Rob Wallen

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A City of Culture and Learning

Rob Wallen - Principal, Aberdeen College

Introduction

Aberdeen has a long and distinguished history as a Centre of learning.

The constituent institutions that were merged to form the University of Aberdeen provided access to advanced level education for a broad cross-section of the surrounding population. This contributed to the  tradition of aspiring to the highest levels of education which is now embedded in the culture of the north-east. In recent times, The University of Aberdeen has established itself as a Centre of excellence in a wide range of disciplines.  For a small City, Aberdeen is unusually fortunate in having two universities – with the Robert Gordon University providing a range of programmes that in broad terms complement those of the University of Aberdeen, and with a reputation of being the 1st in the UK for graduate employment.

Working in close partnership with both of the universities is Aberdeen College, one of the largest colleges in Scotland, providing a comprehensive range of professional, technical and craft training in preparation for work, with a proven track-record of excellence. In many cases, it is also an access route into university study, with clearly-defined routes for those who complete a Higher National Diploma at the College to progress into the 3rd year of a degree programme at one or other of the local universities.  The City’s schools also contribute to its future by developing the skills for life and work essential to enable its young people to be effective contributors and responsible citizens.

The challenge now is to make sure that the complementary programmes of these various institutions are fully aligned in a way that is both of the highest quality and highly cost-effective.

Aberdeen has a defined role as the capital of the north-sea oil and gas industry and many major companies have their headquarters or at least major facilities in the area. This status has led to an influx of workers and their dependants from a wide range of locations and has led to the City becoming more cosmopolitan and now looking forward to establishing itself as a Centre for new and emerging industries, such as renewable and sustainable energies and the creative industries.  Aberdeen remains the commercial, entertainment and cultural hub of the north-east of Scotland. Union Street is one of Britain’s most impressive high streets. Its overall orientation, the grandeur of the basic engineering that underlies it and the high quality of most of the buildings along it, make it a potentially highly impressive thoroughfare. But, arguably, it does not fulfil its potential, as its retail and food and drink outlets do not have a reputation for individuality, uniqueness or sophistication.

Many of the fine religious and financial buildings along the street have been converted into bars and clubs. As a result, the overall tenor of the City Centre at night-time is not overly-attractive to the whole population.  With fine buildings, a fine art gallery, and a number of fine performance venues – the Music Hall and Her Majesty’s Theatre, to name but two - Aberdeen has the potential to develop a reputation based on a much more sophisticated cultural profile.

The vision for Aberdeen in the future involves building on the strong tradition of, and current reputation for, educational excellence, on the architectural and historical legacy, and on the current excellent artistic facilities to generate a revitalised City Centre.


The vision of Aberdeen in the future

Aberdeen will be a City renowned world-wide for its high-quality education, for a culture of learning and the arts pervading the City, and for cultural sophistication.

There will be a fully-articulated structure of educational opportunity, with easy movement between the institutions for individuals to pursue their own learning pathways. Full-time programmes will continue to be a central part of the educational provision, but there will also be a range of other flexible access paths to learning, including ones based on new technologies.

Learning will not be merely institutional. The specialist knowledge of the institutions will be made accessible to individuals across the City. The knowledge and facilities of the Universities and the College will be a public resource, with opportunities for the general public to benefit from them.

The Universities and the College will have built on their existing strengths in the fields of fine arts, design, music, sound engineering, cookery, film making, photography and drama to produce a rich programme of learning in the performing and creative arts that will attract learners from across the world and will develop a cohort of informed participants in artistic events.

The Centre of the City will be revitalised, with a shift in emphasis away from chain-store retail outlets and a nightlife largely aimed at young people, towards the arts – with a range of easily accessible venues for a range of performing and visual arts, and with the ancillary services that are expected to go with them.  The existing arts facilities – Her Majesty’s Theatre, Music Hall, Lemon Tree, Arts Centre, Belmont Cinema – will be further developed and their programmes broadened to offer a wider range of artistic experiences.

Aberdeen College will have as part of its facilities a flexible performance space in which students of the College and its partner educational institutions can put on a range of performances for the general public.  The art gallery will be a focus for a wide range of artistic and creative activities.  The night-time streets will be full of people of all ages, busy pursuing a range of interests in a safe and productive City.

Visitors will come to Aberdeen not just for its shopping, or for its role in the oil and gas industries, but as a Centre of educational, artistic and cultural excellence.

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