Scooting around campus heritage sites

A collaborative initiative between Massey University Students’ Association (MUSA), Museum Studies staff and students, and Beam and Flamingo scooters saw students scooting around sculptures and heritage buildings in the Turitea Heritage Precinct on Wednesday 2 March.

The idea came from Ramola Duncan, Events Lead at MUSA, who contacted Dr Susan Abasa in Museum Studies.

“We were looking to collaborate with Beam and Flamingo scooters to schedule a campus tour to show art, sculptures and buildings that might have significance, so I contacted Dr Abasa who jumped at the chance to be involved,” Ms Duncan says.

“I loved the idea of scooting around art. Ramola’s idea was just terrific,” Dr Abasa says. “Ramola was keen to involve students, which is how Lara Morgan and Charlotte Donovan became involved. Lara is just starting a PGDip Museum Studies and Charlotte has just finished. Together they hosted the tour and helped introduce the detailed information.

Charlotte says that she and fellow student Lara led the tour for new and existing Massey students. “This tour provided the opportunity to showcase various buildings and sculptures of note around the campus, and also provide a creative orientation for new students. The students rode on Flamingo and Beam scooters, which were kindly provided for the tour.”

The 30-minute tour had 15 students on the electric scooters. A detailed brochure was prepared to accompany the tour.

“I already had some information and photos for the sculptures as well as information about the heritage buildings,” says Dr Abasa. “Once we had narrowed the list of the places we would visit, I got more information from Tāmiro (Massey Library), Manawatū Heritage and DigitalNZ.

The team involved might be keen to do something similar for semester two.

“Heritage refers to what has been inherited from the past and guides us toward the future. We contribute to its endurance by being here, learning from it and making it part of our lives,” Dr Abasa says.