Today I attended the first meeting for ‘Students as Agents of Change’, the premise is that the students become involved in the decision make process connected to the expansion plans for the university. So before the architects are contacted the student body is allowed to make suggestions about what kind of new facilities will be present in the improved campus.
It was a really interesting meeting, students from many of the courses were present, from both Exeter University and Falmouth University.
One group of students were adamant about the fact that the work going on at the campus should be considerate of animal habitats and also not destroy the allotments that had been provided for their course. People wanted to improve the green areas, making it possible to enjoy the outside more in the summer. Another group wanted to make the campus more inviting, by creating a Sculpture Trail for visitors and locals to enjoy.
Another valuable idea was to set up a series of focus groups to take place within Penryn and Falmouth giving the opportunity for locals to also make suggestions about how the campus expansion could be of benefit locally through new businesses, entertainment facilities like theatre and films and so forth.
Something that I felt stood out for the students was the idea of creating a feeling of ownership within the campus for the students. This would be established by basically turning the university into a gallery space, showcasing art, photography and design and also giving the students the opportunity to use the campus site as a site for experimentation for example through garden design and ecology.
For me this will be a really helpful experience. In my current work I am aiming to discover the specific needs of a community relating to a project. So my personal methodology (discovering needs and creating an outcome) will cause me to either do a good or bad job. I found a great website the other day with a series of crib sheets and toolkits on it, they show how to approach and implement the finds of a consultative process. So hopefully being a part of this committee at college plus + the crib sheets + first hand trial of focus groups = good outcome.
