to knowledgecreation and dissemination that underlies the mainstream con-ceptualisation of management education. Another is that this verycompartmentalisation and absorption tends to trivialise thecontribution that many involved in sustainability think that they canmake. Of course, they may be in error, but the underlying sentimentmight well be that radical change is required, in a way that cannotbe accommodated within the various sub-disciplines. Put anotherway, the placement of sustainability into the sub-disciplines can beseen as a strategy (hardly overt but real nonetheless) of contain-ment by the established paradigm (in Kuhn’s terms) and hencea means of thwarting the revolutionary character of the ideas.

3.2. Become a sub-discipline in its own right

An alternative outcome, also partially realised, is for sustain-ability to become a sub-discipline in its own right. It is clear thatthere are indeed journals and conferences already dedicated to thebroad theme of sustainability embedded in specific disciplines.These bring together diverse examples of scholarship under onegeneric theme more or less successfully. It is perhaps indicative thatone of the more enduring and successful of the journals in this area,the Journal of Cleaner Production, tends to focus on special issues,themed within specific aspects of business and sustainability.

The main problem with the sub-discipline strategy, at least as faras those involved in the area are concerned, is that it seems anotherversion of containment that puts sustainability as an optionalextradwhen clearly it is believed that the area should be central toany understanding of business and management. Moreover, by itsvery nature the topic of sustainability covers a great many issuesand themes, hence it can be rather a challenge to squeeze it all intoone sub-discipline.

The main benefit from attaining a sub-discipline status lies inthe opportunity to bring together these many and diverse streamsof scholarship under the general umbrella of sustainability. This hasvalue because of the fundamental interconnectedness of many ofthe issues and the need for holistic, systemic solutions thatcombine multiple aspects of business and management.

3.3. Become a foundation subject

It is difficult to be precise about what is meant by a foundationsubject. It might be argued that currently neo-classical economics,for all its theoretical and empirical flaws, is the current foundationsubject for business and management education for example butthen again, what is the foundation subject for a discipline like urbanplanning? Economics underpins much thinking in many other sub-disciplines including for example marketing, human resourcemanagement, strategy, and accounting so the thinking here is thatsustainability could act in a similar manner. For some, advocatingconcepts such as natural capitalism, the task is to replace the logicof contemporary economics with a sort of hybrid imbued withenvironmentalism, a task that can be achieved with appropriategovernment definition of the market boundaries and the rules ofcompetition.

Notwithstanding these impacts, the more indirect knowledgecreation impacts of universities in local and regional developmenthave assumed an elevated status with the transition to the global‘knowledge economy’. Universities are indeed viewed as a keydriver in the knowledge economy. This reflects their central role inthe ‘commodification of knowledge’ [20] and in a growing number

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of successful high-tech clusters, through activities such as tech-nology transfer, licensing agreements, technology parks, thedevelopment of a labour pool of talented scientists and graduates,and the creation of spin-off firms [21,22]. As a consequence, policy-makers have increasingly encouraged higher education institutionsto develop and strengthen their links with business and industrythrough a range of initiatives and new venture partnerships [12,22],and universities have become more important components ofregional economies rather than the ‘ivory towers’ they once werewith few, often only arm’s length, connections to their immediateregional environment.

Etkowitz and Leydesdorff [23] have conceptualised the inter-twined nature of university, industry and public policy throughthe popular notion of the ‘triple helix’ of university-industry-government relations. They argue that the relationship betweenthe three sets of actors is becoming increasingly interconnectedthrough a spiral of connections in which each actor transformsitself, is influenced by the others through trilateral relationships,and exerts a recursive effect upon the regional environment.However, as Boucher et al. [20] observe, there are differences indegree or ‘tiers’ of engagement of universities in their regionaleconomies with at least four different types of engagementdiscernable. First, is the case of the single player university ina peripheral region that has close linkages to the region’s devel-opment by virtue of being the ‘only player in town’. The secondtype is associated with multi-player universities in peripheralregions where a variety of universities are located within a regionand their involvements are thus less clear-cut. The third case isassociated with the traditional university in core regions. Boucheret al found that these core regions are usually seats of nationalgovernments and local universities are less engaged in localdevelopment but more orientated to national or even interna-tional concerns. The final case is where a new technology-orienteduniversity has evolved in a core region. These universities typicallyresort to marketing themselves as regionally engaged institutionsand place strong emphasis upon contributing to regionaleconomic development.

