Developing a “campus precinct strategy”

MS: Let’s start by talking through the problem that needed to be solved.  

MR: Primarily, this project was about economic growth for two different stakeholders with different needs: a state government economic development department, and a dual-sector university.  

On one hand, the department had made a commitment to developing precincts, particularly for areas located outside the CBD and historically characterised by under development and disadvantage.

On the other hand, we were supporting the needs of our university partner. That particular university is basically the major university serving a large, very diverse and historically disadvantaged part of the city. The precinct strategy was an opportunity for the university to arrest declining student numbers by leveraging their significant precinct foothold in a way that delivered on the economic imperative for new industries and jobs growth in the region.    

For the project, we needed to carefully balance the needs of both the Department and the university. For the Department, their primary concerns were with building local jobs and creating new and vibrant places in the State that would attract investment. For the university, with its strong mandate to service and support the communities in which it operates, it was important to have a strategic plan that recognised the needs of the local community as well as understanding how the precincts could contribute to the university’s ongoing and future success.  

MS: And how did dandolo assist in solving this set of problems?  

MR: we came on board to help with developing a strategic approach for the university related to their key precincts. This was two-pronged:  

We assisted the university in developing an overall, comprehensive strategy for all their campus precincts that aligned with the precincts value creation framework for the state government;  

We developed a unique strategy for each of the four campus precincts and how these related to each other and their local communities. These strategies captured what each campus would focus on, how they would provide services that were appropriate for the local community, and how their activities would integrate with industry needs. Each ensured that the relevant campus would sufficiently meet the demands of the precinct, as well as the university’s ambitions to provide high quality education to its community.

These strategies were integral for the university’s approach to investment and bidding for further funding.  

MS: Other than successfully developing the strategies, what was the broader impact or outcome of our work?  

MR: First, the strategic plans we developed were integral for the university to secure their own Board agreement on internal investment as well as in bidding for further funding from other partners including governments of all levels.  

Second, on a broader level, our work was also important to underpin advocacy on key policy changes to support the university. The strategies we developed helped the university build a case to lobby on a number of fronts – for example, for more funded student places in key precincts or improved local transport infrastructure.  

Finally, it is important to note that the project is ongoing; we are continuing our relationship with the university as we develop the strategy for the fourth and final campus. This campus was the most developed when we first began this work. We are continuing our work to create a robust strategy for this campus, which ties in the potential for infrastructure and employment opportunities in the precinct due to the presence of this campus.  

MS: This project sounds like it was rewarding but also challenging. What did you find most difficult about it?

MR: It was rewarding, but difficult at times. One of the biggest difficulties was in guiding the university to set priority areas that were different for each campus precinct. Universities obviously have an important role in providing general education to students. However, the dual-sector nature of this university meant that there was also a strong imperative to determine specialisations that would best serve the students, communities and industries in the surrounding precinct.  

We also saw some tensions arising between the overall precinct approach of the university, and the value of each individual campus. Part of our role was to create harmony between these priorities to ensure the project would be a success.  

Finally, we also ran into process challenges, such as legal issues including land or title trades. We had to ensure we had a strong understanding of these areas so that we could develop an accurate value capture framework and that our work was not compromised by these challenges.  

MS: Why do you think this is a good example of an iconic dandolo project?  

MR: This was a really large, impactful project of considerable scale. I found it deeply gratifying to work on a project that was around developing and improving access to education in an area characterised by lower socioeconomic status, lower levels of education access and large populations of new migrants. Given the area has historically been underserviced by infrastructure and policy, it was great to be focused on the challenges of this set of precincts and developing an approach that could significantly improve them.  

It was also a good demonstration of dandolo’s ability to work across a wide variety of objectives, including economic development, inclusive growth, working with diverse communities, education policy, and more. It was a complex, multifaceted project that required a team capable of managing that complexity while delivering a strong, successful outcome.  

Finally, the project demonstrated our ability to manage the needs of multiple stakeholders in a way that satisfied them all. Our work was partly for a government audience that was focused on developing the precincts and needed a strategy that spoke to their policy needs. But we also balanced the needs of the university, which was grappling with declining revenue from decreases in student numbers. It was grappling with needing to meet the needs of the community, compete with other higher education providers, and deliver a commercially successful outcome. dandolo was well placed to manage these competing, sometimes contradictory, needs in a way that satisfied all parties.

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