Bramley Lakes & Deepdale Farms hosts RBS Students
Bramley Lakes & Deepdales Farm, Norfolk
24- 26 September 2010
Bramley Lakes and Deepdale Farms hosted a sustainability weekend
for students from Regent's Business School London on the module
titled 'Knowledge Management and Sustainability'
These students, in the final year of their degree, are brought
to rural Norfolk, away from the urban stresses of London, to
rediscover both the joys of nature and the meaning of
sustainability.
The College has worked with Bramley Lakes for many years,
running a range of courses from Leadership to Team Development,
including; experiential activities, business management, leveraging
indoor and outdoor environments and more rural pursuits that are
not prevalent in the
big city.
"We know that taking students out of their comfort zones, opens
their minds and really changes their view of the world. We're
proud of the influence we have on students from Regent's College
and know it has a very positive effect on the way they learn" said
Steve Turner of Bramley Lakes
Elements of Sustainability
The course ran from Friday evening until Sunday afternoon and
the students were immersed from the moment they arrived at
Bramley. First they built up a picture of their own impact on
the world.
Then they considered the three elements of sustainability;
environment, social and economic. Finally they analysed the
developments at Deepdale, acting as consultants and presenting
recommendations about further ways Deepdale could be more
sustainable.
"Sustainability is not a black and white subject, with every
choice you make as a business or individual, there is a balancing
act between the benefits and disadvantages socially, economically
and environmentally. We've given the students the tools to
identify the questions they need to ask. We look forward to
reading their dissertations and seeing the impact we've
made."
said Jason Borthwick of Deepdale Farms.
There were many first experiences for the students over the
weekend and growing vegetables was one of them.
Making a Difference
"The feedback from students was positive and encouraging. It
provided them with new beliefs that eating and growing your own
vegetables is a sustainable solution for saving
resources.
By honestly examining and challenging the beliefs and
assumptions that control our minds, we can see new possibilities in
thinking, decisions and behaviours. This means that we are all able
to start on a path of being a sustainable thinker.
Once we make a commitment to this purpose, we can control our
fate. Once we can control our fate, we can help and start to make a
difference to our environment and ultimately our world" said Eric
CK Chan, the module leader for the course.
Although this experiential weekend is now over, its impact
certainly will be long lasting, contributing to a wider need for
change in thinking around sustainability issues as they affect
those who live in urban and rural environments.
Thus, it is the intention of the Programme
Director Noemi
Sadowska, responsible for the
BA (Hons) Global Management degree to continue such weekends to
enrich students learning experience.