Environment

Our campuses:

Special places, alive with life

We have a vision for all UWE Bristol campuses:

To consider how our campuses can showcase and celebrate who we are, what we do and what we stand for. They should be alive with all things UWE Bristol and make students, staff and visitors feel like they are part of something very special.

That’s the big idea. Everything we’re now working towards. And through our new Campus Life workstream, we’ve identified six themes that we believe will make our vision a reality and enhance the campus experience for everyone:

  1. Belonging
  2. Campus vibrancy
  3. Welcoming
  4. Choice
  5. Connectivity
  6. Green spaces

In January 2023, as part of our campus vision, we approved the Student Centre brief. This brief, the workstream’s first capital project, is designed to enhance these six Campus Life themes.

We now have a monthly Campus Vibrancy Group meeting, with members from across UWE Bristol. Already, the Group is enhancing the vibrancy of our September 2023 registration and welcome events. Plus:

  • supporting the production of a Frenchay campus mural, starting in November 2023. This boundary-pushing project will highlight disabled artists and their contributions to society. We’re collaborating with UWE Bristol Indonesian students, disabled students and International Disabled Artists from Bristol and Indonesia.
  • working with the appointed Student Centre design team, the Group’s exploring how we can make sure that our campuses become a ‘home’ for student life – empowering and facilitating exciting opportunities for events, activities, pop-ups, performances and more.

Flexible working practices:

People first, always

Our UWE Bristol Chief People Officer is now the project sponsor for the flexible working practices review. Through this review, we’ve now agreed a set of principles and an approach that clearly – effectively – aligns with our equality, diversity and inclusion ambitions, and will enable us to:

  • create a supportive, high-performing culture
  • reflect our ambition to be an employer of choice and attract talent in a competitive marketplace
  • deliver our strategic and operational objectives
  • embrace enhanced work/life balance and flexibility
  • be employee-led and evidence based
  • create a strong sense of belonging
  • account for how the model and practice is experienced by different groups.

We’ll have new guidance and toolkits available to all in autumn 2023. Plus, a framework for manager support and training. And as part of the roll-out, we’ll make sure that teams and managers know how to have sensitive conversations and look at exceptional circumstances. Our approach, as always, is test-and-learn. We’ll collect feedback and use it to improve.

Health and Wellbeing Innovation Scheme:

By staff, for staff

Launched in August 2023, our Health and Wellbeing Innovation Scheme (HWIS) kickstarted the creation, development, piloting and evaluation of UWE Bristol health and wellbeing initiatives. HWIS gives out small pots of money, up to £500, to initiatives developed by the staff community for the staff community.

We’ve already supported 10 new projects, focused on everything from protecting your hearing to mindfulness to conversations about the menopause.

Next, the HWIS panel will produce an evaluation report and agree the future of the scheme.

You can find out more about our Health and Wellbeing Innovation Scheme in this report’s data section.