NERCOUTE Breaking Barriers for Wales Pipelines into Environmental Science

The Welsh word Cynefin has no English equivalent. Its origins lie in farming and describe the habitual tracks and trails worn by animals in hillsides. It evokes a place where we feel we belong, where the people and landscape around us are familiar and comforting. How do we ensure that everyone experiences this feeling within the NERC community including Wales? Wales is the most economically deprived of all UK nations, has decreasing numbers of individuals applying or studying for A-levels at further education level and the lowest proportion of individuals applying for university in the UK. Whilst applicant numbers to university education are falling the participation gap is steadily widening. In low socio-economic areas of Wales, social mobility and financial restrictions are some of the many barriers preventing potential emerging talents from breaking through into education and following pathways into the NERC community. These factors limit the Welsh representation within NERC and the wider UK environmental science community. Whilst there have been longitudinal large studies of career aspirations and barriers for young people entering STEM fields in the UK (e.g. ASPIRES) there needs to be a fundamental change in how we think about improving the number and diversity of individuals pursuing STEM and a focus on changing the external environment. These concepts are yet to be applied specifically to the field of environmental science and to create practical culture change within the Welsh context. In this pilot project we will establish a new NERC Welsh Network and assess the landscape of the Welsh education pipeline to identify barriers into NERC communities, particularly in low socio-economic areas. This project will pave the way to increase Welsh diversity in the NERC community by: establishing a new understanding of the NERC pipeline within Wales from primary school to NERC communities and organisations through surveys and focus groups, creating a new NERC Welsh Network with equitable opportunities for all career levels and roles to share best practice in inclusive practices allowing cross discipline and organisational knowledge transfer and collaboration, identifying barriers and understanding of generative mechanisms for underrepresented Welsh groups entering into the UK environmental science developing training in inclusive practices relevant for those working in this sector, producing clear guidelines and policy for education and NERC research centres and environmental organisations to begin actionable change from within to help diversify the NERC community. setup a Welsh network of champion NERC scientists to disseminate best practice and create lasting impact through role models for prospective scientists and online resources. These include impactful bilingual videos (Welsh and English) showcasing the breadth and depth of the NERC opportunities available to all ages in and beyond Wales in particularly traditionally unengaged communities. These will be utilised at future events and increase the visibility of NERC science and opportunities. develop pilot engagement initiatives including examples of targeted activities specific to Welsh communities and online resources determining key entry points along the pipeline to trial positive activities to address inequity and produce a theory of change model for Wales specific to environmental sciences In a follow-on project, we will deploy our Welsh network and knowledge of barriers and entry points to establish a targeted scheme across all-Wales utilising actionable guidelines, inclusive training, resources and engagement activities to initiate lasting change for the NERC community.