This strategic action plan is a governing document that lays out how BIOVIT will develop over the next three years.
The document forms the basis for what will be prioritised when it comes to BIOVIT’s strategic resources, staffing plan, and what the faculty management will otherwise emphasise in their priorities.
Our strategic action plan is in accordance with NMBU’s overall strategy and is dedicated to promoting our institution’s competitiveness in terms of research funding, both nationally and internationally. We are at the forefront of sustainable food and bioproduction, genetics and biotechnology, both on land and in water, in line with the priority areas set out by the Norwegian government. The faculty has strong research groups involved in the EU initiatives ‘Farm to Fork’ and ‘A European Green Deal’.
We are committed to continuing to develop and strengthen these groups, while integrating their expertise into our study programmes in order to provide students with an education that is relevant for the future.
The faculty has responsibility for two of NMBU’s sustainability arenas: sustainable food systems and green and smart cities. The faculty has also prioritised a special focus on sustainable aquaculture. These arenas promote both internal and external cooperation.
An important initiative for BIOVIT over the next three years is to strengthen expertise and capacity in systems thinking, transdisciplinarity, digitalisation, artificial intelligence and automation. This will enable a deeper integration of research and education at our faculty, with the aim of addressing the complex societal challenges associated with sustainable food systems. This requires wider collaboration with other faculties at NMBU and external expert environments that possess expertise that supplements our own. This does not mean that the traditional subject disciplines are not strong, for, as Associate Professor of Philosophy at Aarhus University Hans Fink says:
‘Subject disciplines are under pressure. Today’s demand for limitless expertise threatens to tear down the boundaries between disciplines in order to open the door to the promised land of transdisciplinarisation. However, there is no shortcut behind the subjects, because even though the subject disciplines are artificial borders in a borderless, modern world, we cannot do without them.’