C-SCAIPE: Developing Real Estate Education to Deal with 21st Century Challenges

"Achieving sustainable economic development is critical to the future of society and this has recently been recognised by the UN who has announced their Decade of Education for Sustainable Development. The need for Universities to address the issue has been pointed out firmly by the Sustainable Development Commission who recommend that sustainability be ""embedded in higher and further education, and appropriate interdisciplinary studies and research are promoted"" (SDC,2004). However, within the UK, Universities in particular have been slow to take up the challenge of producing graduates capable of meeting the needs of a sustainable society (Martin and Jucker, 2004). This is also recognised by the funding body, HEFCE who in response have made the embedding of sustainability within educational practice their Objective 1 (HEFCE, 2002). The need to rise to this new agenda and provide professional advisors who are both engaged and knowledgeable is nowhere more evident than in the built environment community. In particular, real estate professionals have a key role as their advice affects the stakeholders of all our commercial and residential building stock; if they are not well informed then a conflict between the needs for economic sustainability and social and environmental well-being will continue. Whilst the sustainability agenda has to date focused on the construction (i.e supply) side of the industry respond (Sustainable Construction Task Force, 2000)., we have recognised the need to integrate this with the emergent demand side drivers. In recognition of this holistic approach Kingston University's School of Surveying has been awarded HEFCE funding to set up a Centre for Sustainable Communities Achieved through Integrated Professional Education (C-SACIPE). This paper will report on the ways in which CSCAIPE is being developed specifically to address this challenge across the University and in relation to professional practice. In particular this will focus on the effectiveness of building on and rewarding the strong professional education and sustainability research background of the faculty by enabling them to develop project based learning directly with industry partners and by generating an inclusive approach to learning that fosters an understanding of the role of other professions both within and beyond the built environment field. "