Students brainstorm about the innovative environment of the future
How do we get a strong, inclusive and sustainable innovation environment in 2030 at Mid Sweden University? Four student teams had the opportunity to figure this out in the SKARPT UPPDRAG™ initiative.
On 8 November, it was time for the 16th edition of SKARPT UPPDRAG,™ which this time took place at Campus Sundsvall. Students from the Communication and Public Relations program, Industrial Design and Political Science formed four creative teams that Mid Sweden University's innovation advisors kept busy with a challenging mission.
SKARPT UPPDRAG™ is a one-day event and an idea generation competition where you as a student get to sharpen your creative abilities in thinking in new ways based on a future challenge where your concept will meet the global sustainability goals. This time, the teams were tasked with imagining how Mid Sweden University in 2030 will be a strong, inclusive and sustainable innovation environment.
"We see a need to keep up with the times with our operations, especially as the pandemic has accelerated the development of society. To face the future, we need to train the abilities of the future, i.e. students, to be comfortable with thinking in new ways, to be willing to change for the better and to translate their academic knowledge for the benefit of society. So we took the opportunity to ask the talents of the future how they would solve our need and I didn't just ask them to think outside the box, I wanted them to pulverize it," says Therése Boija. Innovation advisor at Mid Sweden University.
The teams were given the assignment in the morning and were ready to present their future concepts to the jury in the afternoon. And there were four different and completely unexpected ideas presented.
"The solutions we were told ranged from taking inspiration from Google, creating a globally anchored university, changing stereotypical notions of the typical innovator to introducing personality tests and contributing to equality at our university. Even I didn't know which of these fantastic pitches would win the opportunity to present their future concept to our principal, Therése continues.
The Trailblazer and the Opportunity Creator will present to the Vice-Chancellor
The jury selected two winners; Team The Trailblazer who with his pitch suggested that Mid Sweden University should see innovation as a strategic resource and Team Opportunity-Creator who believes that in the future our university will work with innovation without limits for global societal benefit. On December 8, these teams will now pitch their concepts to Anders Fällström, Vice-Chancellor of Mid Sweden University.
– I experience Anders as a curious Vice-Chancellor and it was natural for him to give us the opportunity to do this because all the concepts presented today have had one thing in common: in order to create the conditions for a strong and inclusive innovation environment at Mid Sweden University, we also need to work with the overall culture of lthe seat of glory. And if we succeed in this, we have all the prerequisites to equip our current and future students for the challenges of the future, Therése concludes.