To further complicate matters, universities increasingly faceother pressures shaping their behaviour and engagement processes.The ascendancy of neo-liberalism and the associated discourse ofnew public management during the 1980s and 1990s have produceda fundamental shift in the way universities define and justify theirinstitutional existence. Thus as well as their traditional professionalfocus on open intellectual enquiry and debate, universities are, incommon with many other public agencies, faced by a target culturebuilt upon measured outputs, strategic planning, performanceindicators, quality assurance measures and academic audits [24,25].Questions surround whether these activities are compatible withboth one another and also with the pursuit of greater engagementwith regional economies. In a study of the University of Twente inHolland, Lazzeretti and Tavoletti [26] suggest that the pursuit ofinternational excellence in research and local economic relevancecan be complementary subject to the university’s ability to developa strong entrepreneurial vision and the adoption of a broaderconception of what is usefully transmissible local knowledge. Thisremains, however, an under-researched area.

3.4. Changes within the university

In mid-2006 the Finance Office of Cardiff University put outa call to all the constituent departments, schools and centres forparticipation in what was termed an ‘eco-champion’ initiative. Thiscall for action is a reasonable indicator of the overall, institutionallevel of engagement with sustainability issues. The university hasessentially sought first to save money by saving energy (and otheritems such as paper), and has established a series of targets over

time towards that end. In general, the initiatives proposed or inprocess revolve around items such as ensuring computers areturned off, and conducting an energy audit of the major buildingsowned by the university. The tone is voluntarist and consensual.Issues that might affect the wider community, such as the amountof road traffic generated by the university, have not yet beenaddressed, except by the Medical School in the context of limitedcar parking capacity. Tentative steps have been taken, however,with for example the establishment of a car-sharing scheme.

At the early stage of this process of creating eco-champions it isclearly impossible to establish what sort of outcomes might resultin the long run. Evidentially, many of the participants were self-selecting, enthusiastic individuals whose concept of the scope forthe scale and pace of change may be somewhat greater than that ofthe institution. That is, in theory at least it is surely the case thatengagement by a higher education facility into the locality has to belived on a day-to-day basis, rather than simply through formal RSIprogrammes.

4. Cardiff University engagement on RSI programmes

The direct economic impacts of universities can be considerable.For example, Huggins and Cooke [13] undertook an analysis of theeconomic impact of Cardiff University for the year 1994–95. Theyfound that in that year, the University purchased goods and servicesto the value of £36 million from more than 400 suppliers in the UK,Europe and the rest of the world. They estimated that approxi-mately 32% of goods and services were purchased in Cardiff, 40% inSouth East Wales (including Cardiff), and 58% elsewhere. The studyalso found that the average total weekly spending of students inCardiff during term-time was £81.17 per student and that only 9.6%of this took place outside Cardiff or South East Wales. Huggins andCooke [13] also estimated that Cardiff University generated a localgross output in Cardiff of £97.19 million, and a local disposableincome of £52.76 million.

Given the above comments, it might be expected that CardiffUniversity does not have any engagement with RSIs. In practice,this is not so. Partly, it must be recognised that at some level Walesis more than a region, if less than a nation. That is, it occupiesa somewhat ambivalent position with partial powers for self-government, but not full independent national sovereignty. CardiffUniversity was not under pressure to participate in RSIs as such,and in any case much of the funding is determined at a central (UK)level not a regional level. However, part of the slow process ofengagement with sustainability issues in general has includeda greater understanding of the importance of the impact of theuniversity in many dimensions on the locality: and this includes theenvironmental impact.

There has long been some scope for the university to be engagedin RSIs, at least in principle, because of two residual factors. First,the region of Wales has long enjoyed a distinct status within theframework of government in the UK and the EU, and as such thosedepartments and schools in the university more orientated towardsspatial economic development, etc. have been involved withlocality issues in the region. This general engagement extends toareas such as law, and of course Welsh language and history.

Second, there has emerged over the years within the universitya scattered expertise and interest in issues pertaining to sustain-ability both within and across disciplines. In some respects thisscattered interest was formalised and clustered with the creation ofthe ESRC-funded BRASS research centre, which brought togetherthe sustainability research interests of three separate schools (theBusiness School, the Law School, and the School of City andRegional Planning).

