Dig the OU – with a Wimpey shovel
Sustainability is an institutional goal at the OU. Nick Braithwaite became Executive sponsor and was charged with improving our ranking in People and Planet. Nick consulted to specify the OU Sustainability vision ‘to create and share learning and knowledge for social and environmental justice’ and the focus for Sustainability delivery in Learn and Live: developing and promoting the curriculum for sustainability; upskilling and reskilling staff so that ‘sustainability is everyone’s job’; and coordinating a pan-OU matrix team through the Sustainability Office. Accompanied by the establishment of the Sustainability Steering Group, Sustainability Coordination Group and School Sustainability Leads (thanks to Emma Dewberry in STEM) and the development of our Sustainability Planning, Action and Reporting Kit, all teams across the OU can now contribute to this institutional goal and become good ancestors for future generations.
This month the role of Executive sponsor for Sustainability passes once more, this time to Klaus-Dieter Rossade, Executive Dean of WELS. Nick leaves a legacy, including a new tradition, as he quite literally passes the baton in the form of the Wimpey shovel. This miniature metal shovel is symbolic of planting seeds for future generations and a great example of reuse. It’s origins date back to the early days on Walton Hall campus when teaching took place in Wimpey huts, before any buildings were finished. The Wimpey shovel was used as an award to schools in STEM in the 1980s and is now finding a new lease of life in the safe hands of the Executive sponsor for Sustainability.