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Abertay has a unique presence in the university market – we offer pioneering and exciting courses and whilst we are strongly rooted in the Dundee and wider Tayside region, we have international recognition for our research and teaching. We value our connection to the City and the community and foster high levels of social mobility in the home population. Abertay has been a leader in enabling access to university and preparing students for work for 135 years. Gaining University status in 1994 enhanced our contribution to Higher Education and the specific opportunities offered by Abertay University to our students. We remain committed to teaching a broad range of subjects and to using our research and specialist expertise to support the development of industry and commerce.
Every area of our campus should reflect these characteristics and celebrate equality, diversity and inclusivity. The look and feel of the space should respond to the needs of our diverse student population and this is considered later in the strategy.
We will protect our heritage whilst blending it with new ideas in teaching and learning. The campus will flourish as we implement our strategic vision, ensuring the estate contributes to the student and staff experience at Abertay University.
Our Estate Strategy vision underpins the Strategic Plan through the enablement of accessibility, space, and sustainability.
Accessibility – operating within a well-designed estate will make us:
Space – we want our real estate to be:
Sustainability – through a focus on sustainability we will be:
Our approach is collaborative. We will continue to have authentic conversations across the University community which must allow for:
Co-creation is the result of collaboration and is a proven route to success in Estates strategy development. It promotes the experiential nature of space and provides an environment which naturally develops creativity in thought. Our strategy will always consider how it feels to study and work at Abertay University. In order to meet this objective, each project will have an Equality Impact Assessment as an intrinsic part of the design process.
We have a multistakeholder, University wide forum for discussing how we continue to evolve all areas of our campus to ensure it remains leading edge and fit for purpose in the 21st century. The forum is called AberSpace - it considers ideas, suggestions and issues (including Operational Plans) from all of the University community.
AberSpace also considers topics such as the utilisation and rationalisation of existing space to develop clear guidance on the use of teaching space, hybrid environments and the integration of technology to support flexible teaching. AberSpace also focuses on the “out of class” experience, providing designated and identifiable social space, actively seeking feedback and identification of future improvement areas.
AberSpace is an advisory forum and reports to the Senior Management Team.
Delivery of the strategy will be progressed through focussing on the following key areas:
The external surroundings and conditions in which we live influence a person's health and wellbeing. Staff and students need to feel safe and secure, and the campus should be a welcoming and attractive environment for all.
Through stakeholder consultation, the following look and feel attributes have been identified:
Our current infrastructure masterplan includes provision for a new low carbon Energy Centre within the campus boundary. The new infrastructure proposals take into account our aspirations to develop and connect our infrastructure to form a critical element of a heat network with other organisations beyond the boundary of the Campus.
The masterplan also establishes a new academic facility with a focus on health and wellbeing. This will give an identity and an accessibility to our Campus which will complement the improved urban design in the northwest quarter of the city centre.
This programme for infrastructure upgrade and facilitating growth in our estate is the vehicle for reaching our net zero carbon objectives detailed in the Strategic Business Case for the Energy Centre and Health and Wellbeing facilities. We use the “Theory of Change” to set our desired outcomes at the planning stage and map our activities to meet the desired outcomes.
All of this is developed within a collaborative model with external partners, most notably, Dundee City Council.
Our digital strategy is developing at pace and its implementation must be supported through our estate.
Our estates strategy is evolving to make certain that Abertay University’s virtual and real estate overlap and operate seamlessly to provide an integrated experience which is technologically lead, offering easy access to the right resource at the right time.
We recognise the constant change in the digital arena so our aim is to ensure a leading edge digital experience which includes the following examples:
At Abertay University, our approach to sustainability recognises the need for an integrated and collaborative approach involving partnerships between our students, staff, suppliers, community and wider stakeholders. In doing so we seek to integrate sustainability into everything we do, recognising that we must act as stewards of the Earth for future generations. We strive to be kind and considerate to all (our staff, students, suppliers, partners and collaborators and citizens of Dundee) and to make sure we earn our place as a City partner.
