CAA CPD, Post Event Feedback Report (Calling Academy Stellenbosch)
Executive Summary
The following document has been prepared for CAA Council to report on the attendance, feedback and promotion strategies for the second session of the 2024-2026 season of the Continuing Professional Development (CPD) programme. For this season, the programme will principally be focused on an Awards Showcase from the CAA 2024 General Assembly held in Kigali, Rwanda in August 2024. This session was delivered by Gustav Roberts of SALT Architects and Werner Cloete of Calling Education on their project, the Calling Academy Stellenbosch in South Africa. The project was the overall winner of the 2024 CAA Social Impact Award.
The learning outcomes for this session were centred on understanding the SDGs and their application through an exemplar case study, with a particular focus on what social impact means. Participants were introduced to a number of ideas around community-oriented approaches to design, involving consideration of the project’s education curriculum, as well as its context, materiality, construction and day-to-day operations. The education outcomes for this session were directly linked to how the SDGs were realised in this project as well as key ideas which attendees might seek to bring back to their own practice or projects.
This session build upon the successes of previous CAA CPD programme sessions. The event was continued to adopt a multi-pronged approach to promotion, being distributed widely via ArchDaily, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and newsletter. Members of the Council also showed invaluable support in helping to repost, share and request their own member architectural institutions share the event, which contributed to a well-attended event delivered effectively within the space of a three weeks. Whilst the attendance at this event was lower than previous recent events, this was partly attributed to its alignment with a number of competing events on Commonwealth Day Nevertheless, feedback from the event was broadly positive and these moves represent an ongoing pivot and exploration by the CAA to diversify its outreach to ensure that its programme and its ideas can reach as many people as possible.
In terms of attendance:
- Total number of registered participants: 470
- Total number of unique viewers: 164
- Maximum number of concurrent views: 139
Of this, 133 participants were present for 30 minutes or more which meant that they qualified for the Certificate of Participation. All regions of the Commonwealth were represented by attendance, with overwhelming support (73% of attendees) from Asia and Africa.
As a mark of the programme’s ongoing success, feedback on the event has been overwhelmingly positive. Responses indicated that:
- 100% found the event was of interest
- 100% found the event to be well managed.
- 80% found the event to be just the right amount of time.
- 85% of attendees were architects or practitioners of architecture.
- 100% would like to see the CAA CPD programme continue.
Nevertheless, this report highlights that there are still areas for improvement, namely that:
- 85% of respondents felt that there needed to be more time for engagement with the speakers (i.e. more time for Q&A).
- 20% of respondents felt that the event was too short, and that more time should have been scheduled (the event was one hour long).
Feedback from respondents overwhelmingly support the continuation of the CPD programme and in particular, seek more sessions on the following areas:
- Sustainability & Sustainable Projects (i.e. Case study focus)
- Materials and Construction Methods including Energy Efficiency in Design
In view of the feedback and to build on the continued success of the CPD Programme, four areas of observation and improvement are suggested:
1. Promotional Strategies – continue to develop and expand on existing networks of engagement to build interest in the CPD programme, expanding and encouraging greater registrations via member organisations and also sign-ups to the newsletter.
2. Attendance Retention – develop a component of newsletter or social media outreach to serve as ‘reminders’ to ensure that all registrations are used, and a larger portion of registered attendees will commit to actually attending.
3. Audience Retention – develop strategies or review structure of presentation to ensure high level of audience retention is maintained for full duration of the programme.
4. Feedback Monitoring – continue to maintain consistent feedback sheets and questions to ensure that trend-mapping to monitor the CPD programme, enhance and review success of the programme can be undertaken.
On a personal note, it continues to be a pleasure to assist the CAA in the delivery of this CPD session, representing also my first public engagement role as a Council Member. I am therefore also grateful for the opportunity and ability to assist in this important aspect of the CAA’s outreach and look forward to the upcoming sessions in 2025 – 2026.
Hugo Chan Youth Representative Commonwealth Association of Architects
Recording – Online Platform
A digital recording of the event has now been prepared and will be made accessible to the public via our website.
