Sa1booklet eng(small)

SA1 Swansea Waterfront

Innovation Quarter

The Connected University

www.uwtsd.ac.uk

The Connected University...

The University of Wales Trinity Saint David (UWTSD) plays a strategic role as Swansea’s city metropolitan University. It is formed through the merger of Swansea Metropolitan University and UWTSD.

It has a Royal Charter dating back to 1822 which makes it the third oldest Royal Chartered University in Wales and England, after Oxford and Cambridge.

This development reaffirms the role of Swansea as a city of learning. www.uwtsd.ac.uk

...The Connected University UWTSD also has the prestigious Wales International Academy of Voice in Cardiff and a Business School in London.

About UWTSD: ■

The University has created a ‘dual sector’ group which includes further education institutions Coleg Sir Gar and Coleg Ceredigion. It also has a long-standing tradition of working with its colleagues at Gower College Swansea, the NPTC Group and Pembrokeshire College.

27,000 students (approximately 6,000 in Swansea)

The University is building upon the excellence and heritage of its founding institutions to create a radical new education system for Wales.

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17 campuses (currently 5 in Swansea)

The vision is to:

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University Patron - His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales

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promote excellence in research, scholarship, learning and teaching support business and industry and contribute to the economic growth, and the social and cultural development, of the city and the Swansea Bay City Region

provide a university experience that will attract local, national and international students www.uwtsd.ac.uk

“South West Wales will be a confident, ambitious & connected City Region, recognised internationally for its emerging knowledge and innovation economy”

Copyright Rachel Mitchell

Swansea Bay City Region Economic Regeneration Strategy 2013 - 2030

Connected to the Swansea Bay City Region The University is committed to playing a full role in enabling the Swansea Bay City Region to realise its vision of developing “one of the UK’s most distinctive and attractive places to live, study, work and recreate”.

The location of its campuses in South West and Mid Wales places the UWTSD Group in the unique position of being able to deliver transformational change at grassroots level, as well as contributing to the economic regeneration of the region by being creative, innovative and enterprising.

The UWTSD Group will develop its partnerships with private and public sector employers to create an exciting fusion of academia and industry.

It will facilitate knowledge transfer by harnessing the region’s creative talent to provide real business solutions and employment opportunities as well as

delivering programmes for continuous professional and workforce development, from entry level to postdoctoral studies.

www.uwtsd.ac.uk

Connected to a City of Learning The development of a multi-million pound Swansea Waterfront Innovation Quarter will complement the University’s existing £30 million investment to create the Cultural Quarter on Alexandra Road, between the Dynevor Centre for Art, Design and Media and the new ALEX campus (former Central Library). The SA1 development, close to the heart of the city centre,

will link these two areas to provide modern purpose-built education and research facilities for students, staff and the wider community.

The relocation of UWTSD to SA1 will extend the vital community engagement activities developed over many years in the Communities First Wards of Townhill / Mayhill, Castle and St.Thomas.

The ambition is to provide a smart, sustainable, inclusive way of living and learning in the city and will include: ■ business support networks and dedicated Centres of Excellence committed to securing inward investment opportunities ■ partnerships with the private sector including knowledge transfer and the development of new joint commercial ventures

■ an increase in the rate of new product and service development within Wales ■ an increase in innovation and entrepreneurship arising from UWTSD staff and students, and Welsh business/industry and the service sectors ■ corresponding increases in the performance of the Welsh economy, and in jobs safeguarded and created

www.uwtsd.ac.uk

Swansea Waterfront Innovation Quarter The Swansea Waterfront Innovation Quarter will be situated in a vibrant, modern waterfront location with easy access to the city centre.

UWTSD has already acquired the two Techniums in SA1, which house innovative, knowledge-based economy companies.

The University is also working in partnership with the nearby Ethos group. The city’s major cultural asset the Dylan Thomas Centre, just across the River Tawe, will also become a part of the institution when UWTSD merges with the University of Wales within the next few years.

The Swansea Waterfront Innovation Quarter will be made up of purpose-built facilities for learning, teaching and research as well as social, leisure and recreation spaces. As a University focused upon sustainability, buildings will be designed and constructed in a visually pleasing and sustainable way, with green spaces being developed to create an inspiring social environment. www.uwtsd.ac.uk

Connected Across SA1

UWTSD intends to create the right economic and social context to bring added economic and cultural value to the city. The University will fuse academic infrastructure with social spaces accessible to the public. This will include sport and leisure facilities, cafes and restaurants, and openair green spaces - creating a relaxed, invigorating environment in a vibrant waterfront setting.

