Institute of Welsh Affairs
Encyclopedia
The Institute of Welsh Affairs (also known by the acronym IWA) is an independent, membership-based think-tank based in the capital of Wales
, Cardiff, owing no allegiance to any political or economic interest group. It focuses its research on politics, culture, economy, education, environment, science and technology in Wales, with the aim of developing proposals for "policy innovation and improvement" and promoting new thinking on Welsh issues. The IWA publishes numerous reports on the research it carries out, and organises public seminars and conferences to encourage discussion and debate. It is highly regarded for the quality of its work and its commitment to informed public discussion.
2010 saw the launch of ClickonWales.org, the IWA’s online news-analysis magazine. ClickonWales is designed to bring users a new level of regular commentary and analysis on Welsh affairs, and opportunities for debate. Expert contributors and commentators from across the political spectrum will be commissioned daily to provide insight into the unfolding drama of 21st century Wales. The site also features the ‘Wales factfile’ and the ‘Lecture Library’. Wales factfile is a handy one-stop shop for information and data about many aspects of Wales and its economic, social, cultural and political life. The ‘Lecture Library’ is a place where organisations will be able to post
the texts of public lectures on a wide range of subjects.
on 22 July 1987 (Company No: 02151006). It was founded on the strength of a paper written in 1985 by Geraint Talfan Davies
, a broadcaster, and Keith James, a Cardiff lawyer. The IWA became registered as a charity on 1 December 1990 (Charity No: 1078435).
The corporate members include BBC Wales
, British Gas
, Cardiff County Council, Corus Steel
, Eversheds
, Julian Hodge Bank
, ITV Wales
, the
Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust
, S4C
, Welsh Water
, and the University of Wales
. Corporate members are encouraged to have an input into the research agenda of the IWA.
The Institute is governed by a Board of Trustees. Its first chairman was Henry Kroch, then chairman of AB Electronics. Since 1992, the chairman has been Geraint Talfan Davies, and since 1996 the director of the organisation has been former journalist and television producer, John Osmond
.
As at November 2010, the Board members were Eurfyl ap Gwilym
, Guy Clarke, Rhys David, Geraint Talfan Davies
(Chairman), Peter Davies, Sue Essex, Nigel Griffiths, Gerald Holtham, Megan Mathias, Rob Humphreys, Robert Jolliffe, Ruth Marks, Chris O'Malley, Wendy Sadler, Professor John Tucker
, Sir Adrian Webb, Dr. Ruth Williams and Professor Laura McAllister.
The IWA has five area branches – for north Wales, for west Wales, Swansea Bay, Gwent, and Cardiff and the Valleys. A sixth 'virtual' branch - IWA Women - has been formed to raise the profile of women's concerns in Wales and to increase the engagement of women with the IWA and civic society in Wales more generally. The IWA also has an affiliated organisation, Wales in London, which came into being in 1994 with the merger the London
branch of the IWA and the London Welsh Publicity Society.
Approximately one third of the IWA's income is derived from membership subscriptions, the remainder coming mainly from the funding of specific research projects by trusts and foundations, and other public and private organisations.
During the first two terms of the National Assembly of Wales (1999–2003 and 2003–2007) the IWA produced quarterly "monitoring reports" which examined the work of the devolved departments (such as health and education) as well as political and constitutional developments in general. It also examined the new institution's relations with Westminster and with the European Union
. These reports can be downloaded free of charge from the IWA website.
It now publishes a regular bulletin on developments in the Assembly, Assembly Bwletin Cynulliad, published in association with Grayling Wales. These can be downloaded from clickonwales.org. In addition, the IWA has published a multitude of research reports, discussion papers and books.
Typically, an IWA event will focus on a contested issue in Welsh politics. It will bring in an expert (or number of experts) who have detailed knowledge and understanding of the issue, to clearly present both side’s arguments clearly. This is inline with the first part of it’s mission, which to help raise the level of public debate on issues affecting Wales, by placing quality information in the public domain.