1. Still Image from ZOOM Recording during Werner’s Presentation Segment
2 Still Image from ZOOM Recording during Gustav’s Presentation Segment
Event Promotion
As part of an ongoing review of social media strategies, a number of additional event promotion methods were adopted, in addition to the standard CAA CPD Newsletter. The following strategies were used in aid of promoting the event:
In the subsequent sections, a brief review of the event promotion strategies is considered, alongside broad comments on potential adjustments to increase interest and registration numbers.
CAA CPD Newsletter
Two principal newsletters were issued to registered newsletter recipients for this CPD event, alongside follow-up resends. The first newsletter was sent on 17 February 2025, just over three weeks week prior to the event and with a second newsletter sent on 6 March 2025 four days before. For this event, there were a total of 1,300+ emails registered. A record of the newsletter is in Appendix A
Newsletter 1 – 17 February 2025
- The newsletter was successfully sent out to 1,317 emails, representing 97% of registered emails.
- Of this, 46.4% or, 611 emails were opened.
- Of this 11.2% or, 147 persons clicked to register on the ZOOM link provided.
Newsletter 2 – 6 March 2025
- The newsletter was successfully sent out to 1,323 emails, representing 97.8% of registered emails.
- Of this, 39.7% or, 525 emails were opened.
- Of this 8.2% or, 108 persons clicked to register on the ZOOM link provided.
Analysis
These values are placed in comparison to our last CPD event held in October 2024 (the previous Council):
Newsletter 1 – 23 October 2024
- The newsletter was successfully sent out to 1,293 emails, representing 97% of registered emails.
- Of this, 62% or, 807 emails were opened.
- Of this 12% or, 151 persons clicked to register on the ZOOM link provided.
Newsletter 2 – 29 October 2024
- The newsletter was successfully sent out to 1,295 emails, representing 97% of registered emails.
- Of this, 51% or, 656 emails were opened.
- Of this 6.2% or, 80 persons clicked to register on the ZOOM link provided.
In view of this in comparison to the most recent newsletter campaign, it is concluded that the newsletter readership and click-rate is comparable, indicating that a degree of interest is being maintained.
It would be appropriate to discuss in due course however, whether there are ways of improving the newsletter structure in terms of its visual interest and simplicity to improve click-rates and registrations.
LinkedIn
Following re-establishment of the CAA LinkedIn page in early October 2024, this CPD event was the first to be advertised via LinkedIn. A total of two posts and one repost was made, spread on average over one every three days in the lead up to the event. A record of the posts is contained in Appendix B.
- For the first post, there were 298 views, with a click rate to the link of 5.7%
- For the second post, there were 273 views, with a click rate to the link of 10.26%
Facebook
The event was shared on Facebook and pinned (in the leadup) to the event. The post was noted as being liked by multiple persons as well as being shared by two Individuals.
A trial livestream of the event was also held on Facebook via the CAA Page. This was met with some success, noting that a variable number of persons joined the Facebook Live feed at various points throughout the event. It is noted that in future, where attendance may exceed the ZOOM Assembly capacity, this will be an important alternative channel to live stream our events.
A comparison is made to the three most recent CPD events by the CAA denoted by the trend chart below. Whilst attendance was lower than previous events, the attendance (which qualified for the certificate) was comparable in numbers to the CAA’s most recent series of events.
From these numbers, it is also noted that on average, approximately 50% of registered attendees actually attend the CPD event. Whilst not currently an issue, it should be noted that the CAA’s current maximum attendance capacity is 500 persons. There may in future be a need to warn or advise attendees that they should do their best to attend, so that their ‘reserved’ registration spot is not ‘lost’ if we have events which are hitting upwards of 500 persons.
Registration & Attendance Numbers
Making Mutual Recognition Agreements Work Making National Building Codes Work Making Natural Building Materials Work Environmental Impact Award Social Impact Award No. of Individuals
Registrations Unique Views Concurrent Views
4 Trend Chart – Registration & Attendance Numbers
Of the 164 unique viewers at the event, a total of 133 participants, or 85% of attendees were present for at least 30 minutes (half) of the session, which qualifies them for the CPD Certificate for the event. It was noted that there were several individuals whose internet appeared to break up and rejoined. Overall, retention rate was considered high, but indicates that there continues to be an opportunity to maintain audience interest, and to ensure that they are present for the full duration of the session
Professional Background
It was noted that the vast majority of attendees identified as architects. Compared to the previous event, a growing number of individuals identified themselves as academics and/or researchers and several architecture adjacent professionals (engineers, quantity surveyors, urban designers) were also registered as attendees. In addition to this, several students of architecture were also in attendance, indicating that the CAA is slowly improving its outreach beyond the traditional core audience of architects, and enabling a more diverse cohort of architecture professionals to participate in our events.
