Monday 5th October 

The future campus - unlocking the way forward

Synopsis:

Whilst the future feels challenged there are some exciting opportunities ahead for the university campus and estates directors to fully embrace.

The blended future for learning and working has been underway for some time. Covid has accelerated the pace and has also demonstrated that doing things differently is possible.

This opening session will look at how Covid and other significant global trends are influencing the future of the education sector. We will share what this future could look like and explore how the campus might be repositioned to embrace it.

Unlocking the way forward to a resilient, effective and viable hybrid campus.

Wendy Sammels, Director, Think Forward

Fiona Duggan, Director, FiD 

Chair: Jane White, Executive Director, AUDE 

15:00 - 16:00 

Constructing the university of the future – the challenge, the uncertainty and the opportunity

Synopsis:

In such uncertain times, many would say it would be reckless, even foolhardy, to predict the future of our sector – but those who say that are only thinking about the uncertainty, not the opportunity.

To gain insight into this disrupted Brave New World, our real estate panel brings to you a blended view from an estate director, academic, investor/funder, designer and contractor’s perspectives.

Setting the local, institutional and historical context, we’ll share our thoughts and understanding of how the pandemic has affected – and continues to shape – estate, operational and pedagogical thinking for the future, both on and off campus.

We’ll look at universities in the Southern Hemisphere and how they reacted during a completely different part of the academic cycle. Might their lessons help us shape better outcomes for academic spaces and pedagogy?

With clear and strong connections with and within our cities, the panel will also reconsider how essential these valuable relationships will be in helping our communities, cities and the economies rebound.

Discussing the role that universities have in economic and societal growth and development, the panel will consider how Covid-19 might change the places within which we work and study, and the place that our universities might have in our cities of the future. We will hear how Newcastle University is confronting this range of challenges head on.

Iain Garfield, Director of Estates & Facilities, Newcastle University

Andrew Kane, Partner, FaulknerBrowns Architects

Pete Gladwell, Head of Public Sector Partnerships, Legal & General Investment Management Real Assets

Alexi Marmot, Professor Facility & Environment Management; Director Global Centre for Learning Environments, UCL

Mark Gibson, Regional Managing Director Northern, Sir Robert McAlpine

Russell Day, Sector Head Education, Sir Robert McAlpine

 Tuesday 6th October 

12:00 - 13:00

Mobilising the higher education sector on climate change for the future

Synopsis:

Humanity stands at the edge of a precipice. If we do not urgently address the climate and ecological crisis, the very future of all life and the planet is in question. We cannot move fast enough, or go far enough, in our efforts to mitigate, and prepare for, the worst of climate change. The challenge is so huge it will require nothing less than a change to the way of life – possibly even ‘a deep adaptation’ – for humanity.

The higher education sector is good at dealing with crisis. We have seen this with the huge efforts to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. But if the Coronavirus is like a storm battering the planet, there is every danger that the full impact of climate change will feel like a tsunami.

This session will open up the discussion and begin to explore the key role universities will continue to play in being catalysts for change. Combining a presentation, videos, a quiz and discussion groups, we will together explore the huge challenge we face, the hope we can share and what more we can all be doing about it to lead the change we so desperately need to see.

Professor Joy Carter CBE DL Cgeol FGS, Vice-Chancellor & Climate Commissioner, University of Winchester

Chair: Andy Nolan, Development & Sustainability Director, University of Nottingham and Chair of AUDE Sustainability Advisory Group

15:00 - 16:00 

Beyond COVID-19, creating the future we want

Synopsis:

Despite significant investments made to-date in energy efficiency measures, renewables and low carbon technologies, more needs to be done to close the ‘performance gap’ between ambition and reality in public sector construction and the building management.

The University of Edinburgh in collaboration with a number of industry partners (one of which is AUDE) successfully secured funding from the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) to target systemic challenges in the design and delivery of building projects pre-construction, and in building management post-occupation.

The project’s ambition is to help create a step-change in emissions reductions from public sector construction and built environment up to 2045 by improving how building projects are designed, managed and implemented through early-stage decisions and better on-going management of building performance.

The project is funded by the SFC in response to the global climate emergency and to support the need for more innovative and creative partnerships between different fields of study and research to achieve significant emission reductions. 

Project engagement to date has secured commitment to build capacity, identify barriers and to co-develop future-focussed, risk-based solutions.  The ‘living lab’ element of the project aims to demonstrate the business benefits of investing in advanced energy modelling and the adoption of enhanced levels of analytics at all stages of the building lifecycle.

