Rethinking education: UKREiiF panel discussion

At this year's UKREiiF, Kieran Dyer, director at Pick Everard, led an interesting panel discussion exploring whether educational infrastructure can and should, act as a catalyst for regeneration. He began by setting the tone: “Schools, colleges and universities, in all their forms, can be a catalyst for economic growth, social connection and civic identity.”

But can they truly spark long-term growth, or does this require a more radical rethink of how we embed learning environments within the urban and civic fabric? Kieran chaired the discussion alongside:

• Lara Newman, Chief Executive at LocatED
• Gerard Garvey, Executive Principal at the NCG
• Andy Levy, Head of Projects at the University of Cambridge
• Linda Goodacre, Director of Estates and Facilities Management at the University of Sheffield
• Dr. Julie Nugent, Chief Executive at Coventry City Council

Community-centric design

One of the strongest arguments raised on the panel was the potential for schools and colleges to serve far broader functions than education alone. In many towns and cities, educational buildings are the largest community assets, yet they often sit underutilised outside of school hours.

With changing demographics and falling student numbers in some areas, now is the time to rethink how these spaces can be used.

As Lara put it: “We need to stop thinking of schools as just places for teaching - they are the heart of their communities. In the context of falling rolls and surplus space, we need to ensure that education estates are delivering maximum public value. Why aren’t we doing what shopping centres are doing – hosting diagnostic clinics, community hubs, or public services? These spaces could be delivering real value to their communities every day of the week.”

Unlocking opportunity

However, this long-term plan doesn’t come without its challenges. Ownership of the education estate is highly fragmented, with over 22,000 state-funded schools across the UK held by a range of public and trust organisations. This makes joined-up policy and regeneration planning incredibly difficult.

Despite this, there is a growing belief that collaboration and a shift in mindset can unlock new opportunities.

The key, the panel agreed, is to stop treating educational land as a commodity with a fixed market value and instead assess its social value. “When you cut land value out of the equation and focus on what the community needs, the viability of bold, multi-use community projects suddenly becomes possible,” said Lara.

FE potential

Gerard Garvey, Executive Principal at the NCG, brought the Further Education (FE) perspective into the discussion, highlighting the important role that often goes unrecognised with FE colleges.

Many colleges already offer valuable public-facing services, from training salons to restaurants for public use. While they face similar safeguarding challenges to schools, Gerard pointed out that FE estates are often designed in a way that feels more accessible and welcoming to the wider community.

“Like schools, we often have space that’s underutilised. Not necessarily within the buildings, but in the surrounding land.” Gerard added. “There’s a lot to learn from what’s been achieved with well-designed college estates, and we’re keen to continue investing in that.”

With NCG overseeing seven colleges across the UK, the organisation is looking at how to further enhance its estates to benefit communities.

A civic-minded approach

Science and technology innovation is playing a growing role in the economic future of the UK. The Oxford-Cambridge Growth Corridor is a prime example, with investment now being channelled into unlocking its full potential as a global centre for science and technology.

Andy Levy, Head of Projects at the University of Cambridge, explained how the city and university are intrinsically linked by a long-standing culture of innovation. With 26,000 Cambridge-based companies, including 23 unicorns valued at over £1 billion, the region is thriving. However, this success brings responsibility.

“We’re set up for innovation, but it’s also a challenge to meet expectations,” Andy said. “Economic growth and innovation have to go alongside investment in local communities – improving infrastructure, schools, transport and hospitals.”

The University of Cambridge is actively supporting emerging entrepreneurs, start-ups and spin-outs through organisations such as Cambridge Enterprise, Cambridge Innovation Capital, and IdeaSpace. These platforms offer funding and support to the wider Cambridge ecosystem.

Andy also pointed to the need for better estate utilisation. With one of the largest university estates in the UK, Cambridge is actively reshaping its estate to ensure better utilisation and efficiency to support innovation and collaboration with the University, industry, the city and the local community.

This civic-minded approach shows how higher education estates can become enablers of growth for the entire region.

A university-led model for regeneration

Also from a higher education perspective, Linda from the University of Sheffield highlighted how universities are already redefining their civic roles. “Universities are no longer seen as ivory towers,” she said. “There’s a real obligation now to open our arms to the community and contribute meaningfully to the city’s future.”

Sheffield’s “Innovation Spine” is a prime example. Spanning the area between the University of Sheffield and Sheffield Hallam, it’s a dedicated corridor for spin-outs, start-ups, and research-led businesses. Supported by five key stakeholders – including both universities, Sheffield City Council, Sheffield Tech Parks, and others – the spine brings together investment, innovation, and place-making into one unified ecosystem.

“Universities like ours are brilliant at creating spin-outs,” Linda explained, “but to retain talent, we need to provide the physical spaces and wraparound support – things like financing advice, HR, and estates.” The university’s masterplan reflects this, with plans to repurpose a former bio-incubator building into a flagship innovation space.

This kind of thinking demonstrates how educational institutions can not only drive regeneration but also anchor long-term economic development, talent retention, and place identity.

A symbiotic relationship

Dr. Julie Nugent from Coventry City Council spoke passionately about the intrinsic relationship between educational institutions and the city’s growth. “Our relationship with universities – and the broader schools and FE estate – is absolutely symbiotic,” she said. “We support each other.”

She explained how Coventry’s economic growth has been fuelled in large part by its rising student population – with over 60,000 students living in the city. While purpose-built student accommodation hasn’t always been popular with residents, Julie acknowledged it has been a crucial catalyst for development and vibrancy.

“Our attractiveness to developers is tied to our student population – it’s a source of talent, but also significant capital being spent locally,” she added. However, she also highlighted the need for more creative thinking around graduate retention, which currently sits at around 20%. “That’s not good enough. We have to think more creatively about how we do that.”

Coventry is also tapping into its broader position within the West Midlands, the second highest UK region for attracting foreign direct investment. But again, Julie noted, the next step must be ensuring that university talent and innovation are more explicitly tied into these investment strategies to ensure education and regeneration go hand-in-hand.

Adapting existing assets for a changing future

With surplus land and half-empty buildings becoming more common in some areas, there is a unique and perhaps time-limited opportunity to rethink how we use these assets. Rather than focusing on new builds, the conversation moved toward repurposing existing school sites to include healthcare, housing, or social care services.

The idea of “meanwhile use” was also raised, where surplus land or underused school sites could be temporarily repurposed for 10 to 15 years until population numbers recover. This kind of flexible, adaptive thinking will be critical in meeting the shifting needs of communities in the coming decades.

A moment for the mindset shift

There was strong consensus that this moment must not be missed. The opportunity to realign educational assets with wider regeneration goals won’t come around again soon. As Kieran concluded, “We’ve never really been asked to join the dots – but now is that moment.”

With bold thinking, integrated planning, and a willingness to challenge traditional silos, education can be repositioned at the heart of regeneration – not just as a place to learn, but as a platform for thriving, connected communities.

At Pick Everard, we work across the full education landscape, from schools and colleges to higher education estates, delivering design and management consultancy services that support long-term regeneration, community value, and future-ready learning environments.

Whether it’s supporting masterplans, unlocking funding, or designing inclusive, multi-use spaces, our teams are helping to rethink the role of education within place-based regeneration.

If you’re looking to deliver education projects, contact us to see how we can help.