Hence, in a fragmentary manner, there has been some engage-ment between the university and the locality across a wide range of

P. Wells et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 17 (2009) 1116–1122 1121

topics, some of which could be said to constitute RSIs, either pre-dating the formation of BRASS (in 2000) or since then. It should benoted that these efforts are a long way from a cohesive strategy,either from the perspective of the locality (as articulated by, forexample, the WAG) or from the university. Neither are the RSIsconfined to BRASS as such: as is discussed in the cases illustratedbelow, initiatives that we might label as RSIs are not necessarilyseen in those terms by the participants. Some of these areas of workthat could constitute RSIs have been discussed in the section above,relating to work with the Welsh Assembly and Wales AssemblyGovernment, incidentally also involving people from the BRASSresearch centre. At the same time, it is perhaps indicative thatneither WAG nor the university keeps any sort of comprehensiverecord of projects that involve local engagement or could beconsidered as RSIs.

5. Case study: sustainability in automotive clusters in Wales1

Whilst the regional authorities in Wales have long pursued anautomotive strategy, for most of the 1990s this focused on attemptsto attract foreign automotive inward investors under the aegis ofthe Welsh Development Agency (WDA). In parallel, the WDA wasinstrumental in seeking to foster, via the Welsh Automotive Forum,initiatives that were thought to be beneficial to all those involved inthe sector in Wales. Examples of programmes here include varioussupply chain and logistics co-ordination efforts, and the provisionof information and training. These efforts were essentially aimed atretaining as much employment in the sector as possible in the lightof growing competitive pressure from firms in other locations. Thatis, the primary target was the traditional automotive industry.Around 2000, the WDA began to take a more imaginative andsophisticated strategic approach [27–30]. The WDA thereforemasterminded the Accelerate Clusters Programme for the auto-motive sector, which focuses on the newly developing field ofsustainable mobility. This approach reflects a broader concernwithin policy arenas to link clusters with knowledge creation orinnovation [31]. The WDA itself was absorbed into the WAGstructure in 2006, but the change in institutional arrangements hasnot deflected efforts in terms of the shift in policy. The AutomotiveAccelerate Clusters initiative includes a number that deal withenvironmental issues directly, while in others some link to envi-ronmental issues can be discerned (http://www.wda.co.uk/index.cfm/developing_your_business/sectors/automotive/accelerate/accelerate_clusters/en7106). The automotive clusters were:

� Hydrogen Valley (H2V). This cluster has a clear environmentalagenda and includes a number of academic institutions aspartners and members, notably the hydrogen research team atthe University of Glamorgan, and for a business perspective,Cardiff University [32,33].� End of Life Vehicles. This has clear environmental credentials,

but limited academic involvement.� Process and Design. This has a less clear environmental focus,

dealing more with digital design and engineering skillsdevelopment in Wales.� New Vehicles. This cluster has, despite its name, developed

a clear bias towards more environmentally optimisedvehicles.� Motorsport. Although Wales has a long history in motorsport

and is the home of the Wales Rally GB, part of the World RallyChampionship and sponsored by the WAG, there is as yet littleactivity in this area that can be flagged as ‘sustainability’.

1 This section is largely based on personal knowledge of the authors based ondirect involvement in these projects.

Thus, although all could claim some environmental content, thisis most overt in the first two, H2V and ELV. The history of the formeris particularly interesting. Hydrogen Valley was launched by theWDA on March 24, 2005. This is a cluster of expertise combiningacademia, industry and government to promote the move towardsa hydrogen economy. With this move, Wales took on a leadershiprole within the UK and made an attempt to rank itself among thoseat the cutting edge on the route away from oil dependence andtowards hydrogen-dependence. References were made in thepresentations, for example, to British Columbia, the Canadianprovince that houses much of that nation’s hydrogen and fuel cellexpertise.

Much of the activity of Hydrogen Valley is centred on the localBaglan ‘energy park’ constructed on a site vacated by BP. The localauthority is very supportive, as it hopes that some of the jobs lost inthe BP closures may ultimately be compensated for by new energysector jobs. This initiative did build on an existing base, as theUniversity of Glamorgan already has a recognised global expertisein hydrogen technology.

