National sustainabilities in Scotland and Wales: a pilot project

This project aims to assess the strength of the connections between nationalist discourses and discourses of sustainability in Scotland and in Wales and how these connections operate in practice using two contrasting case studies. It tackles head on the potential connections that can exist between nationalism, as one of the most important communities that shapes individual and group identity, and sustainability, arguably, the key discourse that seeks to influence environmental, economic and social futures.

Specifically, the project asks whether devolving more power to Scotland and Wales is likely to lead to truly transformative forms of sustainability, not just within their own territorial boundaries, but also as members of the UK, EU and global communities. It tests the assertion made at the outset of devolution: that "bringing government closer to the people through devolution is itself a policy for sustainable development" (DEFRA, 1999) and subsequent claims that sustainability is best delivered at this sub-state level; with devolved bodies being small enough to facilitate the emergence of common interests yet large enough to have a significant impact on environmental, social, economic and political processes (Porritt, 2009; Ross, 2012). Similarly, do devolved bodies enable environmental organisations to connect more readily with decision-makers so that a transformative form of sustainability can be achieved? Do devolved administrations also possess the appropriate legal and executive competence to actually implement change?

The research is, thus, novel as it seeks to address a relative lacuna in studies of the connection between sustainability and the idea of community by focusing on the national scale; specifically the various nationalisms associated with devolved administrations. While there has been some limited interest in examining the connection between discourses of sustainabilty and national discourses and institutions, it is noticeable that it has been characterised by some weaknesses: 1) there has been little effort to synthesise this work into a coherent whole; 2) very little work has sought to examine the conceptual implications of conjoining nationalist discourses with sustainability discourses; 3) the relationship between the nationalist discourses operating within sub-state or devolved contexts and discourses of sustainability has been relatively under-researched and under-theorised.

The project addresses these weaknesses through a study of the connections drawn in Scotland and Wales - by governments, their agencies, political parties and environmental NGOs - between nationalist and sustainability discourses. As well as providing a synthetic, critical and theoretically-informed literature review of the connections between nationalist and sustainability discourses, the project will focus on two contrasting pilot policy case studies, which will illustrate the productive and problematic tensions between these two sets of discourses.

a) The first case study, centred on the debates surrounding independence for Scotland, will highlight how discourses that are predominantly nationalist in character can key into sustainability discourses. How do these sustainability discourses either help to promote or problematise the nationalist debates?

b) The second case study, focusing on the upcoming creation of a Single Environmental Body (SEB) in Wales (incorporating the current Countryside Council for Wales, the Environment Agency Wales and Forestry Commission Wales), takes an alternative tack by examining how discourses that are predominantly centred on the environment and sustainability can connect to nationalist debates? How do nationalist discourses help or hinder the sustainability discourses promoted as part of the creation of the SEB?

Our project will comprise a pilot study of the potential connections between sustainability and nationalism discourses. We anticipate that the case studies of independence in Scotland and the creation of the Single Environmental Body in Wales will contribute in far-reaching ways to non-academic understandings of the role of sustainability in Scotland and Wales. Specifically, the project will seek to inform current and live policy debates about:

1. constitutional change in the UK, most particularly in relation to the referendum for Scottish independence (due in autumn 2014) and the Silk Commission's review of the powers of the National Assembly for Wales (to report by the end of 2013). Our project will provide insight into the way in which issues relating to sustainability feed into constitutional debates about the role of devolved administrations within the UK and also their role in promoting notions of sustainability more broadly (see below). We will use our findings to contribute to the terms of these constitutional debates in Scotland and Wales by communicating our findings to the Scottish Constitutional Commission, and the Silk Commission's Review of the Powers of the National Assembly for Wales.

2. the role of national identity in Scotland and Wales and variations therein. The attempts being made in Scotland and Wales to achieve more extensive forms of devolution also testify to the existence of a belief in the political and cultural distinctiveness of these countries. Our project will provide insights into the way in which a more far-reaching form of sustainability is being viewed as a way of demonstrating the distinctiveness of the Scottish and Welsh nations. Our project will contribute to the development of more sophisticated understandings of the potential for sustainability to contribute to these nationalist aims. We will do so by communicating the findings of the project to the main political parties in Scotland and Wales, as well as associated nationalist organisations (e.g. Welsh Language Society; the Yes Scotland, Better Together campaigns).

3. the potential for devolved administrations in Scotland and Wales to promote more transformative forms of sustainability. Some effort has been made to demonstrate the conceptual connection between sustainability and devolved bodies and the potential for policy connections to exist between them has also been asserted. Our study will be the first to seek to demonstrate in a systematic and thorough way the positive connections that can exist between them. As such, our findings will be of considerable interest to all environmental NGOs working within Scotland and Wales (e.g. John Muir Trust, Sustain Wales). Our findings will also feed directly into the consultations taking place in relation to the introduction of a Sustainable Development Bill for Wales in autumn 2013.

We will contribute to these various debates by responding directly to consultations and giving evidence at relevant inquiries and more generally, through our briefing document and by contributing to policy-related seminars on these themes. The briefing document will be distributed to: all government departments in Scotland and Wales; all political parties operating within these two territories; environmental NGOs working in Scotland and Wales. The expertise and contacts of the non-academic collaborators will be useful as a way of ensuring that the briefing document is distributed to the most appropriate people.

The two investigators have considerable experience of communicating their research findings to non-academic audiences, using non-academic articles, policy briefings, policy submissions, oral and written evidence to the enquiries/instances of constitutional change outlined above, blogs and contributions to radio and television.