VIRTUAL: Learning. Life. Work.

Abstract

Today’s changing economic and geopolitical landscape has imposed a deep rethinking of well-established approaches to energy sourcing, manufacturing, goods distribution, and product/ service provision. At the same time, the concept of a developing ‘sharing and accessible online community’ influences consumers’ demand for real-time commodities. However, in this globalised society, which is arguably too slow on a path of sustainability, recent economic uncertainties and market trends suggest the importance of conceiving locally designed solutions. In this context, higher education is responsible for intellectually preparing students for the challenges and opportunities of the fast-evolving world, whilst enhancing employability prospects. At the same time, industry and the third sector can tap more decisively into the resources of academia to achieve productive collaborations and foster innovation as research and development (R&D) activities. This has the potential to address strategic design areas and envision transport alternatives for users often neglected within the city landscape. The proposed paper intends to critically investigate current practices around transport design and urban mobility in terms of external collaborations and cross-disciplinary research within Northumbria University. Challenges and scalable design proposals emerging from the workshop activities have been evaluated to envision spaces for collaboration between academia and local stakeholders. In addition, exploratory co-creation took place to enable the formation of improved operating models to embed into existing university research pathways, degree courses, and other knowledge exchange and placement programmes. This case study should offer a range of guidelines designed to bridge academic knowledge and industrial practice, underpin impactful experiential learning, and inform research opportunities towards the conception of solutions to locally relevant real-world challenges.