Ove Arup’s legacy is a firm that places social purpose high among its values.  Today, through our Community Engagement programme, we actively encourage and support our people to participate in charitable activities as a key part of our contribution to shaping a better world.

Our people are driven to build a more sustainable future - for everyone.  As Ove Arup, our founder said: “our lives are inextricably mixed up with those of our fellow human beings, and that there can be no real happiness in isolation.”

In many parts of the world, communities face unimaginable challenges each and every day.  We feel a responsibility to support these communities, to help them become more self-reliant and resilient, and not suffer in isolation.

We also recognise that what we are able to do as a firm on a voluntary or philanthropic basis is finite, so, in 2007, Arup International Development was created as a specialist, not-for-profit business within Arup.  This is our centre of excellence that enables us to provide strategic advice and technical expertise to humanitarian and development organisations, and local governments.

The Community Engagement Programme

We aim to deliver a programme of Community Engagement activities that is inclusive, integrated, inspiring and impactful.  It is made up of three strands:

• Local Engagement: providing support to organisations and communities that are local to our offices across the world and for whom our skills are particularly relevant.
• Development: providing technical assistance to community based, and international, organisations; delivering projects that improve people's lives in developing and newly industrialised countries.
• Disaster Response and Recovery: enabling our people to respond to humanitarian needs by supporting fundraising initiatives and responding to requests for technical support.

Making a difference

In many cases we believe that we can achieve the greatest impact by offering both funds and skills.  As well as directly donating a percentage of our profits each year, we also encourage staff to volunteer their technical skills and know-how across a broad range of projects and activities.  Our people want to harness their skills and those of our partners to work towards a better world in which no person goes hungry, lacks shelter or clean water and sanitation, faces social and economic exclusion, or lives without access to basic health services and education.

For Arup and its people, supporting the Community Engagement programme is a rewarding and satisfying experience that has created and developed strong bonds.  Corporate social responsibility is not just a policy at Arup, it’s a way of working, and it’s embedded in everything we do.

Our partners

We partner with organisations who share our values and whose resources best complement our potential contribution.  These partnerships enable us to provide an on-going programme of support and are formed with the medium to long-term in mind; maximising the impact of what we can achieve together.

Through this website we share our experiences and hope that by telling our stories we can all learn and work together to positively affect our world now and for the future.