Leadership and learning
Led by Nina Ruddle - Head of Public Policy Engagement, Wrexham Glyndwr University
“Our aim was to shape a new
leadership programme to support current and emerging leaders to tackle the challenges of increasing demand on public services with decreasing resources and complex societal challenges.”
Background
We recognised that the political, social and economic challenges of increasing demand on public services, coupled with decreasing resources and complex societal challenges needed new ways of thinking, working and collaboration to enable change.
Together with the requirements of the Wellbeing of Future Generations Act Wales to work in new ways, our aim was to shape a new leadership programme to support current and emerging leaders to tackle these significant challenges.
Work Includes:
Llesiant magazine
Graphic design and illustration students at Wrexham Glyndwr University (WGU) collaborated with the North Wales Public Service Boards to create a new magazine focussed on the wellbeing of communities across the region.
The magazine, called Llesiant, brings together some of the key data from the region’s wellbeing assessments which have been led by the Wrexham, Flintshire, Conwy and Denbighshire, Anglesey and Gwynedd PSBs. It aims to build a picture of the current wellbeing of North Wales communities and to support wellbeing planning to improve this for the future.
Every five years, Public Service Boards, as part of the Well-being of Future Generations Act, are required to assess the wellbeing of their area and produce a wellbeing assessment, which is used as a basis to develop that area’s wellbeing plan outlining how public bodies will work together to improve and enhance community wellbeing.
In North Wales, these assessments have been developed working closely with communities to understand what really matters to local people. This collaboration with WGU students aims to build on this approach by encouraging the students to engage with, and interpret, the data to produce and innovative and creative tool for the PSBs to continue to engage both communities and public bodies in learning, understanding, leading and acting on, the region’s wellbeing priorities.
Systems Leadership
In partnership with Do-Well, we co-created a systems leadership course at Glyndwr University with over 120 partners during 2018/19. A number of cohorts have undertaken the programme from Public Service Boards in Flintshire, housing association Grwp Cynefin, and partnership teams focusing on mental health.
We also presented a number of masterclasses to Governors across Wales to support them in implementing the Curriculum for Wales 2022. This work has created a community of leaders and ensured that we capture the JDT model to share learning.
The focus on systems leadership will continue in a number of ways across North Wales. Using the new Research Wales Innovation Fund from the Higher Education Funding Council Wales, we are co-creating a North Wales Public Service Lab, an intellectual and physical space bringing people and communities together to explore societal challenges and develop solutions. This will be underpinned with applied research and innovation.