Hi, my name is Peter Draper and I have been active in the field of community development in and around Cardiff for over 25 years. Having worked or been on the board at Cardiff City Farm, Amelia Trust Farm, Valeways, UNA Exchange, Cardiff Council Sustainable Development Team, Rounded Developments and the Sustainable Traditional Buildings Alliance my knowledge and experience is quite wide.   I am currently the Director of RDE and also co-Director of the STBA. I have recently graduated from UWE with a Grad Dip in Building Surveying and also passed by Level 5 Retrofit Co-ordinator qualification with the Retrofit Academy. I will also be embarking on DEA and the AECB Carbon Lite training this year.

I have been involved with Renew since the start both as a Co-ordinator and Mentor. Renew was a real lifeline for us as an organisation. It has allowed us to get in early with groups and help them understand their buildings and hence not make the normal mistakes that community groups suffer from. Providing people with a holistic overview as well as detailed levels of understanding has been a real pleasure.

Tell us about an experience of your work with Renew…

We have worked with so many groups across Wales. Projects ranging from simple knowledge sharing to help people understand their buildings, through to helping groups radically re-appraise their work and premises with the intention of making them more suitable to their long term aims.

Groups have ranged from long established churches looking to do their thing within the Eco-Churches network, so community centres putting up PV panels to cut their running costs and boost their incomes. Others have been looking at whole building renovations and have sought advice on design and layout as well as longer term environmental improvements.

All the groups have received reports that set out opportunities and threats in a risk assessed manner that has helped them with decision making. We also remain open to groups to come back at a later date to ask for more information as situations change.

What is your vision of your region in 2050?

I would like to see a Wales where we live in harmony and people are striving towards a low impact lifestyle. GDP growth is a thing of the past, we are looking for socially driven outcomes and satisfaction rather than monetary gain. Transport and homes are all powered by renewable energy and we still have the fundamental fabric of our built environment intact. We are also members of the EU again and we have balanced out trade and wealth to create a fairly society for all. We will get there by strong leadership adhering to the Wellbeing of Future Generations Act.