In 2010 the IWA launched the Inspire Wales Awards, in association with the Western Mail . The Awards aim to raise the profile of Welsh men and women who are making a contribution to our society, to encourage active citizenship and create role models for others. Categories for the awards include the environment, business, education, sport, and arts, media and the creative industries. 2011 sees the IWA/Western Mail Business Awards, celebrating business achievement in Wales.
In 2010 the IWA's director, John Osmond was asked by the Commissioner for Older People in Wales to carry out a study exploring Welsh policy responses to our rapidly ageing society, in particular the Welsh Government’s policy which has been developing in a number of innovative ways since 2003. The findings were published in the bilingual report, 'Adding Life to Years / Ychwanegu Bywyd at a y Blynyddoedd'.
The IWA's most recent publication, entitled 'Engaging Wales' disengaged youth', explores the issue of so-called 'NEETS' - Children Not in Education, Employment of Training. It contains contributions from experts in the fields of youth policy, education, employment, and youth-centred charities. A full list of the IWA's research outputs is available on its website.
The IWA's priority areas for its future work include economic development, the environment and climate change, education, health and culture, governance and civil society.
formed a major part in the IWA's agenda. It produced reports on the conduct of the referendum, prior to the 1997 referendum and a working group suggested many amendments to the Government of Wales Bill. It also published reports on the relationship between devolution and economic development, and on the issue of housing the Assembly.
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
, Cardiff, owing no allegiance to any political or economic interest group. It focuses its research on politics, culture, economy, education, environment, science and technology in Wales, with the aim of developing proposals for "policy innovation and improvement" and promoting new thinking on Welsh issues. The IWA publishes numerous reports on the research it carries out, and organises public seminars and conferences to encourage discussion and debate. It is highly regarded for the quality of its work and its commitment to informed public discussion.
2010 saw the launch of ClickonWales.org, the IWA’s online news-analysis magazine. ClickonWales is designed to bring users a new level of regular commentary and analysis on Welsh affairs, and opportunities for debate. Expert contributors and commentators from across the political spectrum will be commissioned daily to provide insight into the unfolding drama of 21st century Wales. The site also features the ‘Wales factfile’ and the ‘Lecture Library’. Wales factfile is a handy one-stop shop for information and data about many aspects of Wales and its economic, social, cultural and political life. The ‘Lecture Library’ is a place where organisations will be able to post
the texts of public lectures on a wide range of subjects.
Foundation of the IWA
The Institute of Welsh Affairs was incorporatedIncorporation (business)
Incorporation is the forming of a new corporation . The corporation may be a business, a non-profit organisation, sports club, or a government of a new city or town...
on 22 July 1987 (Company No: 02151006). It was founded on the strength of a paper written in 1985 by Geraint Talfan Davies
Geraint Talfan Davies
Geraint Talfan Davies is chairman and one of the co-founders of the Institute of Welsh Affairs, an independent Welsh think-tank. He is also chairman of Welsh National Opera...
, a broadcaster, and Keith James, a Cardiff lawyer. The IWA became registered as a charity on 1 December 1990 (Charity No: 1078435).
Mission
The IWA has a fourfold mission:- To help raise the level of public debate on issues affecting Wales, by placing quality information in the public domain.
- To influence policy-making through the dissemination of innovative new policy ideas.
- To provide networking opportunities for the IWA membership.
- To contribute to building the civic capacity of the country.
Organisation
The IWA is a membership based organisation, it has approximately 1,200 individual and 150 corporate members, and more than 100 Fellows. It is a company limited by guarantee and a registered charity.The corporate members include BBC Wales
BBC Wales
BBC Cymru Wales is a division of the British Broadcasting Corporation for Wales. Based at Broadcasting House in the Llandaff area of Cardiff, it directly employs over 1200 people, and produces a broad range of television, radio and online services in both the Welsh and English languages.Outside...
, British Gas
Centrica
Centrica plc is a multinational utility company, based in the United Kingdom but also with interests in North America. Centrica is the largest supplier of gas to domestic customers in the UK, and one of the largest suppliers of electricity, operating under the trading names "Scottish Gas" in...
, Cardiff County Council, Corus Steel
Corus Group
Tata Steel Europe is a multinational steel-making company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the second-largest steel-maker in Europe and is a subsidiary of Tata Steel of India, one of the ten largest steel producers in the world.Corus Group was formed through the merger of Koninklijke...
