Reed Elsevier plc

Reed Elsevier plc

Reed Elsevier and Earthwatch have been working in partnership for the past three years to provide opportunities for Reed employees and local teachers to get involved in Earthwatch's work.

Partnership Elements

Stakeholder Involvement

As a company working in partnership with Earthwatch, Reed Elsevier is part of our Corporate Environmental Responsibility Group (CERG). This recognises the company's commitment to the environment, as well as their commitment to Earthwatch and our programme of work. The joint activities through the group enable Earthwatch to understand the company and its performance in respect of environmental issues and continue to develop the partnership into the future.

Employee Engagement

In August 2005, five Reed Elsevier employees and three local teachers participated on the Earthwatch project Monitoring British Mammals, providing the opportunity for the development of skills amongst employees and enforcing Reed Elsevier's core values of valuing employees and "boundarylessness" by involving them in practical field research in unfamiliar surroundings. The Wytham project also strengthened local educational links around the Reed Elsevier Oxford office through the involvement of local teachers.

In 2006, Earthwatch and Reed Elsevier worked together to build on the success of the 2005 pilot engagement programme, offering the opportunity for six teachers and six Reid Elsevier employees to join Monitoring British Mammals for the second successive year.

The 2007 programme tied into Reed Elsevier's environmental focus for the year: water. Earthwatch and Reed Elsevier offered eight employees the opportunity to join a unique ocean based research expedition, studying whales and dolphins off the northeast coast of Scotland. The project, Whales and Dolphins of the Moray Firth, aims to make recommendations for a revision of the current boundaries of the existing Special Area of Conservation to afford greater protection to the already vulnerable bottlenose dolphin population in the Moray Firth.

Community Investment

In 2005/06 Reed Elsevier employees were joined by local teachers on the Oxfordshire project Mammals of Wytham Woods. In 2008 the Reed Elsevier Foundation (RE Cares) will be sponsoring six young people from the Oxford area to participate on an Earthwatch project, giving them the opportunity to experience practical conservation science at first hand and build valuable transferable skills. The young people will also visit Earthwatch's offices as part of the programme to undertake a work experience placement.