I got a report from EAUC last week: Next Generation Sustainability Strategy and Structure: Whole-Institution Approaches to Sustainability in Universities and Colleges. This was the second sentence:
"We work to reposition the agenda at the heart of the leadership and structure of sector institutions and ensure it aligns as a delivery mechanism for member institution’s strategic objectives."
My sigh at such terrible English expression could probably have been heard from a hundred miles away – and the first sentence wasn't much better. Who writes this stuff? And does no one in EAUC care about such things?
I decided to soldier on, however, but gave up in exasperation when I got to this on page 5:
"Historically, activity has been limited to environmentally focussed activities based in Estates and Facilities Departments [sic], primarily driven over recent years by legislation, such as the HEFCE sector carbon reduction target in England and Scotland’s mandatory carbon reporting."
No it hasn't / wasn't. This traduces decades of work by academics and researchers across many institutions where both social justice and environmental issues were focused on. How could EAUC of all institutions write this? Work in universities on environmental issues (viewed broadly) began in the mid-1970s, long before EAUC (or HEFCE) was dreamt up. There are some facts that really should be got right. You have to wonder if this nonsense gets written to serve a particular interest, or whether it's just plain old-fashioned ignorance.
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