My work experience placement with Nifty – Esther Busch

I have really enjoyed my week of work experience placement with Nifty. I was surprised by the wide range of different projects Nifty is involved in, and I feel that this has given me a real taste for what they do and the ways they work. My placement involved me gaining an understanding of the kind of work Nifty does and carrying out some of my own research in areas that interested me most.
I found the Mixed Ability sports model particularly interesting and completing the introduction IMAS course helped me understand the importance of this model of sports and introduced me to people who have benefitted from being a part of Mixed Ability sports clubs. These personal stories really highlighted how valuable the work Nifty does through their partnership with this organisation. It’s really inspiring how quickly this model has spread to become a global movement of sports and what a large positive impact this has on people’s lives through providing inclusive and welcoming spaces for people to enjoy sports.
I found It a valuable experience being able to get involved in some of the research Nifty does and relate it to aspects of my life, such as the research surrounding eco anxiety and how common this experience is in young people’s lives. I was also able to relate the sustainable development goals to my experience of learning about them at college and how important it is for young people to be educated on the importance of the SDGs.
After researching how organisations and companies recognise and use the sustainable development goals, I had the opportunity to talk to Nifty about how they use SDGs in a focus group setting. We discussed the different ways the goals can be implemented and alternative frameworks for measuring sustainability that may work better for different business models.
Overall my placement with Nifty has introduced me to a range of sustainability projects and concepts that I would like to further explore and work with in the future.