IKEA shows they care through education

The philosophy it lives by is that it is its responsibility to educate children and young people in order for them to grow up to care for the planet. 

A major concern for any new IKEA store is how it will integrate in to the local community, how will the public perceive the ‘Big Blue Box’ and what its impact will be. IKEA wants to help the local population realise that it believes and honours its vision ‘To create a better everyday life for the many’.

The key area identified in doing this was education as it represents its future customers and employees. Through a range of stakeholders and initiatives, it engages young people in a variety of ways, including:

• Work placements
• Princes Trust – Get Into Retail programme
• Adopt A School initiative through BITC NI
• Programmes devised specifically for young people with physical or learning disabilities
• Site visits and tours.

At the heart of the education work, is providing a stimulating insight into what happens behind the scenes of a retail store and integrating this learning into the curriculum. The work ranges from environmental tours that assist the primary curriculum to helping with achieving the Tidy (NI) Green Flag through to GSCE and ‘A’ Level students focussing on Product Development and Business Studies.

With all education activities every function in store gets involved, from the interior design team delivering product design lectures to the IKEA Food Manager providing a free nutritious meal during visits.