Jamie Brogan, Head of Innovation & Skills, Edinburgh Centre for Carbon Innovation, University of Edinburgh 

Dean Drobot, Head of Energy & Utilities, University of Edinburgh 

Professor Sean Smith, Professor of Future Construction and Director of the Centre for Future Infrastructure, University of Edinburgh 

Chair: Andy Nolan, Development & Sustainability Director, University of Nottingham and Chair of AUDE Sustainability Advisory Group

 Wednesday 7th October 

12:00 - 13:00

When coronavirus ate horizon scanning for breakfast (and how we might avoid indigestion)

Synopsis:

In this session, we will talk about some of the factors affecting HE now, those we expect to affect us in the medium term and perhaps even engage in some crystal ball gazing for the longer term. We’ll also discuss how the pandemic has turned a lot of our assumptions about the future on their head and look at how universities will need to play to their strengths to stay ahead in an increasingly difficult world. What is a risk for some will likely be an opportunity for others and we’ll touch some of the things we have learnt in the last few months about our campus, what it means to our sense of identity and what might need to change in the future.

We’ll also take a look at the importance of close working relations between Planning and Estates teams as we come together to solve the uncertainties and challenges that lie ahead.

Miranda Routledge, Director of Planning, Loughborough University

Graham Howard, Director of Estates and Facilities Management, Loughborough University

Chair: Jane White, Executive Director, AUDE  

15:00 - 16:00

The nature of university third space - creating safe and social spaces for collaboration

Synopsis:

In our presentation we will explore those ingredients that make up a successful third space, and the new social value proposition that is now assisting us in measuring its success.

We will also explore where third spaces can be successfully located across the campus.

Jon Roylance, Higher Education Director, ADP Architecture 

Liz Jarrett, Studio Director, ADP Architecture

Thursday 8th October 

12:00 - 13:00

Civic universities – connection, communities, the future

Synopsis:

The idea of the Civic University – the economic, social, cultural and environmental role universities play in their local communities - has undergone a renaissance in recent years as institutions, policy makers and government grapple with the UK’s underlying challenges of regional inequality and ‘left behind places’. In this presentation, Richard Brabner, Director of the UPP Foundation, will discuss the findings and recommendations from the 2018-2019 Civic University Commission and what has happened to the civic agenda since the Commission published its landmark report last year. Richard will be joined by Jane Robinson, Dean of Engagement and Place at Newcastle University, who will present Newcastle’s story in implementing their Civic University Agreement, and what it means for professional services and estates colleagues.

Richard Brabner, Director, UPP Foundation 

Professor Jane Robinson, Dean of Engagement and Place, Newcastle University

Chair: Stephen Wells, Director of Estates, Facilities and Commercial Services, University of Surrey and AUDE Chair

15:00 - 16:00

Principles and considerations: emerging from lockdown

Synopsis:

A panel discussion bringing together senior leaders from two prominent UK universities with experts from the US higher education consultancy Brightspot and Buro Happold’s sector specialists.  We will discuss the challenges which universities are facing as they open up - but also look to the opportunities which the future will present with new ways of teaching, learning and researching. 

Dr Mike Entwisle, Partner and Education Sector Director, Buro Happold

Matthew Harrison, UK Director for Specialist Consulting, Buro Happold

Ian Dunn, Provost, Coventry University

Rachel Sandby-Thomas, Registrar, University of Warwick

Shrikant Sharma, Director of Analytics, Buro Happold

Elliot Felix, Founder and CEO of Brightspot

Friday 9th October 

12:00 - 13:00

The university leadership challenge: reforming higher education in a post-pandemic world  

Synposis:

In the English speaking higher education world serious challenges for the sector were already emerging before COVID 19 arrived.

We saw the erosion of social licence of universities.

We saw the sustainability of University funding increasingly challenged as the academic arms race saw us pursue perpetual growth.

We saw our internal cultures and our collective wellbeing suffer.

COVID 19 has both accelerated these challenges and given us a moment to address them.

There is no simple or single answer and certainly no prescriptive one so I will share some of what we have done here at the University of Tasmania and some of our story.

It starts with a pivot to place and the asking of fundamental questions about how we serve and are shaped by the place of which we are an integral part. It asks about a fundamentally rethinking of the economics of growth. It pays careful attention to wellbeing and bringing about positive changes to culture. It steps through how these perspectives shaped our response to COVID. It is a story about a University and its place.

