Executive Summary INTRODUCTION

The following comprises an update on the development of a directory of architecture faculties in the Commonwealth, together with a summary of the responses received to a pilot consultation that was recently undertaken with a number of schools to test their appetite for collaboration and engagement.

Directory of Architectural Faculties in the Commonwealth

The directory currently includes 737 Schools of Architecture, 674 of which have been verified and 622 of which are accredited by the national regulator, as summarised in Appendix I and detailed in Appendix II. 405 (65%) of the accredited schools are situated in India. According to the information published by the Indian Council of Architecture, 187 (46%) of the faculties in India have been established for less than 10 years. 23 Commonwealth countries (mostly in the Caribbean and the Pacific) have no architecture school.

Heads Of Department

Contacts have been found in all but a handful of schools (notably Nigeria). Contact details for Heads of Department have been found in the majority of schools.

Population Ratio per School of Architecture

The ratio (in million) of population per school in OECD countries is 1.2m in Australia, 3.2m in Canada, 1.3m in New Zealand and 1.1 in the United Kingdom. The countries with the highest population per school include Zambia (19.5m), Ghana (16.4m), Rwanda (13.5m), Uganda (11.5m), Mozambique (10.7m), Kenya (10.6m), Pakistan (10.5m), Malawi (9.9m) and Papua New Guinea (9.9m), highlighting the critical lack of capacity in many of the Commonwealth countries which are urbanising most rapidly.

Responses to the Consultation

On 13 April 2023, a personalised mailing was sent to 272 contacts in all of the 137 verified schools in CAA member countries. 94 responses to the questionnaire accompanying the mailing have been received, details of which are contained in this report. Key findings from the questionnaire appear to evidence the fact that:

1. 85% of respondents are interested in helping to build a mutually supportive online community among teaching faculty.

2. 93% of respondents are interested in collaborating with another Commonwealth School of Architecture

3. 65% of respondents are interested in learning more about validation.

4. 78% of respondents are interested in promoting engagement with the Commonweath Youth Network.

5. 87% of respondents (82 no) identified other aspects of their school/faculty that would benefit from some form of capacity development, knowledge sharing The principal areas of interest among the 82 responses to this question included:

 Faculty development, including faculty exchange and mentoring.

 Collaborative design studios and design crits

 Joint research programmes

 Student exchange and scholarships

 Knowledge sharing associated with climate change and sustainable development.

 Urban design, urban development and housing the urban poor.

 New pedagogies and methodologies

A copy of the individual responses to this question is contained in Appendix III.

6. 72% of respondents undertook a curriculum review 1-3 years, ago, 21% 4-7 years ago and 6% over 8 years ago.

7. 65% of respondents consider their curriculum ‘somewhat’ prepares their students to engage with the needs of their local market and with international policy objectives such as the SDGs. 27% stated ‘very much’ while 9% (8 no) stated not at all.

8. 91% of respondents are interested in engaging in a discussion around the development of core competencies

9. Most of the respondents consider that the 6 elements contained within the Climate Framework form part of their curriculum to a greater or less extent, the weakest element being ‘circular’ economy’.

10. A substantial number of respondents believe their faculty would benefit from training in all of the six elements of the Climate Framework, notably ‘Energy & Carbon’.

11. 89% of respondents stated that their school/faculty undertakes research across

12. Respondents appear to be undertaking research across a broad range of topics with ‘Environment scoring most responses and ‘Building Technology’ scoring least.

13. The following are among the most popular new areas of research in which respondents were interested:

 Green Buildings & Sustainable Development

 Climate Change

 Heritage Conservation

 Harnessing indigenous knowledge

 Resilience & adaptation

 Design thinking and pedagogy

A copy of the individual responses to this question is contained in Appendix IV.

14. A significant number of respondents expressed an interest in supporting the CAA in its research/policy activities, especially, ‘Capacity building & CPD’ (75 no), ‘Evidence based design & policy making’ (70 no) and ‘Energy, Carbon & Building Performance’ (68 no).

15. Forty-five respondents also raised a number of ‘other’ issues including:

 Promoting architecture for social purpose and building on indigenous knowledge

 Facilitating collaborations including join design studios

 Reflecting on the future of the profession, including the impact of artificial intelligence

 Facilitating knowledge exchange

 Helping to better connect academia with policymakers.

A copy of the individual responses to this question is contained in Appendix V.

16. Respondents identified a total of 70 individuals from 56 institutions from 15 countries among the 5 regions of the Commonwealth who wished to be followed up.

17. Respondents identified a further 46 individuals from 31 institutions from 11 countries among the 5 regions of the Commonwealth who were suggested for inclusion in this initiative.

Next Steps

The CAA will publish a copy of these findings before considering its response. For further information, contact: info@commonwealrtharchitects.org