Cardiff School of Management>Staff Profiles>gary-walpole

Dr Gary LR Walpole

Department: School of Management

Office/Location: Enterprise Centre

Telephone: 07766 306650

Staff Overview

Gary has thirty years' experience in business and education, with twenty years in knowledge transfer roles in Higher Education Institutions. Gary is a Leadership and Management practical academic with an outstanding record of leading new programmes and large projects. He is passionate about Organisational Development through the development of leadership and innovation skills. He has a proven track record of designing, developing and delivering leadership and innovation programmes.

He currently directs the Circular Economy Innovation Community project (£3.9m, ESF). The Circular Economy Innovation Communities (CEIC) project is creating regional collaborative innovation networks (communities of practice) across public service organisations to co-produce new service solutions that implement Circular Economy (CE) principles. Participants enhance their innovation knowledge and skills by applying new tools and techniques to enable their organisations to reduce their carbon footprint, costs and enhance service levels, evidence through group presentations. The formal 10-month programme creates Communities of Practice proven to facilitate regional innovation. The project design, it’s impact and implications are outlined in a report commissioned by Innovate UK ‘Innovation for a Circular Economy’.

CEIC Summer conference highlights.

He also directs the Cardiff Circular Economy Network created a CE community of practice within the Cardiff Council boundary, in collaboration with One Planet Cardiff. We brought businesses and schools together into an experiential learning network where they enhanced process innovation knowledge and skills to develop clean growth plans. We ‘mapped’ CE resources available for business to understand and develop their CE capabilities here.

He previously developed the conceptual framework and directed the highly successful ‘Leading Growth’ programme (ION leadership, £7.9m ESF) that facilitated productivity gains and business growth in more than 900 SMEs across Wales. He recently delivered innovation programmes to businesses across Wales including; the Open Innovation Programme; DIPFSCC programme (Welsh Government part funded) and the Skills for Innovation in Manufacturing programme (UKCES funded). He previously acted as Ops Director of Indycube CIC. He was formerly Director of the Centre for Excellence in Leadership & Management Skills in Wales (£2.9m) at Cardiff University.

Teaching

Course Director of Circular Economy Innovation Communities (Executive Education) & Course Director of Cardiff Circular Economy Network (Executive Education)

Research

Walpole, G; Treadwell, PJ; Smith, SS; Rich, NL; Rucinska, K; Steffes, L; Clifton, N An analysis of interventions that have proved effective at developing the Circular Economy (CE) implementation capabilities of practitioners. (March, 2023) https://doi.org/10.25401/cardiffmet.21841452

Clifton, N & Walpole, G. Innovation for a Circular Economy, Innovation Caucus, UKRI. (2023) https://figshare.cardiffmet.ac.uk/articles/online_resource/Future_of_Innovation_Thought_Leadership_Project_Innovation_for_a_Circular_Economy/21954227/1

Walpole, G; Bacon, E; Clifton, N; Liu, Z; McKeown, M; Manley, JM; Kyaw, S; Renfrew, K; Rich, NL; Treadwell, PJ; Smith, S. A Scoping and Feasibility Study for a new Foundational Economy Academy in Wales. https://www.gov.wales/new-foundational-economy-academy-wales-scoping-and-feasibility-study

Walpole, G. Dewale, B. Evans, S. Fuller-Love, N. Liu, Z. Moghadam, P. Murphy, P. Rich, NL, Sain-ley-Berry, L. Circular Economy Implementation: Case studies in Wales, January 2023. https://doi.org/10.25401/cardiffmet.21666719

Zheng Liu, Steffan James, Gary Walpole & Gareth R. T. White (2023) A communities of practice approach to promoting regional circular economy innovation: evidence from East Wales, European Planning Studies, 31:5, 988-1006, DOI: 10.1080/09654313.2022.2132785

Walpole, G; Bacon, E; Beverley, K; C De Laurentis, K Renfrew & J Rudd (2022) New development: Enhancing regional innovation capabilities through formal public service communities of practice. Public Money & Management, DOI: 10.1080/09540962.2021.2021658

Morgan, B, Holtham, G, Morgan, S, Huggins, R, Clifton, N, Davies, J, Kyaw, S & Walpole G. Managing Productivity in Welsh Firms (2020) https://www.welsheconomicchallenge.com/managing-productivity-in-welsh-firms/

Walpole, G, Bacon, E & Renfrew K (2021) Developing a framework for innovation capabilities and circular economy engagement in the public sector. British Academy of Management Conference, 2021 (Awarded Best Paper in Track).

Walpole, G & Kay Renfrew (2018): Circular Economy practices of Small to Medium Enterprises in South Wales. Wales, UK: Swansea University. https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa40956

Walpole, G; Burnett, A; Rich, NL. (2016) Skills for Innovation in Manufacturing, ISBN 978-0-9567462-9-3. https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa29294

Hannon, PD, Huxtable-Thomas, L, Thomas, S, Hayward,C, Walpole, G (2015).
From Leadership to Growth. https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa31855

Walpole, G (2016) A Leader Development Model: A Mirror Before Window Critical Approach. ISBE Conference, 2016.

Walpole, G & Pepper, S L (2010) Mapping the unmapped: a taxonomy and picture of business learning networks across Wales. British Academy of Management Conference, 2010.

Walpole, G and Beynon, M. (2009) Discerning the Understanding of SME Training Needs by Agencies: A CaRBS Analysis. ISBE 2009 Conference.

CRG and Walpole, G (2009) Developing a National Approach to Business Change in Welsh Local Government. WAG Commissioned. http://wales.gov.uk/docs/dsjlg/research/091019buschangeen.pdf

Wells, B, Snooks, H, Walpole, G. (2006) A study to determine the level of occupational health activity in Wales. http://www.awardresearch.org.uk/documents/OccupationalHealthWalesReport2006.pdf

Walpole, G, Mansfield, R. (2006) Leadership and Innovation in Small and Medium Enterprises. The Human Factor, Autumn 2006, Vol 1 Issue 3.

Walpole, G. (2005) An analysis of innovation and leadership practices of SMEs in Wales. Commissioned by Economic Research Unit, WAG. http://wales.gov.uk/about/aboutresearch/econoresearch/economicresearch/capacitybuilding/smewales/?lang=en

O’Connor S, Morgan B, Walpole G. (2004) Review of Provision of Management Development and Leadership training in Wales. WAG, ELWa. www.wales.gov.uk/docrepos/40382/4038232/403821/review_provision_management1.pdf

Key Publications

Other Projects and activities

External Links

WIN Net Zero and Decarbonisation Steering Group member
Bevan Commission ‘Let’s not Waste’ Steering Group member
Green Health Wales ‘GHW National Leads’ member
SWIC academic partnership group (NZIW & SWITCH) member