Social responsibility

Ove Arup, who founded our company in 1946, had this to say about social responsibility:

‘There are two ways of looking at the pursuit of happiness. One is to go straight for the things you fancy without restraints, that is, without considering anybody else besides yourself.

‘The other is to recognize that our lives are inextricably mixed up with those of our fellow human beings, and that there can be no real happiness in isolation. Which leads to an attitude which would accord to others the rights claimed for oneself, which would accept certain moral or humanitarian restraints.

We opt for the second way.’ Ove Arup, 1970

Our commitment

A commitment to our environment and the communities we work in has always been at the heart of the Arup ethos. It defines our approach to our work, to our clients and collaborators, and to each other.

Our ethos is summarised in the aims of the firm, set out by Ove Arup in his key speech of 1970:

• We will ensure that the Arup name is always associated with quality
• We will act honestly and fairly in dealing with our staff and others
• We will enhance prosperity for all Arup staff

A sense of community

This has lent us a sense of community that goes beyond a policy statement. It has been so fundamental to what we’re about for such a long time it has become self-perpetuating… the ethos attracts people to the firm, who, as Ove put it, ‘feel it, really believe in it and mean to work for it’.

Of course there are the usual policies, bike and travel card loans, recycling schemes and so on, but for many the commitment extends beyond the office.

We were one of the founding patrons of RedR, an international charity that coordinates professionals to use their skills and training to help in emergency situations.

It provides an ideal opportunity for engineers to use and develop their skills to help humanitarian aid projects worldwide. Engineers around the Arup world remain actively involved both in fundraising and field assignments for RedR.

The Ove Arup Foundation

The Ove Arup Foundation is a registered charity established in memory of Sir Ove Arup. It has an overall mission for ‘the advancement of education directed towards the promotion, furtherance and dissemination of knowledge of matters associated with the built environment’. The Foundation pursues these objectives, in acknowledgement of Sir Ove’s contribution over many decades, ‘with emphasis on the multi-disciplinary nature of design in engineering and architecture’.

Concern for, and pride in, the impact we have on the communities in which we live and work is the defining feature of our many offices. It is not simply getting the job done, but doing it right.

This is what we mean when we say ‘We shape a better world’.