Imagination

University of Warwick, Atrium

Other Sections

Anticipation

Implementation

Evaluation

Resource Collection
inc. case studies, flickr photo library, virtual campus and further resources

Developing The Vision

Having generated some overall 'ideas' for your new space you now need to consider the effects of the particular environment in which you are planning your project. The following tool looks at a range of generic factors that can help you identify what is unique about your situation to maximise the opportunities to provide the best possible environment for your learners.

Developing The PESTLE Framework

You may be familiar with the PEST (or STEP) analysis that has been a tool used by managers for a number of years for scanning the environment. This covers Political, Economic, Social and Technological issues. A further development of this framework was PESTLE - adding Legal and Environmental issues for consideration. These frameworks can be used in conjunction with SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) Analysis to produce a benchmark of where you are now and where you want to be heading - further guidance on this is available in our Project Management infoKit.

Subsequent development of this has produced PESTLEV where:

P is the political environment
E covers the economy and its effects
S represents sociological/societal influences
T is technology
L is legal (current and impending)
E environmental considerations
V relates to the values of the organisation

We would like to suggest a modification to the framework, as this infoKit is about learning spaces, that considers how pedagogical thinking is developing and what future learning scenarios might emerge by adding a second P (for pedagogy) making the framework PESTLEPV.

'All buildings are predictions. All predictions are wrong. ...But buildings can be designed so that it doesn't matter when they're wrong'

Stewart Brand, How Buildings Learn³⁵

The issues that arise in considering factors in the PESTLEPV framework will provide valuable information and data to enable the construction of a sound detailed business case for your proposed project. Often the emphasis in business case development is on the financial case, but consideration of the broader areas with the PESTLEPV framework will result in a more robust business case that contains within it environmental, educational, and societal sub-cases and enable the development of targets and performance indicators that go beyond the merely financial. Such broader consideration will also facilitate the emergence of a broader view of project risk and identification of responses to such risks.