In March 2025 I supported Dr Bettina Wittneben to enthuse a group of around 60 MBA (Masters of Business Administration) students from the Said Business School to think about the role of nature in their businesses.

The students spent an hour and a quarter in the Museum of Natural History with Bettina and an hour and a quarter with me in the University Parks. We were initially nervous about how they would receive the experience, but we needn’t have worried. Unsurprisingly they were a lovely, interested, thoughtful group of young people. I was delighted with the stories they told of their own thoughts about the natural work in relation to their work lives, and how they engaged with the questions I posed for them.

One of the highlights of the event was digging up a sod of soil and handing it round the students, encouraging them to look at the invertebrates - and sniff the soil to detect the sweetness of a healthy soil. The sensory experience stimulated further reflections and ideas.

We wrote an account of this event for the University Parks Department which they published in their newsletter. From the Superintendent's desk: Spring 2025 News | Estates Services

The Museum and the University Parks have kindly allowed us to bring another group of MBA students in 2026, and in October 2025 we’ll be bringing 80 Economics and Management undergraduate students for a similar programme.

Kim Polgreen.