CURATING THE FUTURE: A MESSAGE FROM OUR VICE-CHANCELLOR AND CE0
As we look towards the decade ahead, Arts University Bournemouth stands ready to enter a new era, one shaped by creative excellence, purposeful innovation, and the confidence to imagine a future that is bold, ambitious and transformative.
From 1880 to today, AUB has grown, adapted and imagined new possibilities for creative learning. As we look forward, we carry this legacy with confidence, knowing that the ideas, skills and innovation nurtured here will continue to shape creative higher education for generations to come. As we embark on this next chapter, I hope this strategy demonstrates that we are doing so with optimism and determination.
AUB Strategy 2030+ sets out our direction of travel with clarity and courage. It is a framework designed not only to guide us through the next five years, but to ensure that AUB continues to thrive in a world defined by rapid change and expanding creative possibility.
Recognised year after year among the UK’s leading creative institutions, AUB continues to demonstrate the power and impact of outstanding creative education. This strategy reflects who we are and what we aspire to become. It leans into the evolving landscape of our disciplines, the emergence of new technologies, and acknowledges future skills needs for those entering the creative industries.
Strategy 2030+ champions an entrepreneurial mindset; this will not only be reflected through our portfolio of courses, but in how our university operates, empowering us to think differently, act decisively and remain agile in a shifting global environment. This mindset will enable us to explore new opportunities, build meaningful partnerships and strengthen our long-term resilience.
At the heart of this Strategy is our commitment to people. We will continue to nurture an environment where every student can develop their unique creative voice with confidence, and where all colleagues are supported to push boundaries in practice, research and innovation. Just as importantly, we reaffirm our commitment to offering opportunities for all, ensuring that those who seek a high-quality creative education, from every background and circumstance, can access it. This aspiration is fundamental to our mission and to the role AUB plays in shaping a more inclusive and equitable cultural landscape.
ARTS UNIVERSITY BOURNEMOUTH STANDS READY TO ENTER A NEW ERA ”
Strategy 2030+ positions AUB to extend its global reach, deepen its impact and reaffirm the essential role of creativity in shaping society.
Our University has always been a place where imagination becomes action, where ideas spark progress, and where creative talent flourishes. With this strategy as our foundation, we will continue to evolve, to innovate and to lead, ensuring that AUB remains a home for creative excellence that inspires the future.
Lisa Mann Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive Officer
THE POWER OF CREATIVITY IS UNDENIABLE
At Arts University Bournemouth (AUB), creative excellence is at the heart of everything we do; how we think and work; how we engage with our students, partners and communities; how we teach and research; and how we lead.
With an intention to become THE entrepreneurial arts university and provide opportunity for ALL, we will stand at the intersection of imagination and innovation; where creative education is purpose-driven, enterprising, and impactful.
Our ambition is clear: to nurture the next generation of artists, designers, filmmakers, entrepreneurs, and creative thinkers who will not only shape the creative industries of the future, but transform artistic practice, build communities, and contribute to global cultural heritage.
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Founded in 1880 as the Bournemouth Government School of Art, AUB has championed the transformative power of creativity for well over a century.
By continually evolving our approach to artistic practice and integrating science, design, and technology, we have established ourselves as a premier destination for arts education –a vital cornerstone in a rapidly changing global landscape.
Today, AUB ignites the passion of 3,700 students, and 460 staff, empowering them to shape culture through innovation. Recognised in 2025 as the UK’s Best Specialist Arts University outside London, we position ourselves at the intersection of imagination, innovation, and enterprise, fearlessly challenging boundaries and redefining what is truly possible.
As we move towards 2030 and beyond, AUB will continue to evolve as a place where creative excellence meets opportunity; where ideas are tested, businesses are born, and collaboration inspires and drives continual change.
We will continue to strengthen our reputation as the creative arts university that empowers creative entrepreneurs, and nurtures confident graduates with the vision and agility to create and lead in a fast-changing world.
