On the Greenwich Peninsula, there’s no escaping the O₂ – the former Millennium Dome that now claims to be “the world’s most popular music and entertainment venue”. In 2010, the former Ravensbourne College of Design and Communication changed its name to simply Ravensbourne and moved into purpose-built accommodation next door.

With its strong stress on digital media and design, and a striking interior space that has been compared to a large studio or advertising agency, it is well placed to take advantage of the opportunities available on what the Royal Borough of Greenwich calls “the digital peninsula”. But how can it cash in on one of the strategic goals “to connect our staff and students to innovators, professionals and practitioners at the cutting edge”?

Since some students live on the peninsular and most live within the borough or neighbouring borough, they have often found casual employment at the O₂. But when Linda Drew took over as director of Ravensbourne in early 2015, she soon decided that there was scope for far deeper forms of collaboration. After initial discussions led to “lots of ideas about what we could and should do together”, a formal renewable three-year partnership was signed in June 2015.

Ravensbourne describes itself as “the only independent higher education institution with a long-standing specialism in design, media, communication and technology”. Because of this, Jo Eaton – industry liaison for design and fashion – told ����Vlog, “every single event at the O₂ has potential for our students”. Although Ravensbourne doesn’t offer training in the performing arts (or sports science), its courses in architecture, design, fashion and television/film production, as well as “content” such as animation, photography, music for media and sound, provide many of the skills needed for mounting and marketing the spectacular musical shows and sport events for which the O₂ is famous.

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So how have they been able to build on what Ms Eaton calls a “perfect match” and “get students more involved in the O₂ and the companies coming through”?

An important first step was to create a bespoke jobs board at Ravensbourne where part-time positions at the O₂ get advertised first. The venue has used students to create videos for its marketing campaigns. And future plans include a formal internship scheme and opportunities for job shadowing. All this helps to make Ravensbourne in effect the O₂’s “preferred supplier” both for students hoping to pick up a bit of spare cash and for those wanting to develop industry-related skills.

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When Lionel Ritchie, for example, brings in a show, his team are directed to Ravensbourne for the local “runners”, camera operators, sound and lighting assistants they are likely to require.

This has given students a chance to get involved in a number of glitzy, high-profile events that look good on their CVs and also provide highly practical skills training.

When Take That performed at the O₂ for 10 days last summer, they needed about 80 people on stage to make up part of the crowd. The Ravensbourne students who put themselves forward got a chance to learn about everything that goes on behind the scenes to make a pop concert happen. Several also used the networking opportunities to secure placements.

In September, the O₂ sponsored the Wear the Rose launch event for the English rugby team, which again gave many Ravensbourne students an opportunity to appear on stage. An alumnus, Scott Campbell, was brought in to oversee the lighting rigging for “the world’s greatest projection”, which saw a vast illuminated flower stretched across the whole dome. Each evening, about 5,000 huge tweets expressing support were beamed over from the Ravensbourne roof.

For Nathan Kosky, vice-president of global partnerships at the O₂, the venue can offer “multiple opportunities to learn and develop” to “the many gifted students on our doorstep”. It also offers Ravensbourne brand-building ways of “reaching 10 million people annually onsite and millions more through our digital channels. Already it is making use of our digital broadcast network, with some 200 screens playing content across the campus, and we’ll be holding their annual degree ceremony onsite in 2016.”

Along with creativity and a commitment to an inclusive culture, Ravensbourne counts “integration with industry” as a core value. As part of this year’s portfolio review, it is exploring what this should mean for its future direction. Building on the firm foundations already in place, Professor Drew hopes to see “the O₂ and Ravensbourne feeding each other further ideas”.

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matthew.reisz@tesglobal.com

In numbers

80 – the number of Ravensbourne students who took part in a Take That concert at the arena last year

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