The masterplan proposal clarifies our pathway to net zero carbon energy infrastructure through a combination of low carbon energy production, renewable energy sources and distinct focus on our energy demand across the Campus.
Our energy demand management analysis will include projects to improve thermal efficiency of building fabric and upgrade control systems to ensure energy is being used where and when it is needed. This is discussed in our adaptation section.
Our Environmental Sustainability Strategy sets out wider reaching objectives in line with United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
As an anchor institution Abertay University takes its socio-economic obligations seriously. Situated in the centre of a city with specific economic challenges has informed our view on what health & wellbeing actually means to our University community and beyond. We have a unique opportunity to contribute to community wealth building.
As an anchor institution within the city, we feel we have an obligation to lead in our adaptation of the estate in response to climate change. Positive pressure is mounting from internal and external stakeholders to do more. This drives our collective response to climate change and Abertay University has made considerable progress on reducing emissions not because we have to but, primarily, because it is the right thing to do.
Adaptation of our campus supports our pathway to net zero and provides resilience in our estate to climate change.
We are bound to annual reporting to government on our climate change duties and set out targets and initiatives within our Sustainable Development Strategy.
The university has invested in a new cloud-based Computer Aided Facilities Management software platform to deliver efficient and effective campus operations.
It will enable core services to be delivered in new, cost effective ways and ensuring our specialised resources are focussed where they will have most benefit. It provides a range of management reports on KPIs, service level agreements and trend logs.
Additional modules will be implemented over time to support estates utilisation, net zero carbon and sustainability initiatives, and energy management.
The estates strategy has close links to a number of other strategies including the following :
This again is a direct link to the University Strategic Plan which states:
“Our Strategic Plan focuses on Abertay’s distinctive and unique ability to add value to the Scottish economy. It also expresses our vision to the kind of University Abertay is becoming – one focused on social, cultural and economic outcomes.”
In addition to this our Sustainable Development Strategy includes direction on sustainable procurement.
This Sustainable Development Strategy has been developed to support our delivery of the Scottish Governments Sustainable Procurement Action Plan (SPAP) and to promote procurement practice which contributes to the University's commitment to Corporate Social Responsibility.
The Financial Strategy incorporates the forward financial planning of all University resources, including the funding required to develop and maintain the estate and it is essential these strategies are kept in alignment.
The Digital Strategy is developed hand in hand with the estates strategy due to crossovers in areas such as classroom and lab design, campus access and security and embedded technology developments. There is cross membership of the various strategic forums and governance groups to ensure this takes place.
This strategy embraces a collaborative approach to all areas of delivery within the Estates function. It has the potential to profoundly impact on the entire university community. It is, therefore, essential that processes and procedures have the correct checks and balances in place to thread Governance intervention through our all activities.
This applies to activities across all delivery areas noted above. There is a regime of regular progress reporting to University Court, Financial and Corporate Governance Committee, Executive Group and the Senior Management Team.
We operate within well-defined processes that map and record progress of each project through its lifecycle. Triggers for action are applied to scope, cost and timescale measures to ensure optimum outcomes on all Estates activities.
Transparency is essential in collaborative models and the estates team have developed a communications strategy which allows dashboard reporting and summary documentation for presentation. The communications strategy delivers easy to read, real time information into all of our reporting levels.
Procurement within the remit of Estates is subject to rigorous governance rules and regulations as set out by Scottish Government. We operate within all the guidance of these regulations and use various Public Sector Procurement Frameworks to engage with our supply chain partners.
This strategy sets out the University’s strategic principles for developing its estate. The detailed plans are contained in other documents including those listed below. These will change and evolve over time but will be measured against the strategic aspirations contained within this strategy.
The strategy outlines our aim to support flexible, high-quality environments for teaching, study, research, knowledge exchange and learning as well as modern social spaces for students and staff to relax and interact. We are aiming to deliver a cohesive and well thought through use of the estate to maximise the student and staff experience.
A wider ambition for our estate is to signal our place in the city of Dundee as we have a major part to play in the regeneration described in Dundee City Strategic Investment Plan which was published in December 2022.