Tag Archives: Welsh Government

London’s Design Museum has recently announced the nominees for the 10th anniversary edition of the Beazley Designs of the Year award.  The annual award and accompanying exhibition, which takes place at the Design Museum’s site in Kensington, West London, looks to celebrate more than 60 of the best design projects from all over the world during the last 12 months.  The overall winner from last year was Ikea’s flat-packed refugee shelter Better Shelter. 

Alongside Smörgåsbord’s work on the Wales Nation brand thirteen projects have been nominated in the Graphics category, ranging from the creation of a Refugee Nation Flag designed for the first ever Olympic refugee team to a new logo and identity for the Reykjavik Art Museum. 

The refreshed Wales nation brand was first introduced in January 2016 through the Year of Adventure tourism campaign. The work was conducted in response to Welsh Government’s ambitions to develop a more integrated approach to promoting Wales to the world as a place to visit, trade, invest and live.

At the heart of the new approach is a confident new strategy and compelling narrative that provides a platform for promoting Wales internationally. Another key aspect of the brand is the visual identity, including a core marque featuring a contemporary rendering of the familiar dragon icon from Wales’ national flag. There is also a distinctive new photography style and a bespoke typeface, Cymru Wales Sans inspired by the Welsh typographical heritage including digraphs unique to the Welsh language.

The award nomination for the Beazley Designs of the Year exhibition focuses in particular on the new typeface.  This follows a previous accolade from the European Design Awards 2017 where the typeface won the prestigious Best of Show Gold for overall design across all categories.  Recognition for the new approach has also come from the travel sector with awards won at the 2017 Travel Marketing Awards. 

Dylan Griffith from Smörgåsbord, explains: 

“Wales has its own language and Welsh is one of the oldest languages in Europe. Bearing few similarities to English, we felt it was necessary to create a bespoke typeface that that brings the country’s rich history and the provenance of the Welsh language to the forefront. The Cymru Wales Sans typeface is the cornerstone of the new Wales brand and has quickly become the golden thread that unifies the graphic language across all sectors.”

Cabinet Secretary for the Economy and Infrastructure, Ken Skates, said: 

“Our aim was to create a compelling and visually consistent identity to help reveal new, engaging stories about Wales to complement our country’s rich history, beauty and culture. Being shortlisted for this prestigious award shows that our innovative approach is standing out in the global marketplace.   

“This approach has received a fantastic response through the Year of Adventure and Year of Legends campaigns. It has also been used to strengthen how we present Wales as a location for businesses to trade and invest, the quality of our food and drink, and has even been used as a foundation for a successful campaign to recruit more GPs into Wales. I am delighted by the level of support and enthusiasm the new approach has already attracted – particularly from the tourism and business community in Wales, and also from quality private sector brands who have shown an interest in working more closely with us to promote Wales to the world.

“Although these awards are important, we’ve also seen evidence that the new Wales brand approach and associated campaigns are already making a difference to the economy.  For example, Visit Wales’ 2016 campaign generated an additional £370 million for the Welsh economy – which is an 18% increase on 2015.”

First Minister of Wales Carwyn Jones and First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon today agreed to work together on amendments to the UK government’s EU Withdrawal Bill.

These changes will be designed to protect devolved powers and responsibilities and provide effective powers to ensure devolved law works on withdrawal from the EU.

The First Ministers also committed to coordinate advice to the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly to ensure that both are fully informed of the risks posed by the UK government bill and the proposed changes.

Both governments have previously made clear that they could not recommend legislative consent is given to the UK government’s proposals as they impose unacceptable constraints on current devolved powers, and are impractical and unworkable in practice.

Following their meeting, the First Ministers said:

“We are approaching the 20th anniversaries of the referendums that established the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly. Those votes, and the development of devolution since 1998, provide the secure democratic basis for self-government in Scotland and Wales.

“Since the vote to leave the EU, the approach of the UK government to withdrawal has been a rejection of the principle of devolution, and the sharing of decision-making across these islands, clearly chosen by the people of Scotland and Wales.

“Most recently the UK government has published position papers which involve the vital interests of Scotland and Wales but which have been prepared without the involvement of the devolved administrations.

“Most seriously, the UK government’s EU (Withdrawal) Bill is an unashamed move to centralise decision-making power in Westminster, cutting directly across current devolved powers and responsibilities.

“The Scottish and Welsh Governments have already made clear that they cannot recommend that the Scottish Parliament and National Assembly give their necessary legislative consent to the bill. We believe that the bill must not be allowed to progress in its current form.

“To provide a constructive way forward, the Scottish and Welsh Governments are now working to agree potential amendments to the bill which would address our concerns. We are also coordinating our advice to the Parliament and Assembly to ensure they fully understand our concerns and our alternative proposals.

“It will now be for the UK government to respond positively to our suggested amendments to move negotiations forward, and ensure there is a functioning legal system on withdrawal from the EU, and agreed UK structures, – where these are required – that reflect the views and interests of all parts of the UK, and respect devolved powers and responsibilities.”

