Our vision for 2030

The desire to make a difference in the world is one that unites staff and students across all disciplines and backgrounds.

It's with this aspiration in mind, coupled with the ongoing challenges faced by the global community, that we seek to co-create spaces and opportunities where everyone is empowered to thrive.

By taking a values-led approach, fuelled by curiosity, collaboration, creativity, inclusivity and open-minded knowledge exchange, we aim to:

• Position ourselves among the top-50 universities of the world, renowned for our outstanding research and teaching.
• Provide an education and student experience that empowers people from across the world to fulfil their potential, academically and beyond.
• Nurture a diverse and vibrant community built on strong partnerships and connections
• Sustain and enhance our distinctive capacity for innovation and sustainability.

Our roadmap for the future is underpinned by:

• three strategic pillars that outline what we plan to do;
• a series of enablers that explain how we plan to do it;
• themes that consolidate our commitments.

Strategic pillars – bold and Bristolian with global reach

World-leading research and innovation with global impact

• invest in areas where our strengths can contribute to meeting the world's most pressing challenges in terms of social justice, resilience, environment and climate change, digital and data, health, and creative and cultural industries.
• capitalise on our position within one of the UK's most digitally and technologically dynamic regions by expanding our commercial links.
• link up with other research-intensive universities across the UK and internationally.
• cultivate a supportive, agile and respectful culture that nurtures existing talent and attracts people from across the world.

An inspiring education and transformative student experience in a changing world

• empower students to make a difference to society by developing their love of learning through an innovative, research-rich curriculum.
• provide an inspiring, flexible, inclusive and dynamic learning experience combining the best of in-person and online learning.
• create spaces and opportunities across our physical and digital campuses that facilitate dynamic social and academic interactions, supporting every student to thrive in their studies and beyond.
• place students at the heart of everything we do, understanding and celebrating their diverse needs so that everyone feels welcome and supported to co-create their university experience.

The transformative power of Bristol as a global civic university

• co-create a more equitable, sustainable, and prosperous future by partnering with different organisations and communities who share our values, at the local, national and global level.
• empower staff and students to participate in those partnerships.
• engage with under-represented communities by creating physical spaces, and research and employment practices that are inclusive.

Enablers – investing in people and processes to help us thrive

Inspiring and supporting our people

Our overarching goal is to foster a supportive environment where the next generation of world-leading innovators are empowered and inspired to succeed.

This is underpinned by a participatory approach that encourages knowledge sharing, for the benefit of our existing university community and in the interests of enhancing our reputation as a prime destination for highly-talented academics.

Ensuring the wellbeing of our staff will be key to our shared success.

Creating a world-class campus

We will continue to build on existing efforts to make smarter use of our resources and create innovative campuses that meet the needs of students and staff, now and in the future.

From world-class digital services to transformative alliances with industry and community organisations, we see a future where the University's facilities provide a welcoming and inspiring public realm for the whole city.

Investing in our future

Achieving our ambitions with limited resources in a challenging financial climate will mean building our financial resilience by balancing our research revenue and commercial income in a way that delivers value for money and maximum impact, in the best interests of students and taxpayers.

Themes – staying true to what matters most

Developing internationalisation and global relations

Collaborating with like-minded high-quality universities in the UK and elsewhere will be pivotal to utilising our core strengths to making a civic impact and maintain our competitive edge.

Strengthening the University's academic portfolio with new postgraduate offerings alongside physical and virtual student mobility opportunities will further support our growth.

Ensuring that our international activity translates into local benefit, we will develop on-campus and off-campus initiatives for the benefit of the broader Bristol community.

Embedding environmental sustainability

As well as making sustainability a core competency across our curriculum, students will be supported to learn how to live and work sustainably as socially responsible global citizens of the future; while our research will continue to contribute to global understanding.

All of our activity will be underpinned by the University's net-zero transition, which will provide a positive example and inspiration for partnerships between students, staff, community groups and businesses.

Fostering equality, diversity and inclusion

Through proactive admissions policies, alternative entry routes and an educational offering that is inclusive, we commit to increasing access for mature and local learners, people from postcodes with the lowest rates of progression, and Black and Asian students.

Mental health and wellbeing will remain at the top of our agenda, alongside improving employability and reducing the gender pay gap.

We will also continue to create a space that is attractive to staff from under-represented ethnic, cultural and faith backgrounds; celebrates and supports the LGBT+ members of our community; and recognises intersecting experiences of oppression and discrimination.

Diversifying our supply chains to support a wider portfolio of businesses and outreach opportunities will run in tandem with collaborating with external partners to develop and share good employment practice.