Professor Rufus Black, Vice-Chancellor and President, University of Tasmania

Chair: Stephen Wells, Director of Estates, Facilities and Commercial Services, University of Surrey and AUDE Chair

15:00 - 16:00

Developing resilience, delivering recovery in university estates

Synopsis:

This session will enable university leaders to better understand their own psychology and how this (and other) crisis affects their ability to make decisions and maintain leadership effectiveness, so that they can protect themselves from what could be potential pitfalls and build the cognitive resilience to see them and their teams through this change and into new operational models.

This session will:

- Explore your leadership role during times of uncertainty and disruption

- Highlight what happens to our brains during crisis: how our wiring for fight, flight or freeze affects leadership decisions and ability to adapt quickly to changes

- Identify the warning signs/triggers of high anxiety/ burnout in self and your team due to intense working over a sustained period

- Give you an opportunity to reflect on personal anchors that will help you be even more effective and develop a recovery strategy that works for you

- Explore how to make the most of lessons learned from this recent crisis

- Explore some tools for building personal, team and organisational resilience

Jody Goldsworthy, Executive Director, Leadership and Talent Consultancy, GatenbySanderson

Amanda Clarke, Principal Consultant, Leadership and Talent Consultancy, GatenbySanderson

The future campus - a time for your voice to be heard

Synopsis: 

These sessions will focus on thoughts and questions raised during weeks 1 and 2 of the conference.
The key themes will be summarised and our specialist panel will be challenged to debate ways forward.
Making our future happen – together.

Panel: 

Professor Moira Fischbacher-Smith, Vice Principal Learning and Teaching, University of Glasgow

Dr Ghazwa Alwani-Starr, Pro Vice-Chancellor Strategy, Planning and Partnerships; and Director of Property and Facilities Management, University of London

Louisa Dale, Director of Insight, Jisc

Hosts:

Wendy Sammels, Director, Think Forward

Fiona Duggan, Director, FiD 

Chair: Jane White, Executive Director, AUDE 

Monday 12th October 

Circular Economy and the University Estate

Synopsis: 

The transition from today’s linear take, make, waste economy to a circular one that designs out waste, keeps products in use and regenerates natural systems has never been more relevant or important. Across the globe, businesses and governments are recognising that we need to rebuild the global economy better. We need do things differently. To do this, we will need new skills, new knowledge and new ways of thinking. And this is where the higher education sector comes in. Not only are we teaching our future leaders but the sector has the research facilities and environments in which to test and put these new ideas into practice to embrace the circular economy across the whole campus and the wider community.  

This session will focus on what the circular economy means for you and how university estates management can support the global shift to a circular economy. Hear from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and understand what we mean by the Circular Economy, hear case studies from Universities that have embraced circular economy in their procurement and built environment and identify lessons learned. Drawing on experience from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s network, this session will also introduce circular procurement and how rethinking your purchasing power can help shift local and national supply chains to be more circular. 

Reniera O'Donnell, Higher Education Lead and Ilma Stankeviciute, Learning Designer, Ellen MacArthur Foundation

Chair: Karen Maddison, Land and Property Manager, University of York and Chair of AUDE Estates Management Group

15:00 - 16:00 

An open window of opportunity for backlog maintenance

Synopsis: 

Invida will deliver a thought provoking session focussed on the subject of backlog maintenance, but beyond thought, to stimulate action, because this is a topic much debated, much less actioned. The question of risk management and business continuity is relevant, not in the traditional sense of compliance and health and safety, but from the perspective that the very existence (continuity) of the physical estate is to varying (unknown) degrees threatened by COVID-19.

There are 4 main points we intend to get across, along with some tangible take away actions;

1. COVID-19 provides the moment to act
2. Is the physical estate relevant?
3. Why is backlog maintenance a recurring theme without resolution?
4. What is backlog maintenance?

Garry Metcalfe, CEO, Invida

Chair: Jane White, Executive Director, AUDE 

 Tuesday 13th October 

12:00 - 13:00

Is it time to refocus university expenditure away from capital to FM revenue and how to make the case for increased funding for FM services

Synopsis: 

The response to COVID has seen previously reduced FM budgets increased to enable us to operate safe campuses. How will this response be reflected in future expectations of FM, the allocation of resources and the campus infrastructure we manage? Our four speakers will consider how FMs can capitalise on the opportunities to increase influence on design, what a good experience for campus users now looks like and what trends are emerging on resource allocation.

