A Campus for the Future: DISCovery Themes

DISCovery themes statement

The campus for the future will be supported by these DISCovery themes

Distinctive

• We strive for excellence in our education, research and engagement and place, and global activities making the experience for our students, colleagues, and partners unique and impactful
• We will use our campus to physically and digitally and visibly and audibly show our global, national, regional impact and engagement activities

Inclusive

• We nurture a thriving community that is diverse, inclusive and interdependent
• We will engage with our internal expert across disciplines to support a "living lab" approach to our campus
• We will support spaces of belonging across our campus so that it becomes a sticky campus for all its stakeholders

Sustainable

• We care about our people, our planet and the long-term sustainability of the University
• We will tailor our estate shape and size to fulfil our business needs and reduce our environmental impact

Collaborative

• We are one University
• We will work together sharing office spaces, offices, meeting rooms, labs, equipment, resources and facilities to encourage collegial practice and promote cross-disciplinary across all undergraduates, postgraduates, research associates, academics, technicians, and professional service staff

We will improve, redesign, refurbish our campus towards 2030 using these DISCovery themes.

Distinctive	Inclusive	Sustainable	Collaborative
We will do this by:
Following a Newcastle University brand architecture in the redesign of our spaces whilst respecting the architectural elements of our estate.	Co-locating undergraduates, postgraduates, research associates, technologists, practitioners, and academics based upon their area of investigation thereby avoiding single use areas.	Making all spaces comfortable and energy efficient.	Allocating space that is appropriate to the activity.
Signing for a global audience routes through and towards the campus, buildings, rooms and encounter spaces.	Making our spaces accessible to all and sharing spaces with external partners locally and globally.	Making our buildings and spaces available based upon the need and usage of the many rather the few. Opening spaces and buildings outside of working hours only when there is specific need.	Mixing diverse but subject connected teams to avoid silos.
Making our estate face outwards into the city, region, nation, and world with connections and representations of activity on and off campus.	Using hybrid technologies to help those who are not able to be on campus in person, feel part of the University experience.	Being flexible in our footprint as Education, research, Engagement and Place, and Global projects grow and shrink.	Recognising that our equipment and facilities (education and research) belong and are supported by the University.
Adopting design quality principles to address issues regarding student isolation and mental health and wellbeing by creating spaces that encourage belonging and a sticky campus.	Optimising provision of innovative study and encounter spaces, information resources and other services required by our students and colleagues.	Developing a holistic understanding of facilities and equipment across the institute/estate to avoid duplication.	Working with our cultural venues and public spaces to create a culturally rich campus that reflects our values.
Introducing a comprehensive residences life and support team/programme to promote a supportive, welcoming and positive experience for students within our accommodation.	Investing in recreational and performance sports facilities for our students and collegues. Ensuring that our campus brings people together between their learning environments.	Using sustainable and biodiverse materials with a fabric-first approach to building design to maximise energy efficiency.	Encouraging and supporting interdisciplinarity and intercultural learning through the creation of encounter spaces (both physical and virtual) for student/colleague collaborations.
	Storytelling our activities through physical spaces so that we think, feel, and act as a global community.	Embedding a responsible approach to procurement and recycle, repurpose and reuse before purchase.	Monitoring room and equipment usage to make data informed decisions about how we can work together and support a physically present campus.
			Connecting with external colleagues such as the NE5, NE1, City Council and Community groups.