We commit to providing access to education for ALL who want it, combining creative excellence with enterprise, ensuring that AUB is a leader in inclusive creative education nationally and globally.
STRATEGY 2030+ SETS OUT HOW WE WILL REALISE OUR NEW
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THE ENTREPRENEURIAL ARTS UNIVERSITY
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AUB Strategy 2030+ will see Arts University Bournemouth:
Become the go-to Entrepreneurial Arts University – igniting creative careers and shaping future industries.
Renowned for providing an outstanding student experience and an energised, future-ready staff, adapting to the changing ways our students learn.
Producing focused, impactful research, enterprise and innovation and knowledge exchange, driving economic and cultural prosperity.
Creating Opportunity for ALL, opening our doors wider than ever before, to a more diverse range of learners for a more inclusive society.
Forging purposeful partnerships and collaborations with regional, national, and international partners, FE and HE providers and businesses.
Engaging in commercial and entrepreneurial activity that leads to annual surpluses, reinforcing our financial sustainability.
Providing rich experiences for our staff and learners within a reimagined digitally enabled campus, reflecting modern ways of learning.
OPPORTUNITY FOR ALL
Championing talent and ambition in every community. Our civic agenda ensures creative opportunities and a sense of belonging for all staff and students, unlocking our collective creative future.
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CREATIVE EXCELLENCE
Our defining spirit, a commitment to imagination and innovation that empowers every learner to create high-quality work with purpose and impact.
FUTURE SKILLS
Creating graduates who are agile, adaptable and confident in moving between analogue and digital, craft and code, studio and screen.
RESEARCH AND ENTERPRISE
The belief that every student is a potential innovator, equipped not only with a creative talent but with the confidence, resilience and business acumen to shape their own futures.
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OPPORTUNITY CORE PRINCIPLE:
Our aspiration
We believe talent and ambition exist in every community. Through AUB Academy and a reimagined civic agenda, we’ll ensure we provide Opportunity for ALL to access creative and cultural education and experiences, fostering inclusion and transformation. As the world demands more diverse perspectives and adaptable skills, and as higher education seeks to serve a broader societal purpose, we are stepping up, recognising that every voice strengthens our collective future.
Our aspirational aim, Opportunity for ALL, transcends widening participation; it embodies a profound sense of belonging, empowers every individual to reach their fullest potential, and truly unlocks the creative talents within our staff, students, graduates, and the communities we serve.
This inclusive approach will permeate everything we do and will ensure AUB’s enduring relevance to society, our crucial role in community development, and our sustained commitment to providing value to society as we journey towards 2030 and beyond.
Opportunity for ALL at AUB is our commitment to creativity without boundaries. We hold the belief that talent, imagination, and ambition exist in every community.
Through AUB Academy we will open our doors to people from all walks of life, ensuring that creative and cultural engagement and education, along with personal and professional improvement, is accessible, inclusive, and transformative.
Opportunity for ALL is more than widening participation; it is about belonging, empowerment and opportunity.
We will continue to remove barriers to access, strengthen our engagement and collaboration with schools, colleges, and community partners, and create an environment where every voice has a chance to be heard.
AUB will nurture a diverse generation of creatives, film makers, entrepreneurs, design thinkers, and leaders who reflect the world we live in and shape the world we aspire to create.
We will hold an annual Festival of Creativity on our campus, hosting the communities around us as we provide cultural and creative experiences and showcase the work of our students and graduates.
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FOR ALL
New initiatives will emerge over the next five years that act as enablers for our aspirations:
Festival of Creativity: Ignite potential by hosting an annual Festival of Creativity, celebrating cultural impact, showcasing the boundless talent of our staff, students, graduates, and practising artists, creatives and businesses, welcoming communities and individuals to join us and be inspired.
AUB Academy: Unlock doors to those from all ages and backgrounds by expanding and deepening our accessible and diverse learning provision, empowering personal and professional transformation.
Civic reach: Offer dynamic, flexible modes of learning, and collaborate with key cultural venues, community groups and organisations.
