Regional Collaboration between Companies and the University

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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
• Norways continental city
• 250 000

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The city of Bergen brief history

• Founded in 1070
• Norways 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
  RD 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 RD 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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SEVUs role

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

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Our model for mutual and double loop learning
Theory new research problems
COMMON LEARNING PLACE
Research results
Theory-based
Research institute
Company
Increased competence
Increased competence
KNOWLEDGE
Experience-based
innovation
Practice new problems
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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 RD
  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 RD PROJECTS

• EXPERIMENTS
• In production halls
• In laboratories

Dialogue between researchers and collaborators
(ie company managers and supervisors)
representing Theory-based and Experience-based
knowledge
PLANNING New experiments? New research
problems? New action in the company?
PRELIMINARY RESULTS
INTERPRETATION ANALYSIS
GENERAL CONCLUSIONS