Bridges, Old and New

Bridges, Old and New

I am trying not to blip home artefacts at the moment, and, as I have not adopted twin kittens (J note), I am taking the opportunity to blip 'on the go'.

I dashed up 200 stairs and blipped this view at dusk. It shows a new university motorway bridge (in sympathy with the Newcastle Millennium bridge) and in the distance you can see down to the old Tyne Bridge (in green). The blue building is the Newcastle Business School.

Universities are interesting places to work at the moment due to all sorts of pressures; student numbers, student fees, overseas visas, changing demographics, changing fads and fashions with subject disciplines and last but not least, the incredibly misconceived research rating exercise. Who knows where it will all lead? If they follow the lead of the Corporate world and embrace rigid New Public Sector Managerialism, then their demise as hubs of creativity, free thought and speech and innovation is inevitable. The challenge is to challenge this. How do you develop cultures of creativity, academic excellence, ethical practice, free thought and speech, agility and value (in all its forms)?

We live in interesting times.......