Another growth area in Wales is that of alternative, renewableenergy generation. The focus here is on wind, tidal and some solar.It was felt this would link in well with the hydrogen economy, asthe fluctuating nature of supply with renewables makes hydrogenan attractive energy storage medium. Energy produced at times ofstrong wind and high tides could thus be converted into hydrogento be used in fuel cells for power generation at times of low supplyand high demand. Any surplus hydrogen could then be used asa transport fuel, either in internal combustion engines, or in auto-motive hydrogen fuel cells.

It was acknowledged that the hydrogen economy may notactually come about, but it was also felt that if it did, Wales wouldbe in a good position to benefit; a position much improved throughthis initiative. However, in the years that followed, H2V wassomewhat downgraded as it became subsumed under a newAlternative Fuels cluster. The reason for this was essentially polit-ical. Interest in particularly biofuels grew in the interim. Both theWDA and WAG investigated this area as it was felt it could besupportive of the Welsh agriculture sector. In addition, Waleswanted its own strategy for compliance with the EU BiofuelsDirective and the UK Renewable Fuels Obligation. With the mergerof WDA with WAG in early 2006, the projects were merged as well.Although initially there was an intention for Wales to becomea leader in the biofuels area, building on an informal biofuels sectorthat had developed in the Principality, as well as the existing oilrefineries in West Wales, the ultimate result of this initiative meansthat Wales will merely comply with the Directive. Some indirectacademic involvement featured in these projects, although theseacademics acted merely in an advisory capacity. There has also beensome progress on the hydrogen front; the academic work hascontinued and some WAG staff has continued to be supportive, butthe political focus had clearly shifted to biofuels.

On the whole, it is clear that while individual academics mayhave been involved in a fragmented and piecemeal manner, thishardly constitutes a framework for engagement or cohesive use ofthe world class expertise available in Wales. A possible exceptioncould be Hydrogen Valley. Here a credible cluster of private sectorand academic players are part of the Cluster and there is thepotential for some real work to be engaged in. However, since theabsorption of the WDAdwho drove this initiativedby the WAG,there appears to have been little activity as H2V appears to havebecome downgraded somewhat at the expense of biofuels withinthe renamed alternative fuels cluster.

In so far as the political interest in ‘clusters’ helped shape muchof the WAG research programme at a local economic level then itcould be said that political concerns and controls have reduced thescope of academic work. On the other hand, the university and its

P. Wells et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 17 (2009) 1116–11221122

staff remain a sovereign body and the university guards its inde-pendence jealously. Academic freedom of speech remains animportant aspect of society in the UK.

6. Conclusions

It is possible that the events related here are in fact rather typicalof many settings and contexts, and certainly not confined to theinvolvement of universities or other higher education institutions inRSIs. The picture generated is one of almost constant flux in policyand institutional arrangements between the various parties inWales, combined with a series of efforts by academics to contributeto sustainability at the local level. Equally, there were variousinitiatives considered in the context of the automotive industrywhere academic involvement could have been much greater andmore strategically considered than was actually the case. Given thatthe broader academic context, set by the RAE and other institutionalfactors, still militates somewhat against both sustainability andlocalism, it is perhaps unsurprising that the depth and breadth ofRSIs has been somewhat modest, erratic, and partial.

Both academics and research funding agencies have recognisedthe need to bring academic work into closer and more directlypractical relation with social issues. To this end, the concept of‘action research’ has gained currency. In this concept, research isexplicitly orientated towards interactive problem solving with the‘client’ or subject of research, and in some senses brings academicscloser to the functional practice of consultants [34]. This change inemphasis will certainly help promote RSIs.

Beyond this action, all parties can do more to ensure greatermulti-agency RSI development. The academic community has torecognise that ultimately, being funded by society, there isa responsibility to participate and contribute to the resolution ofthe social issues of the day. In other words, we need to accept thatbeing engaged in practical problems and issues does not denigrateour status or our worth. Hence, academic reward systems both forindividuals and institutions need to have a broader range of ‘keyperformance indicators’ that includes engagement with localcommunities.

Furthermore, and rather more problematically, there needs toa change in the academic journal system. On the one hand, thestatus of environmental journals needs to be enhanceddin theworld of Business Studies at least this remains a substantive barrierto change. On the other hand, the type of involvement and researchoutput that RSI engagement generates also needs to be accordeda higher status in all journals.

In addition, academics entering into RSIs should do so with a clearunderstanding of the benefits for themselves. Specifically, this meansthat the entry into RSIs should be done with a definite plan forgenerating publishable papers and research output and, if necessary,agreement should be reached with other participants in advance.

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