Regional Collaboration between Companies and the University

Belfast 2 April 2007

Toril Eikaas Eide, Centre for Continuing Education (SEVU)

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Experience from Norwegian pilot projects aiming at:

- mutual development, - quality enhancement, and - innovation

through integration of research and professional development / continuing education

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Co-operated by two Norwegian universities

• The Norwegian University for Life Sciences (UMB)• The University of Bergen (UiB)

Managed by our centres for continuing education,(SEVU)

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The city of Bergen

• gateway to the fjords

• Norway’s continental city

• 250 000

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The city of Bergen: brief history

• Founded in 1070

• Norway’s capital until 1299

• thriving international port

• research traditions

• Bergen International Festival

• 2000 European City of Culture

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The city of Bergen: historical figures

• Ibsen

• Grieg

• Bull

• Nansen

• Bjerknes

• Rokkan

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The city of Bergen: culture and commerce

• the sea

• international

• education

• infrastructure

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The city of Bergen: education and research

• 3 university level institutions

• 20+ research centres

• 25 000 students

• 5 000 employees

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The University of Bergen• Young university (1946) • In the city of Bergen. • 16.000 students • 3.000 faculty and staff

Faculties• Variety and breadth. • Seven faculties • 90 different specialised departments, centres and institutes

Centres Increasing number of multi-disciplinary research centres, projects and units

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Project background, motivation – challenges:

• Companies: Limited scale of LLL and University Continuing Education (UCE) activity

• University: Limited knowledge about real life and important challenges in companies, - and about their need for competence development

• University and company: Little experience from applying recent research results directly/quickly in professional development in companies

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Background, motivation – challenges (cont.):

• Too little direct feedback from companies about their problems and demands for knowledge.

And/or:

• Not sufficiently following up / implementing results of research when collaborating with companies (criticism in customers’ survey)

• Collaboration fragmented - between university and companies – not integrated or functioning as a whole

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How have you tried to meet such challenges?

• Approaches?• Models?• Projects?• Networks?• Partners?• Collaboration?• Marketing?• Communication?

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Overall project quality aim:

To stimulate increased innovation

– through a more wholistic and long-term collaboration in research and professional development

between university and companies

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Project aim (cont.):Stimulate learning and competence development through• collaboration • exchange of experience • mutual knowledge construction

innovation = quality improvement in:

• Company • Network of companies,• University, • Region

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’Innovation’ / quality enhancement seen as:

• New products• New / changed processes, working methods• Models/methods of organising work and

working place – in company / university• Pedagogical development

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Core project feature / model:

• Running continuing education activities / professional development – in networks of regional companies– combined with and/or integrated in

research or R&D projects

* Supported by The Research Council of Norway

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Four pilot projects – two each:

• Roses and cucumber (UMB)

• Cod health in fry and brood fish production (UiB)

• Operational meteorology (UiB)– wawe theory and wave forecasting– extreme events (forecasting of wind/precipitation)

• Competence development in social and cultural entrepreneurship in Aurland (UMB)

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Practical approach: Integrating professional development activity in R&D collaboration:

• At the beginning of the project: strengthen the users’ competence basis to participate actively in the project

• In the course of the project:establish meeting places for systematic and mutual learning and exchange of experience

• Towards the end of the project:tailor learning activities for groups of employees to support practical implementation of new knowledge

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SEVU’s role:

• Project leader• Process leader and facilitator• Pedagogical coach and adviser• Evaluator

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Researchinstitute

Company

COMMON LEARNING PLACE

KNOWLEDGE

Theory-based

Experience-based

Increasedcompetence

Increasedcompetence

innovation

Practice + new problems

Theory + new research problems

Research results

Our model for mutual and double loop learning

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Four pilot projects - two each

• Roses and Cucumber• Cod health in production of • Extreme weather (Oceanography

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What did we do – and how?

Our model for our practical approach:

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Pilot project aims: • Establish arenas for wholistic and long-range R&D

collaboration between companies and university• Mutual competence development between companies

and university through– Dialogue – Mutual exchange of practical and theoretical

knowledge and experience– Joint planning, development, running and evaluation

of• Concrete learning activities/courses • Research projects

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Pedagogical approach:

• Learner based• Problem based work place / company• Experience based• Theory based

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Results and outcome - quality enhancement:

More traditional outcome:• Courses• Learning materials• Meetings

Company representatives report:• Increased knowledge • More focus on and real change of working practices• Improved and more frequent contact and dialogue with

university• Easier to contact university• Increased interest in research initiatives and results

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Results and outcome - quality enhancement (cont.):

University representatives / faculty report (cont.):

• Easier to contact companies• Increased knowledge about working practices and

challenges in companies• Improved and more frequent contact and dialogue with

companies• New experience with applying problem based learning

(PBL) in work place / companies• Feasible with immediate integration of research results

in courses• - and also quickly let practical experience in companies

influence research

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Results and outcome - quality enhancement (cont.):

University representatives / faculty report (cont.):

• Permanent areas for dialogue with companies• Better access to more and interesting research materials• Input from companies about possible / necessary

research fields• Establishing (and funding) more research projects

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Results and outcome - quality enhancement (cont.):

Centre for continuing education (SEVU):

• Improved and more frequent contact between SEVU and research groups - which has stimulated and facilitated more courses and professional development initiatives

• New experience with applying problem based learning (PBL) in work place / companies

• Experience with and learning from trying out new roles and tasks

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Results and outcome - quality enhancement (cont.):

Centre for continuing education (SEVU):

• Improved competency in managing and facilitating learning processes - and coaching faculty

• Promotion of SEVUs competency, functions and tasks to new users:

• Companies (external)• Faculty and departments at the university (internal)

Particularly positive feedback about the usefulness of our function/role as process leaders!

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Thank you!

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Questions?

Comments?

Other input?

Similar projects?

Your experience?

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MODEL FOR COLLABORATIVE CONSTRUCTION OF KNOWLEDGE IN R&D PROJECTS

Dialogue between researchers and collaborators (ie company managers and supervisors) representing Theory-based and Experience-based knowledge

EXPERIMENTS-In production halls

-In laboratories

INTERPRETATIONANALYSIS

GENERAL CONCLUSIONS

PLANNINGNew experiments?

New research problems?New action in the company?

PRELIMINARYRESULTS