Sustainability Coordinator Training: Successes, Challenges and Next Steps

Executive Summary

The Sustainability Coordinator training programme, funded by Media Cymru in partnership with Severn Screen and Earth to Action, and supported by Ymddiried and Creative Wales, trained six people to become Sustainability Coordinators in the High-End television industry. Sustainability Coordinators can play a key role in fostering sustainable mindsets, behaviours, and practices across all phases of production, therefore having a broad and significant long-term impact. Over a two-month period in 2024, participants engaged in intensive training sessions, featuring leading industry speakers, held in studio classrooms throughout Wales.

Through a series of in-depth interviews with participating trainees and training providers, and questionnaire responses from participating productions, below we provide a summary of the feedback received, in relation to the training itself, the successes and challenges encountered on production placements, and the wider discussion about the future of sustainability practice within TV and film production in Wales.

The Media Cymru Sustainability Coordinator training programme successfully developed a cohort of skilled professionals, equipped to address sustainability challenges within the Film and Television sector in 2024. Future iterations of the programme must assess the capacity for new sustainability professionals, and ensure current participants receive adequate employment and development support.

While an embedded sustainability approach adds significant value, its success relies on ongoing industry-wide commitment. Generating this commitment may involve budgeting for sustainability from the outset and mandating compliance for productions in Wales. With major broadcasters pledging net-zero goals, Wales has a unique opportunity to align national policy, leverage its trained workforce, and lead globally in sustainable TV and film production.