It’s not every day that Redland City Council gets its homework checked by university students — but that’s exactly what happened when Griffith Business School teams were invited to put their creative thinking to the test.
In what can only be described as a win-win assignment, Council turned to Griffith University’s business students to workshop aspects of its Creative Arts Unit (CAU) strategy — and it turns out letting students loose on local government policy can produce surprisingly practical results.
Redland City Mayor Jos Mitchell said Council had developed long-term relationships, partnerships and memorandums of understanding with many educational institutions across south-east Queensland.
“In this situation, Griffith University’s Griffith Business School students got to work on real-life scenarios while Council benefitted from the fresh perspectives, ideas and actionable insights that came out of the exercise,” the Mayor said.
“By bringing the student consulting teams a real-world and challenging project, they gained an invaluable opportunity to test their skills and develop practical solutions.”
Five teams from Griffith Business School’s Creating Better Business program were each handed a slice of the Redlands Coast Creative Arts Service Strategic Plan 2024–2029 — a document outlining how Council’s Creative Arts Unit will continue to develop cultural experiences, strengthen communities, and nurture city pride through RPAC, the Redland Art Galleries, Cultural Development programs and the Regional Arts Development Fund.
Council’s Creative Arts service manager Brad Rush said the CAU was thrilled to have the opportunity to explore aspects of its service strategy with the business school students.
“It is a complex process to calculate and tell the story of our arts and cultural services, and we really embraced being able to discuss that through this exercise and have fresh eyes on what we do,” he said.
“The winning team of students understood our situation and challenges very well. Their methodology was original with good research and backing.
“The relationship between Council and the university is an important relationship to develop. There are great outcomes through the exchange of knowledge and also in the area of career pathways.”
The victorious student team — Ashley Edgar, Marcus Chandler, Luke Brady, Joshua Francisco and Lucas Schwab — left the experience feeling “match fit” for real-world consulting.
Council, meanwhile, is now considering which of the student-generated ideas might make their way off the classroom whiteboard and into local policy.
Officers from Council’s Integrated Customer Contact Centre unit will take part in the next round of Griffith Business School’s Creating Better Business program — proving that sometimes the best ideas come not from the boardroom, but from the lecture theatre.
