Campus NL - past, present and future of the Dutch campus

In the Netherlands fourteen publicly funded research universities accommodate more than 270.000 students and 53.000 staff members - together they manage about 4,4 million m2 Campus NL (gross floor area, data 2015/2016). This paper elaborates on past, present and future of Campus NL, based on literature, previous campus research - including Den Heijer's dissertation (2011) - analysis of recent (campus) strategy reports and interviews in 2016 with more than 35 campus directors, policy makers and board members of the fourteen Dutch universities.

The results of this research are presented in four steps, aligning with the four tasks to design an accommodation strategy (DAS steps): (step 1) assessing the campus anno 2016, compared to 2006 and clarified with historical background, (step 2) exploring changing demand, based on developments in society and higher education, (step 3) generating future models, derived from ten campus trends and (step 4) defining strategic choices for Campus NL and their functional, financial and physical consequences for universities.

This paper covers subjects like the changing academic place to learn and work, the total costs of (campus) ownership and sustainable campus ambitions. The paper will also discuss how applicable both the (DAS) research method and Campus NL results are to other universities and their campuses.