Managers from the public sector in Wales will have the chance to join a groundbreaking doctorate programme for leading practitioners in the field of sustainable development. The Welsh Assembly Government has announced a joint initiative with Glamorgan Business School to offer bursaries towards tuition fees.

The Assembly is one of only three administrations in the world that has a legal duty to promote sustainable development, which is defined as improving people’s quality of life while using environmental resources in a sustainable way. The new programme will enable leading practitioners in the field to work with academics on matters of critical global importance. The hope is that bringing these groups together on a regular basis will create a support network that does not exist in conventional doctorate awards.

The bursaries will be open to middle or senior managers currently employed by a Welsh public service organisation, including the third sector. Each successful candidate will get up to half of their annual tuition fees up to a maximum of 3,500 pounds a year over three years for the programme which begins in September.

Welsh Assembly Environment, Sustainability and Housing Minister, Jane Davidson, said the initiative had huge potential. “It is vital that sustainable development plays a key role in all parts of both the public and private sector. As a government we are committed to ensuring sustainable development is embedded in all that we do,” she added.

She said the Assembly Government was committed to using all its devolved powers, from health and transport to education, to lessen Wales’s environmental impact on the world.