3 October 2019
Students and business work together to deliver the UN Sustainable Developments Goals
Students and business work together to deliver the UN Sustainable Developments Goals
Robertson is working with pupils from Perth Grammar School to help integrate the UN Sustainable Development Goals within their curriculum and activities.
Robertson has a strategic partnership with five schools across Scotland, with a view to enhancing the student experience and helping the next generation successfully transition from education to employment.
One of our partners, Perth Grammar School is a Rights Respecting School. As a Rights Respecting School, Perth Grammar works with UNICEF to create a safe and inspiring place to learn, where children are respected, their talents are nurtured, and they are able to thrive. The Rights Respecting Schools Award embeds these values in daily school life and gives children the best chance to lead happy, healthy lives and to be responsible, active citizens. Robertson support the school in their STEM (Science Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) activities and in embedding sustainability within the school. During Global Goals Week 2019, our Head of Sustainability, Graeme Hannah, supported two pupil working groups, the Rights Respecting Steering Group and the Climate Ambassadors Group, to help them better understand how the Sustainable Development Goals link to both the Rights Respecting School agenda and how Robertson has embedded the Goals within their business policy, reporting and activity. Each pupil from the working groups made a personal commitment to help achieve one of the Goals and to communicate the importance of the Goals to their fellow pupils and parents. Robertson will now deliver a similar workshop with the school's teachers to help raise awareness around how the Goals can be embedded in business and the curriculum.
The Sustainable Development Goals are described as 'the blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all'. They address the challenges we face globally and locally, including those related to poverty, inequality, climate, environment, prosperity, and peace and justice. The Goals are a set of 17 global priorities for ensuring that economic, environmental, social and cultural wellbeing is achieved for everyone around the world.
Graeme Hannah, Head of Sustainability said:
"At Robertson, our purpose is to 'assure a sustainable future'. We've aligned our Responsible Business Policy with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, and have prioritised the Goals where we can make a meaningful impact through our activity and operations. Our Responsible Business Policy helps us to deliver upon our purpose and communicate our progress.
"Recently we've focused on collaborating with our strategic partnership schools, and supporting the teachers and the pupils at Perth Grammar which has been a brilliant experience. The school is really engaged in sustainability and the pupils take real responsibility for championing issues in and beyond the classroom."
Michael Farrell, Depute Head said:
"As a school committed to the national agenda of promoting Learning for Sustainability and Children's Rights, we are delighted to be working in partnership with Graeme at Robertson and sharing a focus on the Sustainable Development Goals of Quality Education, Climate Action and Partnerships for the Goals. Following on from the recent media focus on Greta Thunberg and the School Strike for Climate, our pupils are eager to act positively to make a difference in their own community. It was therefore great for them to hear an example of a business taking responsibility for its role in embedding the Sustainable Development Goals in business practice. It has helped to give them the confidence to push ahead with their own ideas for promoting the goals and has also influenced school leadership in aligning our improvement plans to the Global Goals."
Our Responsible Business Policy is available here: https://robertson.co.uk/sustainability-robertson