ON CAMPUS
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are respectful of their local environment, and
social and physical context.
We have developed a good
understanding with them about what that
means in the context of a new campus.
We hope that, working together over
the next 10 to 20 years, we will develop
something quite new and innovative in
terms of a campus community.
We’re modelling some of this on
developments overseas. For example, there
are two universities in British Columbia,
Canada – University of British Columbia
and Simon Fraser University – that are
undertaking similar developments. We
are learning from what they have done
so far. We are using those learnings in our
development here. We believe it’s one of
the biggest such developments in Australia,
if not internationally.
Is this all about trying to make the University
of Canberra break out of an academic silo
and be more integrated with the public?
Absolutely. You’ll be aware that the current
government agenda is about ensuring
that we produce graduates ready for work,
[who, indeed] have experienced work
during their degrees. That’s a key plank of
Malcolm Turnbull’s innovation agenda.
The second aspect of that agenda is that
the PM wants to see universities carry out
research that is relevant to their surrounding
communities or to ensuring that we address
problems the world faces at the moment.
By ensuring that we have research and
education built into this agreement – and
it is well and truly built into this agreement
– we hope to be able to break out of that
academic silo.
University of Canberra has a long
tradition of doing applied research and
producing students who are professionally
job ready. We want to build on that in the
current environment of innovation and
ensure that we use this development on
campus to do that.
This is [all happening] in the context of a
bigger development on campus. We have
just started the development of a health
precinct on campus, which includes the
next ACT public hospital, to be called the
University of Canberra Public Hospital. We
have a number of other health facilities as
well. We will have a big cancer treatment
facility [and] within a few years we will have
an aged-care facility.
We’re moving away from a traditional
campus where students come, spend time,
then leave and back to where they live and
work. [We’re moving towards] a campus
that would integrate the ability to study,
work and live. That is the general idea.
We also have a sporting hub on
campus. We have a number of sporting
teams located here. We have plans for an
innovation park as well [though this has not
started yet], with the notion that it create
for our students opportunities to launch
innovative start-ups and spin-offs. This is
essential for many students coming out of
universities these days.
Anyone can live in this development. Will
having students live with academics and the
public in the same place help create a more
vibrant campus life?
That’s the idea. We’re building more
student accommodation on campus,
which is intended to link up through the
residential development.
If you look at examples overseas, there
is the sense of a much more vibrant
environment on campus, where there is
activity, and not just during the day when
the students and staff come to work. There
is a home environment, too. Therefore,
you get a lot more development of
amenities on campus – cafes, shops and
the like – so that it becomes a much more
vibrant community.
Belconnen is the closest town centre in
Canberra and we’re working with the local
Belconnen Community Council to ensure
that what we develop here links with the
broader development in this region. It’s
not being done in isolation. [The idea is to]
support the development of the Belconnen
community more generally. ■
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