Derrick Tate, Director, Real Estate Advisory, PwC

Andrew Wilkinson, CEO, Schools and Universities, Sodexo UK & Ireland 

Russell Day, Sector Head Education, Sir Robert McAlpine

Iain Garfield, Director of Estates & Facilities, Newcastle University

Chair: Lucy Black, Head of Facilities & Student Accommodation, University of Plymouth and Chair of AUDE Strategic Facilities Management Group

15:00 - 16:00 

How to deliver social value in FM: social value in a FM framework and embedding social value in a FM contract a case study from the University of Greenwich

Synopsis: 

This session will consider how universities can maximise the social value they create through sourcing and delivery of their services.  The IWFM has joined forces with The Social Value Portal and the National Social Value Taskforce to develop such an FM-specific framework, which will enable organisations to report value created as a financial contribution to society. 

Sofie Hooper from the IWFM will talk about what do we mean by social value and the new social value framework – FM Plug In for the TOMS. 

The University of Greenwich and their consultants Gardiner & Theobald will then present a case study on how they have incorporated social value into their new FM contract with Sodexo, which mobilised during lockdown.

Sofie Hooper, Head of Policy, IWFM

Chris Forster, Director of Estates and Facilities, University of Greenwich

Alison Walsh, Partner, Gardiner & Theobald

Laura Brimacombe, Business Development Director, Sodexo

Chair: Lucy Black, Head of Facilities & Student Accommodation, University of Plymouth and Chair of AUDE Strategic Facilities Management Group

 Wednesday 14th October 

12:00 - 13:00

Restoration and recreation: higher education after COVID

Synopsis:

COVID-19 has brought massive disruption to higher education and delivered a severe blow to university finances. Much discussion about the future implicitly or explicitly assumes that the task before us is one of restoring things and putting back the kind of structures that were in place before, in a phrase putting Humpty Dumpty back together again. This would be a strategic error. The state of HE was unsound before the pandemic arrived and what it has done is to act as a stress test: it has revealed weaknesses of finance, recruitment, and provision that were already present and getting worse. (It has also demonstrated which institutions are in a weak or overextended position and which are more resilient).

What COVID has also done is to accelerate and intensify emergent problems or even crises and make them acute. It also provides an opportunity, to address the pre-existent problems and to rethink core aspects of what it is that universities and other HE institutions do. Three things to consider are these: greater pluralism and variety within the sector; a change in the social role of HE away from certification and career qualification; a reduced role for central government and a greater one for local government, commerce, and civil society. The goal should be a recreation of a diverse, pluralistic and financially sound sector, following a different route to the one pursued since the mid-1980s.

Dr Steve Davies 
Lecturer, researcher, writer and Head of Education
Institute of Economics Affairs  

Chair: Jane White, Executive Director, AUDE 

15:00 - 16:00

Supporting Generation Z and Beyond: Understanding how greater awareness of Mental Health, Diversity and Inclusivity can shape our built environment

Synopsis:

Universities play a critical role in shaping the education and development of our next generation. A generation whose social and environmental conscious is driven by strong views on race, equality, climate change, and the importance of health and wellbeing. While these are challenging topics - understanding the concerns and values of the next cohort will play an important part in the strategic planning of universities, and in the context of AUDE, the strategic planning of their estates.

For generation Z some of the critical issues of Higher Education include Well-Being, Mental Health, Diversity and Inclusion. These wider issues will come back into focus in a post-COVID world, possibly acerbated by the economic and social ramifications of the pandemic.

In our session we will examine the extent to which university estates can play a part in responding to these themes, and to what extent the built environment of the university acts as a contributing factor. While the impact of architecture on learning environments has been widely researched, this is less the case with broader social issues, such as diversity and inclusion, on university campuses.

Oliver Milton, Senior Partner, Hawkins\Brown

Julia Roberts, Partner, Hawkins\Brown

Negar Mihanyar, Associate Director, Hawkins\Brown

Dr Kerstin Sailer, Reader in Social and Spatial Networks, The Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London

Thursday 15th October 

12:00 - 13:00

Tackling race inequality: how estates and facilities staff can support, engage, challenge and close the gap 

Synopsis:

Over the last 6 months the debates around racial inequality in many sectors have been brought to the front of our minds and conversations have been happening in ways not really seen before. The killing of George Floyd in America and the worldwide demonstrations that followed further intensified the debate around race and racism in all areas of life at personal, community and societal levels. In addition, the unequal health outcomes for Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) people during the COVID-19 crisis have been firmly under the spotlight.

