Socius goes back to school to help students learn more about real estate

School might be out for summer, but in the lead up to the holidays, the team at Socius were busier than ever with visits to schools, sixth form colleges and universities; helping to educate students of all ages about the design, development and delivery that goes into every property project.

Our Development Director, Mike Dodd and Senior Project Manager, Luke Martin were joined by Partner at CSquared, Andrew Heath and partner organisations at the Hannah More Primary School Year 6 Careers Fair, where we talked to children about the real estate industry. We then welcomed students back to the Socius office at our Soapworks development in Bristol, where they created their ideal space / building /city, resulting in some very interesting ideas.

In July, we visited geography students at Long Road Sixth Form College in Cambridge. Our Head of Engagement, Liam Ronan-Chlond, Development Director, Doug Higgins, Senior Project Managers, Ashley Broderick and Joel Colthart, and ETP Placement, Israel Aguirre, joined EVERFI UK facilitators Anne-Liese van der Linden and Richard Alexander, to deliver a regeneration workshop, with Urban Land Institute.

Made possible by our friends at Conscious Communications, the session saw students work in teams to form a property company, taking on different roles, creating plans and designing their building using 3D models, before pitching their development to the council.

We recently welcomed University of Cambridge masters’ students to Edward Street Quarter, where Managing Director of Socius, Barry Jessup provided some insight into the process of delivering a scheme on this scale and was on hand to answer questions and hear their feedback, some of which we’ll be taking on board for our future projects.

In addition to our own commitment to educating people about the future of real estate, Socius actively encourages its partners and peers to do the same. As part of its Soapworks Social Value Commitment, Arup recently provided two one-hour workshops to 24 Year 10 students from different schools across Bristol. Arup gave a presentation on the Soapworks project and then had specific discipline workshops in smaller groups covering Civils, Structures and Facades, as well as providing students with VR headsets, so they could have a look around the Revit models.

As an impactful developer, we fundamentally believe that development is more than just a building. We feel it is our responsibility to encourage people to take an interest in the real estate sector, and we’re always keen to demonstrate how, collectively as an industry, we can help to create positive social impact.

Find out more about how Socius is delivering impact here