My work experience at ethical partnership
As a Sustainable Development student at the University of Edinburgh, doing work experience at a planning consultancy with a strong ethical and sustainability focus is perfect for me; I mean, I have been able to spend time with fellow environmentalists and talk about climate change without it coming across as weird! But, more than that, I saw this opportunity as a chance to fill my very long summer with something worthwhile…and worthwhile it has been!
From planning application and postcodes to greenbelts and google maps, I am confident that as I come to the end of my week of work experience at ethical partnership my brain would struggle to absorb another thing!
At the start of the week I had no experience at all in planning and, although I have only scratched the surface to the world of planning I have learnt a lot and can take away so much from my time here. It is amazing to have had the chance to work with a company that emulates beliefs very similar to my own, especially when, as I have learnt this week, strong environmental, sustainability and ethical beliefs are not shared by everyone. However, the values upheld by ethical partnership and the whole team (people, planet, and profit) are fantastic and, after spending a week here, I leave feeling motivated and optimistic, something that I will take with me into the rest of my university studies.
Everybody at ep has been very friendly and welcoming, really making my week enjoyable and fun. The team have also made my week stimulating and even challenging; I have worked with each member of the team, learning about the work that they do, the current projects they are working on and, I have even contributed to the work and research that they are carrying out.
Huge thanks to Allen for giving me the chance to work his team and, special thanks to Matthew for keeping me on the right track all week and providing the office with plenty of laughs!
All the best for the future!
Rebecca Sanderson