The Learned Society of Wales (LSW) has formally launched its new five-year strategy to coincide with the announcement of a new funding agreement with the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales (HEFCW) .

The LSW, Wales’ National Academy, is made of up over 650 Fellows, who are leaders and experts from higher education and civic life, all with a link to Wales. Their connections, expertise and experience are central to the new strategy and to the LSW’s aim of ensuring that research in Wales contributes to a thriving nation, capable of meeting local and global challenges.

The new strategy puts four main strands at the heart the Society’s mission:

1. Making an impact, by being a trusted, independent voice in policy debates;
2. Fostering collaboration, by creating multi-disciplinary links and relations with organisations in and outside Wales;
3. Growing talent, by helping to make Wales a great place to carry out research;
4. Promoting inclusivity, by ensuring the Society reflects Wales’ diversity.

“This new strategy reflects an organisation that is confident, outward looking and is playing a growing part in Welsh academic and civic life,” said Professor Hywel Thomas, President of the LSW.

“The launch of the strategy as the same time as we announce a major funding agreement with HEFCW means we can make significant progress towards our ambitious targets.

“Impact is at the core of the strategy: the impact we can have as an organisation and the impact that research can have on Wales’ policy priorities.”

Among the activities outlined in the strategy for the next five years are:

• working with government, industry, public sector organisations and others, to increase policymakers’ understanding of the importance of excellent research;
• using the Society’s Fellows to support the next generations of researchers, by promoting collaboration between them at all career stages and in all sectors
• improving the Society’s record on diversity, equity, and inclusion, to create a welcoming and inclusive organisation in which under-represented groups have a voice.

“The strategy identifies about thirty areas of activity, within our four broad themes, that we will focus on to meet our strategic aims,” said Oliva Harrison, LSW’s Chief Executive.

“None of this can happen alone. An important element of the strategy is strengthening relationships we have with HEFCW, the Welsh Government, Wales’ universities and the flourishing Celtic Academies Alliance.

“We look forward to forging new relationships so that, by the end of the strategy’s cycle, not only have we developed our internal organisation, but we have also cemented our external  reputation as an independent, authoritative voice, trusted by our partners to make an impact on Welsh society.”