Business engagement: Incubate sustainable career futures, maintaining links with our alumni, with local and regional businesses, and delivering intensive learning opportunities focused on business start-up and freelancing excellence.
Reaching beyond: Expand our local, national, and international education partnerships, and champion inclusion through meaningful collaborations.
CREATIVE EXCELLENCE PILLAR 1:
Our defining spirit, a commitment to imagination and innovation that empowers every learner to create high-quality work with purpose and impact.
Our aspiration
Creative excellence becomes the signature of AUB, where imagination, rigour, and industry relevance shape transformative teaching and research, empowering students as innovators and change-makers, underscored by our achievements in the TEF.
In a rapidly transforming world, the creative industries are evolving at an unprecedented pace. New technologies emerge daily, AI introduces changes to workflows, and students and employers demand real-world applicability. Our commitment to creative excellence is our promise to prepare students for tomorrow’s challenges, today.
Achieving creative excellence at AUB means nurturing an environment where imagination, experimentation, and industry relevance come together to produce outstanding high-quality creative performance and outcomes. It’s about not just sustaining, but elevating AUB’s reputation as a world-class specialist institution, while simultaneously empowering our staff and students to lead the future direction of creative practice.
We will encourage brave, original, creative thinking, supporting students and staff to question, disrupt, take risks, and push boundaries in a safe and intellectually rigorous environment.
TRANSFORMATIVE TEACHING AND RESEARCH ”
To realise creative excellence at AUB, we will take bold and deliberate action; we will:
Innovate our pedagogy: Advance a future-focused culture of teaching excellence by reimagining how we blend craft, digital innovation, and industry insight, powered by bold curriculum design, pedagogic research, and staff development.
Provide exceptional teaching environments: Ensure our campus provides industry-aligned and digitally advanced environments that enable exceptional creative practice, elevate the student experience, attract global talent and high-value partnerships, propelling us toward achieving the highest possible TEF rating.
Lead in creative entrepreneurship: Become the entrepreneurial arts university that sparks ambition, champions creative excellence, and drives opportunities that ensure our graduates’ success and the University’s long-term financial sustainability.
Continually evolve our curriculum: Drive cutting-edge, market-responsive courses, co-developed with industry and partners to create dynamic learning experiences that directly prepare our students for evolving professional landscapes and future market demands.
Position ourselves as a creative anchor institution: Establish AUB as the region’s creative powerhouse by integrating high-quality teaching, purposeful research, and impactful creative practice, strengthening our KEF and REF performance to drive long-term regional and national benefit.
FUTURE SKILLS PILLAR 2:
OUR EDUCATORS REMAIN AT THE CUTTING EDGE OF THEIR DISCIPLINES ”
We will nurture graduates who are agile, adaptable, and confident in moving between analogue and digital, craft and code, studio and screen.
AUB will proactively prepare students for current and future jobs by merging the traditional craft skills that define our rich heritage with the most advanced emerging technologies. In a rapidly accelerating digital age within which traditional job roles are transforming, and employers are demanding relevant skills, AUB is forging a shared understanding of best practices in generative AI, immersive and virtual technologies.
We will cultivate confident, agile graduates who are skilled in navigating both analogue and digital landscapes, mastering both craft and code. We will ensure our curriculum is flexible and develop diverse collaborations to move towards a culture that dynamically reflects evolving industry needs, inspiring entirely new forms of making and thinking.
This strategic approach will ensure our students are not only adaptable, but also highly employable, securing their futures, and contributing significantly to the health of the creative economy, further establishing AUB as an essential pipeline of talent to the creative and wider industries.
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Our Future Skills aspiration will be delivered through a commitment to the following actionable initiatives:
Future ready: Nurture versatile, future-ready staff, students, and graduates who can navigate traditional and digital practices, bridging craft and technology to meet evolving industry skill needs and demands.
Upskill our staff: Provide continuous professional development in generative AI, immersive technologies, and digital workflows to enhance the teaching effectiveness and currency of all our staff.