, Eversheds
Eversheds
Eversheds LLP is an international law firm headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is one of the 50 largest law firms in the world measured by revenues. In 2009/10 it achieved total revenues of £355.2 million, making it the ninth-largest UK-based law firm by this measurement, and profits per...
, Julian Hodge Bank
Julian Hodge Bank
Julian Hodge Bank is a small commercial bank in the United Kingdom. It is named after Sir Julian Hodge. The bank was formed in 1987, and is headquartered in Cardiff, Wales, the only independent bank headquartered in Wales...
, ITV Wales
HTV
HTV, now legally known as ITV Wales & West, is the ITV contractor for Wales and the West of England, which operated from studios in Cardiff and Bristol. The company provided commercial television for the dual-region 'Wales and West' franchise, which it won from TWW in 1968...
, the
Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust
Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust
The Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust is a philanthropic left-of-centre trust that chiefly supports work undertaken in the UK, Ireland and South Africa...
, S4C
S4C
S4C , currently branded as S4/C, is a Welsh television channel broadcast from the capital, Cardiff. The first television channel to be aimed specifically at a Welsh-speaking audience, it is the fifth oldest British television channel .The channel - initially broadcast on...
, Welsh Water
Welsh Water
Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water is a company which supplies drinking water and wastewater services to most of Wales and parts of western England.It is regulated under the Water Industry Act 1991.-History:...
, and the University of Wales
University of Wales
The University of Wales was a confederal university founded in 1893. It had accredited institutions throughout Wales, and formerly accredited courses in Britain and abroad, with over 100,000 students, but in October 2011, after a number of scandals, it withdrew all accreditation, and it was...
. Corporate members are encouraged to have an input into the research agenda of the IWA.
The Institute is governed by a Board of Trustees. Its first chairman was Henry Kroch, then chairman of AB Electronics. Since 1992, the chairman has been Geraint Talfan Davies, and since 1996 the director of the organisation has been former journalist and television producer, John Osmond
John Osmond
John Osmond is the director of the independent Welsh think-tank, the Institute of Welsh Affairs. He has contributed to numerous books on the subjects of Welsh politics, culture and devolution, and is also a former journalist and television producer....
.
As at November 2010, the Board members were Eurfyl ap Gwilym
Eurfyl ap Gwilym
Eurfyl ap Gwilym is a Welsh politician of Plaid Cymru, and Deputy Chairman of the Principality Building Society.He was educated at Ardwyn Grammar School and at King's College London .-Professional career:...
, Guy Clarke, Rhys David, Geraint Talfan Davies
Geraint Talfan Davies
Geraint Talfan Davies is chairman and one of the co-founders of the Institute of Welsh Affairs, an independent Welsh think-tank. He is also chairman of Welsh National Opera...
(Chairman), Peter Davies, Sue Essex, Nigel Griffiths, Gerald Holtham, Megan Mathias, Rob Humphreys, Robert Jolliffe, Ruth Marks, Chris O'Malley, Wendy Sadler, Professor John Tucker
John V. Tucker
John Vivian Tucker is a British computer scientist and expert on computability theory, also known as recursion theory. Computability theory is about what can and cannot be computed by people and machines...
, Sir Adrian Webb, Dr. Ruth Williams and Professor Laura McAllister.
The IWA has five area branches – for north Wales, for west Wales, Swansea Bay, Gwent, and Cardiff and the Valleys. A sixth 'virtual' branch - IWA Women - has been formed to raise the profile of women's concerns in Wales and to increase the engagement of women with the IWA and civic society in Wales more generally. The IWA also has an affiliated organisation, Wales in London, which came into being in 1994 with the merger the London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
branch of the IWA and the London Welsh Publicity Society.
Approximately one third of the IWA's income is derived from membership subscriptions, the remainder coming mainly from the funding of specific research projects by trusts and foundations, and other public and private organisations.