UWTSD has acquired six substantial plots in SA1 which it proposes to develop in two stages.

Planning for Stage 1 and Stage 2 is about to begin and will involve consultation with key stakeholders, such as the City and County of Swansea, local businesses and industries, the local community, and the University’s students and employees.

The Welsh Government has agreed that the University can have an option to further develop an additional nine plots in the future.

www.uwtsd.ac.uk

Stage 1 - Plots A11b; A15; A16; C4; E9; and F Stage 2 - Plots E6 to E8; everything south of C4

Connected to Business and Industry The concept of a city university Waterfront Innovation Quarter will set Swansea apart from any other city in Wales. Swansea will lead the way in establishing an economic and cultural model which facilitates integration and drives enterprise growth.

As well as being an economic hub, the Swansea Waterfront Innovation Quarter will also be a catalyst for further external investment into the region.

The Swansea Waterfront Innovation Quarter will: ■ establish Centres of Excellence across different sectors which will deliver clear economic and commercial benefits ■ build an integrated innovation and enterprise ecosystem which caters for knowledge transfer collaboration between industry and academia

■ drive social, cultural and economic development by providing companies with access to advice and support allied to technological capacity and know how ■ provide high quality incubation space for companies, entrepreneurs and graduates ■ create a critical mass of expertise and technology which will attract new companies, partnerships and investment

■ provide opportunities for employee growth through a Centre for Continuing Professional Development ■ bring best practice to Wales and show the best of Welsh creativity and innovation ■ build on the extensive industrial links that exist through the University’s Creative Industries Research and Innovation Centre (CIRIC) and will connect with the Cultural Quarter on Alexandra Road in the city centre ■ drive the regeneration of the city and region www.uwtsd.ac.uk

Connected to the Local Community

“The change in our young people’s confidence in the past year is unbelievable. The University has played a huge role in supporting them and empowering them.”

Rhodri Thomas, The Spark Centre, Blaenymaes

UWTSD’s predecessor institutions were created by the people, for the people. Community engagement is still at the heart of our ethos. It presents an opportunity to create a two-way relationship that benefits the community and the University’s students. Working with community groups and third-sector organisations, UWTSD has secured funding to develop a number of projects and initiatives across the city, particularly in the Communities First areas covering the Townhill and Castle Wards.

A development in SA1 would allow UWTSD to extend these community activities, especially in the St. Thomas Ward. www.uwtsd.ac.uk

Connected to UWTSD Students and Employees Swansea is a city of learning. A new campus in a prime waterfront location in the heart of the city will transform the educational experience for UWTSD students and employees, creating a fitfor-purpose 21st century campus.

It will enhance the University’s reputation for innovation and enterprise education, while its connections with business and industry will offer UWTSD students a real-world education.

Students and employees will benefit from studying, working and living in an environment which will include modern, sustainable buildings with refreshing open-air green spaces. In addition to the leisure facilities planned within the development, the campus will be connected to the city centre offering further recreation opportunities, and ensuring that the campus is accessible via Swansea’s transport infrastructure. Just beyond the city sits the jewel in Swansea’s crown, the Gower Peninsula, Britain’s first Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty offering stunning scenery and awardwinning beaches.

“The term ‘student experience’ refers to much more than just academic study. It’s about offering students an environment where they can integrate with the people and the place, and it’s the added value in terms of developing employability and enterprise skills. The Student Body hopes that the new campus will bring all of these aspects together to create the perfect student experience.”

Bethan Thomas, President, UWTSD Swansea Students’ Union

The Swansea Waterfront Innovation Quarter will make UWTSD, and the city of Swansea, an attractive proposition for generations of local, national and international students and employees. www.uwtsd.ac.uk

Connected to the Tidal Lagoon UWTSD’s proposed new campus is not the only major development within the city. Plans have been submitted to create a Tidal Lagoon in Swansea Bay. As the world’s first man-made Lagoon it would be capable of generating electricity approximately fourteen hours a day, for 121,000 homes.

If approved, the Lagoon would provide unique ‘maritime parks’ with buildings and public spaces, creating a landscape with iconic education, sports and art amenities easily accessible to UWTSD students and employees. For more information visit: www.tidallagoonswanseabay.com

Ardal Arloesi’r Glannau Arfaethedig Proposed Waterfront Innovation Quater