Immanuel College is recognised nationally for innovation, particularly in regard to innovation and learning environments.Immanuel’s unique and award-winning designed Senior School had over 4,500 visitors in its first two years of opening and continues to be a lighthouse in creative learning spaces.Kevin will address how he has used student advocacy and voice to deliver environments from Middle School funky, Year 10 mindful and Senior School corporate environment. He will address how students have challenged much of what we know about schooling. A key focus for students is now on an environmental and wellbeing approach.As a result Immanuel is currently developing a new learning environment based on a biophilic approach to design and learning. This will integrate individual students perspectives and needs with a social and environmental approach.Thiswill lead toward a greater interaction with the natural environment.A concept where the landscape and nature permeates into the building on the built environment flows into the natural environment. Additionally there will be a strong focus on environmental and sustainability strategies.

How the design of secondary schoolyards affects student perceptions of wellbeing. Spending time outdoors is good for us. It reduces stress, improves focus, promotes creativity and keeps us active.In high schools and colleges, the schoolyard provides students with a daily dose of green space. But do their designs empower students to reap the wellbeing benefits of time outside? Drawing on current research into the outdoor spaces of secondary schools, this presentation will provide attendees with information regarding:

• The evolving role of schoolyards in the era of covid and climate change
• The design impacts of schoolyards on the health and wellbeing of youth
• Research into adolescent perceptions and preferences of outdoor

What knowledge relevant to innovative learning environments exists? What is the current situation in Australian and New Zealand schools in terms of the number of, types of, and teacher/student activities within innovative learning environments? What characterises ‘good transition’ by teachers into ILEs? What evidence is there between innovative learning environments and student deep learning and teacher mind frames?These are some of the questions investigated by the Innovative Learning Environment and Teacher Change project. It is a multi-disciplinary project involving 17 education and industry partner organisations from Australia, New Zealand, Sweden and the United States, over 6000 schools across Australia and New Zealand, and more than 20 researchers across Education and Architecture. From 2016 to 2020, the project investigated how teachers enable learning most effectively in innovative learning environments.In this talk you will hear…

• Given evidence now exists that innovative learning environments are successful in practice, what  characterises major advances in the design and built of school learning environments in the coming decade?
• How do we harness knowledge from school, industry and policy partners to design spaces whose primary function is to enable all students to actively engage in learning?

The large ILETC research project concluded in 2020, a major finding being the future of innovative learning environment design and use lies in closer international collaboration between education, research and allied design/infrastructure industries.But how can this be facilitated?A creative solution is an initial quick scoping study. Digitally based in this COVID time, the ILE+SE Scoping Study project will bring together about 70 experts in ILE design from over 16 countries, to collaborate on conceptualising the next generation of ILE research.Its driving question is, What knowledge does industry and education need to advance the effectiveness of ILEs? Its driving ambition is to provide all stakeholders in ILE development the type of data they need to move beyond current thinking.In this talk you will hear…

• What is the emerging ‘new focus’ of ILE development?
• How industries, education authorities and researchers can effectively plan for this future.
• How we can draw upon the common ILE thinking between education, research and industry, across dozens of countries.

How do schools engage in research to make sure so-called flexible learning environments improve the learning experience for teachers and students? And how can schools use their research to inform industry and school design more broadly?The Plans to Pedagogy programme was implemented across 13 diverse Australian and New Zealand schools, each with a unique school context and specific learning environment issue they wanted to investigate. The project employed a participatory approach, where academic researchers partnered with school leaders and staff in each school to design, implement and evaluate research targeting the school’s chosen issue. Each case study adds to the body of work around the design and inhabitation of flexible learning environments, ranging from adjusting furniture within fixed ‘single cell’ classrooms to large new builds.In this talk you will hear…

• How can researchers work with schools on targeted ILE projects?
• How can we translate research findings beyond the school, to industry and school design?
• How can we make research findings ‘work’ within the school context to transform teacher practices (and students’ experiences) in ILEs?

How can research, policy and practice be linked to inform the planning, design, governance and use of school infrastructure to meet the emerging needs of Australian communities?In the next decade, Australia will need up to 700 new schools to meet the demands of a growing population. This presents a significant opportunity to embed new knowledge about the role that indoor and outdoor spaces can play in developing and supporting communities across the country. Schools are some of the most underutilised assets in Australia. Many are used sparingly outside of school hours. Furthermore, the co-location of school infrastructure with other forms of social infrastructure, such as sporting, recreation and health services facilities, is not as common as might be expected.The Building Connections: Schools as Community Hubs Australian Research Council Linkage Project is casting a spotlight on these issues. It is investigating how best to plan, design, govern and manage schools to operate successfully as ‘more than a school’, encouraging the development of resilient and connected communities. The project aims to inform decision making about how new and existing school infrastructure can be better utilised for broader community benefit.In this talk you will hear about …

• Findings of national and international workshops conducted with experts to identify the opportunities and constraints associated with schools operating as community hubs
• Recent exemplar projects that are paving the way for other schools in Australia to operate more successfully as community hubs
• A nationwide survey that is being conducted to ‘map’ school as community hub activity and infrastructure across the country

This case study of the development of a school and community learning facility in regional New South Wales provides an understanding of how a 'joint use' facility can be designed to:

• develop a more socially cohesive society
• reconnect learning with life
• increase the collaborative use of public assets
• provide socio economic benefit
• generate and resolve a complex spatial brief through in-depth consultation with communities
• create a facility that deeply responds to past, present, and future place.