In September 1996 something exciting happened – a new concept in construction education was born – The Environmental Building Degree Programme at the University of Plymouth. This innovative new venture included three core construction disciplines: Construction Management Building Surveying and Quantity Surveying, all sharing a common, unifying theme – environmental awareness.

Steven Goodhew, Construction Management degree leader was involved in the early research underpinning the development of the programme. Ever since the Toyne Report on greening education in the early 1990s, there has been a challenge to Higher Education to embed environmental issues as a core element of undergraduate education. We have strengths in this area, so it was natural for us to tackle the issue head-on in our new courses.

And it seems to have worked – the courses have recruited well. Perhaps more importantly, even though the degrees only started in 1996, the subject area at Plymouth was given an exceptional endorsement in 1998 when it was awarded 23 out of 24 points in the government’s Teaching Quality Assessment. Students are equally enthusiastic about the degrees and its environmental theme. Graduates are proving very successful, being sought out by major groups such as Kier Group, Henry Boot, Wilmott Dixon, Faithful and Gould. As one 1998 female graduate recently wrote “it is good that we are up to steam in a field most others are just beginning to grasp. ”

Paul Murray, Plymouth’s Head of Building is delighted with the way the degrees have developed. “The secret to our initial success is simple – we built on the strengths and expertise of our team, we listened to our students and we have a strong culture of continuous improvement. Our School has a history of achievement, reflected by the success of our Civil Engineering programmes which were awarded the highest gradings in their Teaching Quality Assessment last year. ”

An industry survey in 1994 indicated a strong approval rating for the environmental theme from over 80% of the110 respondents. The environmental theme is well embedded throughout the degrees by providing specialist modules on subjects like environmental studies, environmental impact of buildings, and energy efficiency. In addition most modules include environmental strands within the context of the particular subject. There are major projects in each year, in which students are expected to consider environmental issues in the core of their decision-making. The projects are undertaken on live sites and are assessed jointly by groups of professional practitioners and academics. 21external professionals were involved in this way in 1999.Significantly, the visiting professionals show a great interest in the environmental aspects of the project work, and they can be quite vocal if they feel that the environment has not been given due weight in the students’ schemes.

The team at Plymouth are not resting on their laurels. They recognize that more development is needed to embed a sense of personal responsibility – core to achieving sustainable environmental improvement. They also recognize the challenges that student funding changes will bring –which is one reason why the team is planning the delivery of these “excellent” rated degrees in a part time mode from September 2000.

Built Environment education faces difficult years ahead, particularly with the now recognized decline in interest from school leavers. Innovative schemes such as Plymouth may help to reverse this trend by demonstrating some of the wider issues facing construction teams in 2000 and beyond.

Contact: Paul Murray, Head of Building Programmes, School of Civil & Structural Engineering,
01752 233664
pmurray@plymouth.ac.uk