The Environment (Air Quality and Soundscapes) (Wales) Act 2024

Abstract

The Welsh Government’s policy on noise and soundscape is underpinned by two key pieces of legislation: the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015, and the Environment (Air Quality and Soundscapes) (Wales) Act 2024. The former established our national well-being/sustainable development goals and five ways of working that public bodies should follow in order to achieve them. The latter requires Welsh Ministers to set out their soundscape policies in a national strategy and requires public authorities to have regard to the policies in that strategy when carrying out their functions. The intent of this article is to raise international awareness amongst soundscape researchers as to how one devolved nation has incorporated the concept of soundscape in its policies and legislation and hopefully encourage the further development and dissemination of soundscape assessment and design tools that enable practitioners to better implement those policies.