With the Welsh  Government’s A55  resilience study well underway, Mr Skates re-iterated his commitment to look afresh at all potential options to improve journey times, reliability and resilience on the A55 and A494.

Economy Secretary Ken Skates said:

“The A55/ A494 corridor which was built decades ago was never designed to cope with over 70,000 vehicles. In its current state, is far from the ideal modern gateway to supporting the people and economy of North Wales.

“Recent years and months have seen the Welsh Government investing millions of pounds in bringing various aspects of the road up to modern standards. From improvement work to tunnels and road surfacing, to flood alleviation projects and maintenance, I’ve made ensuring the A55 performs to the best of its ability an absolute priority. 

“New sections of road to compliment the existing network will of course form part of future improvements, and we hope to see the planned £200m Deeside Corridor, for example, play a significant role in  an improved infrastructure. Alongside this I have been clear that further improvements can and should be made wherever possible so we can maximise the performance of this vital road.

“It’s for this reason that I commissioned a comprehensive resilience study in April to explore what more could be done to improve journey times, reliability and resilience. That study is now reaching completion and is on schedule to be finalised in the Autumn.

“Following my receipt of the study, I will act quickly to put in place a comprehensive programme of work to further help deliver a road that better serves the thousands of road users that travel on it daily, whilst seeking to keep disruption to a minimum.

“An improved A55 is absolutely vital to the wider economy of North Wales and is something we must continue to work to deliver as quickly as we can.” 

The Bee Friendly scheme, thought to be the first of its kind anywhere in the world, is aimed at communities and community groups, schools, public bodies, businesses, universities and colleges, places of worship and aims to reduce and reverse the decline in numbers of pollinator species like bees and butterflies.

The Cabinet Secretary visited St Peter’s Community Gardens in Cardiff, to present them with a Bee Friendly certificate to acknowledge the important work that they are doing to help pollinators. 22 Bee Friendly Certificates have been handed out since the scheme was launched last year.  

Wales was the first country in the UK to have an Action Plan for Pollinators, stating our ambition to reduce and reverse the decline in pollinators. This is helping us to achieve our aim of becoming the first Pollinator-Friendly nation in the world.

Lesley Griffiths said,

“We want the natural environment to be managed so that it continues to provide us with the environmental, economic, and social benefits now and in the future. By encouraging more community groups like St Peter’s to join the Bee Friendly scheme we can protect pollinators and create thriving environments for local communities to enjoy.

“I am delighted Cardiff University is now Bee Friendly and I have been really impressed with the work it has done as part of its Pharma Bees project. This is a really unique project and shows how important our pollinators are to all walks of life.  

“I hope others follow the lead of Cardiff University and St Peter’s Community Gardens to help make Cardiff the first Bee Friendly capital city in the world!”

In 2016 Cardiff University School of Pharmacy provided St Peters with its first bee hive and the funds to enable community volunteers to be trained as beekeepers. The hive will provide the pharmabees team with an excellent source of honey for testing from a wonderful variety of wildflowers, vegetables and fruit trees planted at the gardens.

First Minister of Wales Carwyn Jones and First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon will meet today in Edinburgh to discuss how the 2 governments can work together to protect devolution from a “Westminster power grab”.

First Minister Carwyn Jones said:  

“Our position is clear and unequivocal – the Withdrawal Bill flies in the face of devolution and we cannot accept it in its current form. It is quite simply a blatant power grab from Whitehall which is not in the interest of people in Wales and the other devolved administrations.

“We have been equally clear that we are prepared to come to the table, to work constructively with the UK government to try and reach agreement on future arrangements. Based on their behaviour over the last few months, we have seen no real desire to take up this invitation and unless we see a completely different approach we will not be recommending the Assembly gives its consent to this bill.

“I am looking forward to discussing with Nicola Sturgeon our shared concerns regarding the bill and wider Brexit issues which affects both our countries. By speaking with one voice, we will make it clear that the UK government cannot simply impose its will on the other constituent parts of the UK.”

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said:

“Both during and after the EU referendum, new powers were promised to Holyrood but instead the UK government is planning to impose new restrictions on the Scottish Parliament.   

“The UK government’s EU (Withdrawal) Bill returns powers, even in devolved policy areas, solely to Westminster. Both the Scottish and the Welsh Governments have been clear that this power grab cannot be allowed to take place.

“I am looking forward to discussing with Carwyn Jones how we can work together to change the bill so that devolution and the interests of the people of Scotland and Wales can be protected. As it stands it is inconceivable that we would recommend that the Scottish Parliament gives its consent to the legislation.

“We have said repeatedly that we are willing to talk constructively with the UK government on future arrangements. But this has to be on the basis of agreement and partnership not imposition.

“The Scottish Government is doing all we can to prevent an extreme Brexit, keep the UK in the Single Market and protect devolution.”