Mission

The Wales Arts and Humanities Alliance (WAHA) was launched in August 2023 and encompasses all nine universities in Wales. WAHA provides a pan-Wales opportunity to build deeper and stronger partnerships and knowledge exchange through the research and innovation excellence of higher education arts and humanities – from archival and textual analysis to creative economies and design thinking. The Alliance is also a platform for advocacy and activism rooted in our shared creativity and expertise in arts and humanities research and impact rooted in Wales. It offers an opportunity for arts and humanities in Wales to contribute fully to national and international debates on arts and humanities and their value for people, employability, and the economy in a rapidly changing world.

Strategic aims

The strategic aims of WAHA are fivefold:

  1. To act as a shared voice for Higher Education arts and humanities in Wales, ensuring that the social, cultural, political, and economic benefits of arts and humanities are widely appreciated, understood, and mobilised for the nation.
  2. To shape policy and practice around arts and humanities in higher education in Wales, including relevant data collation, and to act as a significant interlocutor with the Welsh Government, CTER, as well as prominent arts and humanities organisations, such as the AHRC, the School of Advanced Studies, in the UK and globally.
  3. To nurture partnerships between arts and humanities researchers, practitioners and scholars in Wales and their local communities, national institutions, and global networks. 4
  4. To share Higher Education arts and humanities research and innovation widely through policy networks, engagement with statutory education providers, community groups and the media, supporting researchers in Wales at all career stages to disseminate their work.
  5. To counter negative or misleading perceptions of arts and humanities and to defend and preserve the value of arts and humanities in and for Wales.

Our members

Our membership is made up of representatives from all the universities in Wales.

Aberystwyth University
Bangor University
Cardiff University 
Cardiff Metropolitan University
Open University in Wales
Swansea University
University of South Wales (including the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama)
University of Wales Trinity Saint David
Wrexham University