Regions & Countries Represented
The event was well attended by all regions of the Commonwealth, including individuals from outside the Commonwealth. The vast majority of our attendees were distributed across three principal regions: Africa (26%), Asia (24%) and Caribbean & Americas (26%). These three regions made up approximately 76% of all attendees.
Regional Representation of Attendance
5. Chart – Regional Representation of Attendance
The table below provides a detailed breakdown of the attendees separated by nations. Note that attendees outside the Commonwealth are denoted by the asterisk ‘*’ for reference. It was noted that 120 of the participants were recorded as being from the Commonwealth (90%) and 14 were registered outside (10%). The data presented is limited only to individuals who attended for 30 minutes or more (i.e. qualified for the Certificate of Participation).
Event Feedback
Feedback on the event has been overwhelmingly positive. There were a total of 44 survey respondents received within the first week after the event, representing approximately 27% of total unique viewers (164). Out of these responses:
- 98% found the event was of interest
- 98% found the event to be well managed.
- 86% found the event to be just the right amount of time
- 98% would like to see the CAA CPD programme continue.
In comparison with previous sessions concerning the management, the following observations were made:
- 66% of respondents felt that there needed to be more time for engagement with the speakers (i.e. more time for Q&A). It is noted that this represented a drop from the last session, in which 85% of respondents felt that the Q&A session was too short. This indicates that the CAA has improved the delivery of audience driven questions for the audience.
- Only 7% of respondents found that the session was too short, a substantial decline from 20% of respondents for the previous event. This indicates that a revised programme of approximately 1 hour 15 minutes to 1 hour 30 minutes, comprised of 10-minute introductions, 40 – 50 minute presentations and 15 – 20 minute Q&A appears to be a preferred model structure for events of this type.
A review to responses on the question around ‘future topics’ was found to predominantly focus on ‘sustainability’, with comments being:
- Architecture’s Alignment to the 17 SDGs
- Green Building Techniques
- Passive Building Practices
- Vernacular Architecture
- Disaster & Climate Risk Reduction
Other, less conventional topic suggestions also included:
- Artificial Intelligence – Impact on design process and future of architecture
- Modern role of the architect in the construction industry
- Best practices in architectural education, advances in learning, teaching and assessment in education.
- Business of architecture and how to run a practice.
Appendix D: Event Promotion – A3 Digital Poster
Poster & Accompanying Post:
Join us this Commonwealth Day!
We’re celebrating the 2025 theme ‘Together We Thrive’ by exploring the CAA Social Impact Award Winner – Calling Academy Stellenbosch by SALT architects PTY Ltd! Discover how this inspiring project is transforming lives through educational equity, community empowerment, and cultural preservation.
Hear from Gustav Roberts (SALT Architects) & Werner Cloete (Calling Education) on how architecture can drive social change.
“A beautifully simple design that revitalizes local heritage and empowers communities.” – CAA Jury Discover why Calling Academy Stellenbosch won the CAA Social Impact Award 2024! This project by SALT Architects showcases the power of architecture in fostering social equity and education.
Join us on Commonwealth Day, Monday 10 March 2025 at 1:00 PM UTC+0 for an inspiring conversation with the team behind this remarkable project.
Register now: shorturl.at/LIiMc
Image Caption
Architecture with Purpose! The Calling Academy Stellenbosch is more than just a school it’s a catalyst for social change! As the 2024 CAA Social Impact Award Winner, this project shows how thoughtful design can uplift communities, creating opportunities for low-income learners and revitalizing local heritage. Join us online on Commonwealth Day (March 10) to hear directly from the architects behind this transformative project!
Final Call! Registration Closes Soon! This is your last chance to attend our CPD event on March 10 (1:00 PM UTC+0) and hear the inspiring story behind the CAA Social Impact Award Winner – Calling Academy Stellenbosch.
Don’t miss out on this unique opportunity to learn how architecture can empower communities, preserve culture, and create lasting change.
Featuring SALT Architects & Calling Education.
Register now before it’s too late! shorturl.at/LIiMc
