Together, we address common societal challenges

– Imagine Summit provides an arena for individuals from all parts of society to come together and collaborate, says Anneli Orrung Wallin, Pro-Vice-Chancellor at Kristianstad University. We aim to be the catalyst for this and lower the barriers to academia. We want to incorporate inclusivity and the ability to solve complex societal challenges together. These are central aspects of the work the university has now initiated as a European University.

Martin Persson, Professor of Health Science at Högskolan Kristianstad, introduced the COLOURS alliance at the conference. 

The work of the COLOURS European University Alliance is divided into different work packages, where number 4 is responsible for arranging so called “co-labs”, with a purpose that correlates with the Imagine Summit conference. Fredrika Braw is responsible for the work package at Kristianstad University.

– We have a long track record of working with challenge-based education, and COLOURS provides us with a good opportunity to develop that work and ambition, Fredrika explains. We also receive a lot of indications that there is a need to meet across our organizational boundaries. We are so happy to have 140 people from all different parts of society attending.

The conference is accomplished in cooperation between Kristianstad University, Kristianstad Municipality and Krinova Incubator & Science Park. Before lunch, a number of different projects had the opportunity to present themselves, ranging from acknowledging young talents via Kristianstad municipality’s sustainability work to the research environment “FOHRK” at Kristianstad University that focus on food, health and retail issues.

In the afternoon, everyone participated in a workshop using the “Imagine” concept, a method based on “Design thinking” principles. Divided into smaller groups with mixed backgrounds, needs were identified, and solutions were developed, resulting in six 3-minute pitches of ideas that concluded the conference.

– I have already heard some of the groups deciding “we are really going to implement this”, which is the ultimate proof of the strength of gathering all these different aspects of society, Fredrika says.

The four groups academia, public sector, private sector and civil society are often referred to as a “quadruple helix” innovation framework, and constitutes a main thought of the COLOURS alliance.

– The Imagine Summit was our first step, says Fredrika. In October Krinova Incubator & Science park is hosting the conference “Spot on Food” where we also will invite participants from the other universities in the alliance to take part and explore the theme “Resilient Systems”. That will be a great opportunity to move this thought even further!

Proposal number: 101124491
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