Corporate Real Estate Manager Diane de Kruijf

How does your work help to shape the world of tomorrow?

I am responsible for accomodation with HU University of Applied Sciences Utrecht. By 2018, HU wants to concentrate all of its Utrecht-based education and research activities within Utrecht Science Park. At the same time, we will be reducing our accommodation portfolio by 30%. We will do this via smarter management of the areas and facilities and by sharing more, including with our partners at USP. The reduction in square metreage will help us to save on energy costs. However, the other sustainability measures being put in place immediately, such as waste separation, will also make a substantial contribution to the agreed cuts in CO₂emissions. For new buildings, the goal is to achieve the ‘outstanding’ rating with regard to sustainability.

What does your work contribute to society? How does it impact me?

We choose to house our programmes together in the new accommodation based on similarity of subject matter, in order to stimulate mutual knowledge sharing and collaboration with professional practice via our education and research efforts. We want our ‘new’ buildings to be a visible marker of the contribution made by our education and research.

The goal is to create an environment in which people can meet: students, lecturers and people from other knowledge institutions and companies within Utrecht Science Park. For example, our students conduct research for external parties within Utrecht Science Park, thereby combining each other’s strengths. This helps contribute to our goal, as do our new facilities such as the recently opened Food Court – the place to be – and the new HU library with over 500 workstations.

What is your dream? What do you want to achieve in the next 5–10 years?

My dream is for us to focus on the campus level in our work and thought processes, for example by sharing facilities rather than fencing them off. I also want my work to help realise a pleasant, professional, future-proof and sustainable environment to live and work in. I want to help create and encourage even more chance encounters, connections and opportunities to share knowledge. USP should generate diverse connections between people and flexible collaboration across a range of different networks.

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