Engagement & Partnership - Beyond our Walls

Aberdeen Sports Village  
Aberdeen Sports Village

Strategic objective: To continue to promote partnership working in all that we do and to engage fully with our regional, national and international partners, our stakeholders, and our alumni.

Our history is integrated with our city and region. Today the connections extend into Europe and beyond. A willingness to engage with issues beyond our immediate walls, and to form collaborative partnerships that work toward shared aims and help promote the social, cultural and economic wellbeing of an ever-widening community, is central to our philosophy. Good relationships with industry, individual businesses and government are fundamental to our ability to come up with new solutions for real world problems.

Within the North-East of Scotland we are proud of our relationships across both the public and private sectors. We seek to play a central role in the cultural and intellectual life of the area, resulting in major economic and societal benefit. We will continue to work with ACSEF (Aberdeen City and Shire Economic Future) to drive economic development of the region.

We will also explore further opportunities for partnership working on major projects which benefit both ourselves and the wider region. The wonderful Aberdeen Sports Village, opened in autumn 2009, is the fruit of our partnership with sportscotland and Aberdeen City Council. NHS Grampian is our partner in the new £20 million state-of-the-art Suttie Centre for medical education and clinical training enhancing our commitment to contributing to the health of the region, while our further commitment to the Highlands is enunciated through our Centre for Rural Health.

Our spectacular new library, due to open in 2011, will strengthen our connections with the local community not only through access to its facilities but also through cultural outreach, exhibitions and events. In 2012, as hosts of the British Science Association meeting, we will further our links in public engagement.

We will develop further our partnerships with other education providers in the North and North-East of Scotland to provide flexible pathways for further and higher education and to ensure equality of educational opportunity for all.

We aim to:

  • develop new and existing research and teaching partnerships at regional, national and international level
  • develop a campus that the community can engage with; a cultural heart not only of Aberdeen but of the wider region and the North of Scotland
  • further engage people across the globe with our cultural and science public engagement programmes and support our staff and students in contributing to these programmes
  • engage our alumni across the world and encourage them to promote our global reputation
  • find new ways to share space, facilities, services and expertise with other institutions and organisations
  • develop an ethos of active citizenship among our students, continuing to develop the STAR (Students Taking Active Roles) Award to recognise those who have undertaken roles outside of their academic studies, in order to develop their transferable skills and competencies.

Case Studies

Keeping alive local traditions and roots

Major change has rocked communities of North and North-East Scotland over the past three centuries, from agricultural revolution to North Sea oil. The Elphinstone Institute is dedicated to preserving and promoting local culture, traditions and heritage through teaching, research, community outreach and partnership activities which celebrate the traditional life of the North. The great diaspora of Scots from the North stretches around the world, and the study of local traditional culture goes hand in hand with the historical effect of emigration, and the retention by emigrant communities of traditions sometimes lost to their homeland. Research also shows that incomers to northern Scotland not only adapt to the personality of the region but bring to it idioms which add to our cultural richness.

Engaging communities with culture and learning

New opportunities, wider participation and increasing relevance – our public engagement is building on traditional strength to enter a new and exciting phase. A varied programme of public lectures showcase our academic and research leadership and bring world experts to Aberdeen, while accessible and attractive opportunities for lifelong learning are reaching deep into our local communities. Calendar highlights including Word Festival, Director’s Cut and our brilliant music programme are enthralling and inspiring people of all ages, with growing interest from across the UK and beyond. In 2011 we open on the Old Aberdeen campus the new King’s Museum, a new venue for musical performance, and not least our magnificent new library which will engage a wider audience with our collections, archives and full range of our cultural and public activities.

Engaging, exciting and inspiring with science

A successful bid led by the University to host the UK’s leading public science festival will place northeast Scotland firmly among the nation’s great science cities and regions. The prestigious British Science Festival 2012 will engage over 40,000 people with the latest thinking in science, technology and engineering, with events aimed at families, schools, and people of all ages and interests. Key to the decision of the British Science Association was the quality of close working partnerships between the education and research sector and cultural providers across our region, together with the University’s track record and commitment to its growing programme of science engagement including the fast-growing community Café series.