Essential forum on designing education facilities to meet growing student numbers in the region
The Building Future Learning Spaces conference to highlight best practice in designing spaces tomeet learner and parent expectations
Dubai has one of the fastest population growth rates in the region and internationally, with population expected to reach 3.48 million by 2020, up from 2.21 million in 2013. The student population is expected to rise by over 100 000 from 2013, to stand at 360 000 by 2020creating a need for exceptional education facilities (Colliers).
The Building Future Learning Spaces conference taking place from 23 – 25 March 2015 at DusitThani, Dubai will be a meeting place for leading education providers, investors and regulators as they discuss strategies on meeting the growing demand in quality educational facilities. Effective project management, educational design considerations, building to meet growing learner demands and designing with sustainability in mind will be on the spotlight.
Speaking ahead of his participation at Building Future Learning Spaces, Dr Farooq Wassail, CEO, Goldline Education, stated that the population growth“definitely points towards a demand for private schools offering international curricula.” Dr Wasil went on to say that the design of new education facilities will have to incorporate “open, flexible floor plans,modular furniture and highly mobile learning tools such as electronic chalkboards, portable computers, expandable networking, and interactive video”. This will firstly create multipurpose areas that can accommodate larger student numbers as the student population grows, and will secondly facilitate new learning methods.
Dr. Cindy Gunn,Professor and Director, Faculty Development Centre, American University of Sharjah,agreed that the designing of education facilities will have to change from traditional rigid designs to meet the needs of 21st century learners. She mentioned that “the future of learning is moving towards facilitated independent learning. Universities can prepare themselves for this by providing more active learning spaces and independent learning spaces for their students. Faculty members will also need to be provided with training on how to teach in the active learning spaces and how to prepare students to become more autonomous, independent learners.” Schools and universities will have to be designed to meet the needs of student centred learning.
Join Dr Farooq Wasil and Dr Cindy Gunn at Building Future Learning Space, as they discuss global best practice in designing exceptional learning spaces for current and future students. The event will also feature presentations from industry leading organisations consisting of Abu Dhabi Education Council, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development,Dubai International Academic City, Goldline Education, Consilium Education, Fielding Nair International, The Arabian Education and Training Group, AURA Academic Institutions, Institute of Management Technology, Brighton College International Schools, Blossom Nursery/Blossom Early Learning Centre, Global Schools Foundation, American University in Sharjah, Taaleem, Ajman Academy, Jeddah Knowledge International School, , Emirates Green Building Council, Al Najah Group and many more….
Building Future learning Spaces is supported by Nora, Timotay Group and AlmoeDiital Solutions
Caption: Essential forum on designing education facilities to meet growing student numbers in the region
Building Future Learning Spaces is the region’s leading event focusing on the design, build and maintenance of outstanding education facilities for kindergarten, schools, colleges and universities in MENA. As student demand increases, governments and private groups need to invest significantly into their infrastructure to attract new students, create world-class facilities, and remain competitive in the fast-growing MENA education market.For more information, visit www.buildingschoolsmena.com