As institutions of learning and as communities in themselves universities need to not only openly challenge the racism evident in society but they also need to look inwards at themselves and the structures, infrastructure and demographics of their own institutions. Our speakers represent some of the UK universities that are ahead in approaching these issues. Join us and learn more about building racial equality into organisational strategies, building greater confidence and awareness in our Board and Executive teams, and practical steps we can take in our drive forward to become truly anti-racist organisations.

Kaushika Patel, Interim PVC for Equality Diversity and Inclusion and Interim Dean for the Faculty of Health & Life Sciences,De Montfort University

Marcelle Moncrieffe-Johnson, Group Chief People Officer, London South Bank University 

Rachel Adams, Director of Human Resources, Keele University 

Sheila Gupta MBE, Vice-Principal for People, Culture and Inclusion, Queen Mary University of London

Chair: Umesh Desai, Director of Estates & Commercial Services, De Montfort University and AUDE Chair Elect

15:00 - 16:00

Mental health and well being a strategic priority for all 

Synopsis:

There is a pervasive sense of crisis about student mental health. Why is this the case and what could be done, from an estates and facilities perspective, to improve student mental health? We will put this into a wider context of trends in youth mental health. Emilie and Connor will share their thoughts, as students, about why mental health is a challenge for students today and why it is important for institutions to remain focused on this. We will explore the various challenges students may face through the major transition to university, and how their new environment affects mental health. Through the lens of personal experience, we hope to give a tangible portrait of students and highlight the critical role the university inevitably plays in ensuring student wellbeing.

Dr Nicola Byrom, Senior Lecturer in Psychology, Kings College London
Emilie Wielezynski, Biomedical Science Student, Kings College London
Connor Gayle, Psychology Student, Nottingham Trent University 

Chair: Jane White, Executive Director, AUDE  

Friday 16th October 

12:00 - 13:00

The campus after COVID - rethinking the role of "place" in higher education

Synopsis: 

The last few months have seen our society and way of life flipped on its head – from school and university closures through to social distancing and a very British form of “lockdown” complete with rustling net curtains and police cautioning people for spending time in their own gardens. We’ve suddenly learned that millions of people can actually work from home, and who the real essential workers are. Vaccines are being trialled alongside potential therapies to reduce the impact of COVID-19, in an incredible global science mobilisation to contain and perhaps even defeat the virus. And increasingly the question comes: will things ever be the same again?

We are slowly coming to terms with the fact that the highly mobile staff and student populations of our higher education institutions are truly in the front line of the battle against coronavirus. Think in particular about students’ travel patterns, living accommodation and social lives. Could it really be that this all has to stop, right now? And if so, what comes after? In this talk I will look at some possible futures for higher education, with particular regard to the role of the campus and the university as a place to be rather than simply a place to go to work and study.

Martin Hamilton, Writer, Futurist & Innovation Advisor

Chair: Trevor Payne, Director of Estates, University of Birmingham

15:00 - 16:00

Shifting from crisis to strategy: digital transformation for the university of tomorrow in the wake of COVID-19

Synopsis: 

EAB has conducted extensive research on digital transformation in higher education, during this session we will lead a discussion on this topic and our conversation will include:

• A review of EAB benchmarking survey data on pre- and post-outbreak attitudes towards digital transformation and investments
• Snapshots of global best practices in digital learning strategy and change management
• Case studies of innovative approaches to hybrid instruction, and how to effectively mix digital tools and physical space for optimal student learning and experience outcomes
• Group discussion on current digital initiatives, lessons learned, and overcoming common challenges (e.g., financial, cultural, organisational) to adoption

Gary Guadagnolo, Director of Research, EAB 

John Workman, Managing Director of Strategic Research, EAB

The future campus - a time for your voice to be heard

Synopsis: 

These sessions will focus on thoughts and questions raised during weeks 1 and 2 of the conference.

The key themes will be summarised and our specialist panel will be challenged to debate ways forward.

Making our future happen – together.

Panel: 

Professor Osama Khan, Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Education and Professor in Practice, University of Surrey

Dr Ghazwa Alwani-Starr, Pro Vice-Chancellor Strategy, Planning and Partnerships; and Director of Property and Facilities Management, University of London

Louisa Dale, Director of Insight, JISC

Hosts:

Wendy Sammels, Director, Think Forward

Fiona Duggan, Director, FiD

Chair: Jane White, Executive Director, AUDE