Modular learning: Through our AUB Academy, we will develop an offer of flexible, stackable modules, short courses and micro-credentials, across in-person, online, and blended delivery modes for a wide range of learners.
Thought leadership: Host an annual event on ‘Future Skills for Creative Industries’ and use it to launch new research insights, white papers, and partnerships that advance the sector’s understanding of emerging needs.
Future skills accelerator: A cross-university, interdisciplinary elective programme spanning our Academic Schools, enabling our students to master the rapidly evolving skills, technologies, and practices shaping tomorrow’s creative industries, blending traditional craft with emerging technologies, such as AR/VR in design and AI in creative workflows.
BFS Future Production Lab: A sector-leading training and innovation programme that equips Bournemouth Film School learners with the advanced digital, craft, and collaborative skills needed for the future of film, TV, animation, and immersive storytelling.
RESEARCH AND ENTERPRISE PILLAR 3:
We believe every learner is a potential innovator, arriving with creative talent that we nurture, while developing the confidence and business acumen needed to realise their potential as innovators.
With an aspiration to be the entrepreneurial arts university, we will fuse research and creativity with opportunity, ensuring our graduates are primed with an entrepreneurial mindset and, for those who choose to, ready to launch businesses, lead transformative change, and drive innovation. Alongside this, we will strengthen our research culture, advancing practice-based enquiry, generating new knowledge, and enhancing our contribution to the creative and wider economy.
By 2030, this combined spirit of researchdriven enterprise will permeate AUB through our pedagogy, partnerships, and civic engagement. We’ll connect our creative community with regional and global innovators, enabling collaborative research, supporting knowledge exchange, and shaping a sustainable future for all. This focus elevates our role beyond education; positioning AUB as a centre of creative enterprise research, and a beacon for creative entrepreneurship.
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ENSURING OUR GRADUATES ARE PRIMED WITH AN ENTREPRENEURIAL MINDSET
We will build a strong culture of Research and Enterprise at AUB, embarking on bold new ventures, including:
The integration of enterprise into our curriculum: Introduce enterprise electives across all our courses, establish an Enterprise Champions Network to advance entrepreneurial thinking, and host an annual Creative Entrepreneurship Forum.
Knowledge exchange: Initiate research and enterprise projects with local partners, deliver annual Creative Futures pitching events, connect students and alumni with investors, and demonstrate our regional societal and economic impact.
Co-working space: Launch an on-campus co-working hub for graduates, alumni, freelancers, and SMEs, offering tiered memberships and comprehensive support services that elevate the post-AUB journey for our graduates and alumni, helping to retain creative talent within our region.
Creative agency: Establish a student- and graduate-run creative agency, providing real-world design, media, and creative services to businesses, offering applied learning experiences and a head start for freelance career building.
Strengthen our industry links: Drive forward sector-leading Knowledge Transfer Partnerships by forging business collaborations for impactful research, co-creating innovative curricula with SMEs and brands, amplifying our Industry Patron network, and establishing a high-impact industry mentor scheme.
Research and innovation: Develop researchdriven insights into the future skills needed for tomorrow’s industries, examining market shifts, evolving practices, and emerging technologies; producing new knowledge to shape traditional and future-focused thinking.
2030 + AT A GLANCE
VISION
To be an arts university that redefines creative education – combining artistic creative excellence, research, entrepreneurialism, innovation and social purpose to meet the future challenges of a changing world.
MISSION
We exist to nurture creative talent, advance artistic creative practice, and generate cultural and social value through education, research, and engagement with local, national, and international communities and industries.
Contributors: Brand, Marketing and Future Students © Arts University Bournemouth
Creative by: April Ironside / Emilie Bouet Conran and Honor West / Dominika Leszczynska / Catherine Harris / Jessica Simmonds
Photography by: Richard Tarr / Paris Higson / Jim Stephenson / Bill Bradshaw / Richard Bryant