Signing the Simple Pledge

To celebrate World Environment Day we’ve taken the opportunity to formally launch the book Simple Pledge: Otago Polytechnic’s Journey Towards Sustainability .

The book is intended to reinforce the message that this the journey Otago Polytechnic is on, that means you, and yes you can.   But we need to do more than simply hand out the book and hope that people a) read it b) realise it is about them, c) keep it in mind so they do something about it.

So…we’ve spent the day rolling out an actual Simple Pledge:

As a member of the Otago Polytechnic community, I pledge to become an ambassador for sustainable practice

We hope that by signing to the simple version of the pledge, people will take note, take some ownership of the messages of the book, and hopefully some commitment.

At the launch Phil Ker talked about the importance of Otago Polytechnic’s sustainability journey.   Hayden Montgomerie from NZ National Commission UNESCO talked about the Polytechnic’s role in developing communities of sustainable practitioners.

Leadership team and all of the Polytechnic Council signed the pledge and so far about 150 staff have added their personal commitment to the one already made signed the pledge.   There’s also a stand at the student centre and OPSA is encouraging students to sign.

Yet again, our design students (Craig and Simon) have done stunning work.  Thank you also Paula, Anna, Ella, Mark and Katie.