Sustainable team building to WiseUp means being able to run educational events for young people in a way that improves their team skills without damaging the environment. With the current climate crisis, we all need to do what we can to reduce our impact on the planet. This is not only for our own wellbeing, but also for that of generations to come.
We also believe that WiseUp Team Building, as outdoor learning providers, have a responsibility to inform and educate the young people we work with about the world around them. This includes thinking about way we can all make little changes which will add up to help prevent the loss of habitats and species.
Image Source: WiseUp Team Building
As a fully mobile company, WiseUp Team Building does not have one site that we operate from. This has many benefits from a direct impact point of view for sustainable team building.
Creating new buildings and developing a site involves land clearance. This can mean loss of habitat for many animals including insects, butterflies, birds and small mammals. There is also resource extraction to consider, with multiple building materials needed to create the structures we know so well from outdoor centres, such as climbing walls and high ropes courses.
Repeated use of the same outdoor areas can cause problems such as ground erosion and compaction. This can create problems including rainwater pooling.
By using different areas at already existing sites, this lessens the human impact in the ground against hundreds or thousands of young people using the same areas repeatedly.
WiseUp do have a Base, where we have our office and maintain our fleet of vans. As far as business footprints go, ours is fairly minimal. We repurposed an old stable block into our main office, and we built it largely using local materials. A lot of the materials had been excess from a local builder and so would otherwise have gone to waste.
Our vans are allowed on particular areas of the site only, much of which was pre-existing hard ground. We are fortunate that around us is a natural flint bed, meaning we have managed to use the minimum amount of aggregate to line our trackway.
Our kit stores are another set of repurposed structures. These have air flow channels from the outside, which are also used by the local bird population. We often have several robins nests in the eves of our kit stores, and in the summer months are serenaded by the sound of hungry chicks chirping away above our heads. Additionally, one of our buildings has previously been home to a couple of adorable owlets!
Image Source: WiseUp Team Building
As a company that brings activities into schools, WiseUp Team Building’s main factor is our fleet of distinctive vans. We do our very best to minimise the impact of these in several different ways:
Image Source: WiseUp Team Building
WiseUp Team Building operate using the 7 principles of Leave No Trace as a guide. These are:
While our Logistics team plan our van movements, the Programmes team liaise with our schools regarding our vehicle access and which activity area we will be using to ensure it is suitable. WiseUp’s Lead Instructors use this information to plan direct routes and which activities will be the least impactful for the space provided.
We house our instructors in existing hotels while out running events with WiseUp Team Building.
When accessing the activity area at school sites, our Lead Instructors try as much as possible to keep our vans to paved/gravel areas.
Any waste created on a WiseUp Team Building event is brought back to Base to be disposed of appropriately. This includes the ash/remnants of fires from The Bushcraft Challenge.
WiseUp strives to leave each school site exactly as we find it, or better! Our teams perform a sweep of the activity area at the end of the day to ensure nothing is left behind, and will pick up litter which may have accidentally been left by participants.
For fire lighting sessions on The Bushcraft Challenge, WiseUp Team Building uses metal fire bowls and trays. This means that the ground underneath is protected while students try their hand at a wide range of fire lighting techniques.
Our activity teams will always set up challenges away from any nesting sites. If animals are found in the activity area during an event, our instructors will remove them if it safe to do so (such as relocating worms, bugs etc). If not, then access to that particular area will be restricted as much as possible, with young people being kept away and the activities re-located.
We know that sometimes not everyone in the school can be outside enjoying a WiseUp Team Building event. Quite often our challenge days are held for younger year groups whilst the older students are taking exams. Our teams are conscious to ensure that the team building day does not affect any other students who may not be out with us.
In addition, our events usually run to the timings of a normal school day. This means that young people can have their break/lunch at the usual times which keeps canteen staff happy! Participants are also able to get their normal transport to and from school.
Image Source: WiseUp Team Building
WiseUp Team Building events are not just great fun; they are also hugely educational on a variety of topics. One of these is sustainability, with our instructor teams getting participants excited about exploring and protecting the great outdoors.
As a company, WiseUp strives to keep improving our sustainability and minimising our impact on the environment. Over the years, we have grown and shifted to incorporate new practises and procedures to better deliver our team building activity days in a way that benefits learners and the areas around them.
WiseUp Team Building are committed to a process of continuing development and improvement as we continue delivering the highest standard activity days in schools.
Title Image Source: WiseUp Team Building
For more information about our activities or to check availability, fill in the form below and one of our friendly team will get back to you. Alternatively call us on 01732 822753