Publications
The IWA publishes a journal three times a year (in spring, summer and winter), called Agenda. First published in 1994, Agenda contains numerous articles on current issues in Wales, written by experts in their field, including academics, politicians and business people, and a wide range of participants from Welsh civil society.During the first two terms of the National Assembly of Wales (1999–2003 and 2003–2007) the IWA produced quarterly "monitoring reports" which examined the work of the devolved departments (such as health and education) as well as political and constitutional developments in general. It also examined the new institution's relations with Westminster and with the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
. These reports can be downloaded free of charge from the IWA website.
It now publishes a regular bulletin on developments in the Assembly, Assembly Bwletin Cynulliad, published in association with Grayling Wales. These can be downloaded from clickonwales.org. In addition, the IWA has published a multitude of research reports, discussion papers and books.
Events
One of the IWA’s central activities is holding events which are designed to disseminate information to the public on a host of public policy issues. The events range from the smaller ‘coffee shop’ debates to full-scale conferences.Typically, an IWA event will focus on a contested issue in Welsh politics. It will bring in an expert (or number of experts) who have detailed knowledge and understanding of the issue, to clearly present both side’s arguments clearly. This is inline with the first part of it’s mission, which to help raise the level of public debate on issues affecting Wales, by placing quality information in the public domain.
In 2010 the IWA launched the Inspire Wales Awards, in association with the Western Mail . The Awards aim to raise the profile of Welsh men and women who are making a contribution to our society, to encourage active citizenship and create role models for others. Categories for the awards include the environment, business, education, sport, and arts, media and the creative industries. 2011 sees the IWA/Western Mail Business Awards, celebrating business achievement in Wales.
Research
In November 2006 the IWA published a report entitled Time to Deliver: The Third Term and Beyond. This looked at policy options for the Assembly’s third term, and was the result of work by eight study groups in individual policy areas.In 2010 the IWA's director, John Osmond was asked by the Commissioner for Older People in Wales to carry out a study exploring Welsh policy responses to our rapidly ageing society, in particular the Welsh Government’s policy which has been developing in a number of innovative ways since 2003. The findings were published in the bilingual report, 'Adding Life to Years / Ychwanegu Bywyd at a y Blynyddoedd'.
The IWA's most recent publication, entitled 'Engaging Wales' disengaged youth', explores the issue of so-called 'NEETS' - Children Not in Education, Employment of Training. It contains contributions from experts in the fields of youth policy, education, employment, and youth-centred charities. A full list of the IWA's research outputs is available on its website.
The IWA's priority areas for its future work include economic development, the environment and climate change, education, health and culture, governance and civil society.
Devolution
In the late 1990s, issues relating to devolutionDevolution
Devolution is the statutory granting of powers from the central government of a sovereign state to government at a subnational level, such as a regional, local, or state level. Devolution can be mainly financial, e.g. giving areas a budget which was formerly administered by central government...
formed a major part in the IWA's agenda. It produced reports on the conduct of the referendum, prior to the 1997 referendum and a working group suggested many amendments to the Government of Wales Bill. It also published reports on the relationship between devolution and economic development, and on the issue of housing the Assembly.
Welsh Baccalaureate
As early as 1993, in a report entitled Wales 2010, the IWA proposed the idea of a Welsh Baccalaureate. In a later report by Colin Jenkins and John David it recommended that the Welsh Baccalaureate be based on the International Baccalaureate. Following the establishment of the Labour-Liberal Democrat coalition in October 2000, the Assembly Government decided to pilot a Welsh Baccalaureate, although it chose not to adopt the IWA's detailed proposals and to ally the pilot instead to the existing A level and GCSE qualifications.Sources
- Public record filed at Companies House, (Company No: 02151006), October 2007.
- Public record filed at Charity Commission, (Charity No: 1078435), October 2007.
- Welsh Baccalaureate Qualification Internal Evaluation, University of BathUniversity of BathThe University of Bath is a campus university located in Bath, United Kingdom. It received its Royal Charter in 1966....
. - A 'Quarter-Way House', John OsmondJohn OsmondJohn Osmond is the director of the independent Welsh think-tank, the Institute of Welsh Affairs. He has contributed to numerous books on the subjects of Welsh politics, culture and devolution, and is also a former journalist and television producer....
, November 2006.