The KRED collaboration in Follo was highlighted as an example when NMBU Professor Siri Eriksen delivered the keynote address at the National Network Meeting for Sustainability in Higher Education.
Go back to CRED's webpage
The theme of the meeting was both timely and ambitious: How can universities become more closely connected with the world around them in order to address society’s sustainability challenges? On 10 and 11 June 2026, higher education institutions from across Norway gathered at NMBU in Ås as part of the National Network for Sustainability in Higher Education.
Sir Geoff Mulgan from University College London opened the first day with the keynote “The Future of Universities – Houses of Impact?”. He called on academia to redefine its “social contract” and highlighted four critical directions for development: challenge-driven research and learning, place-based development, lifelong learning, and systems thinking in an age of AI.(Read more)
In the workshop that followed, Mulgan invited participants to imagine a new kind of university, where outputs take the form of fluid networks inspired by nature, universities act as hubs for problem-solving, and models are open to local communities.
From Words to Action: Examples from Practice
Siri H. Eriksen, Professor at NMBU and head of CRED, opened the second day with a keynote on collaboration with societal actors in the Follo region. Through CRED, researchers from NMBU and local actors across the six Follo municipalities are exploring concrete solutions that can balance climate, nature, growth and welfare considerations.
Other examples of co-creation in practice were then presented:
- OsloMet Holmlia has established a satellite campus at a shopping centre in the Søndre Nordstrand district, with the aim of meeting, recruiting and conducting research with young people in their own communities, rather than expecting them to come to the university.
- The Sogndal model: The early childhood teacher education programme enables students to work as paid employees in kindergartens one day a week throughout their studies, strengthening the dialogue between research, education and practice.
- The Centre for the Construction Industry at BI balances independent research with engagement with a sector facing a major need for sustainable transformation.
- Colearning as Compass at UiT – The Arctic University of Norway develops and practises learning as a two-way process between academia and practice.
Transformation for Impact
The examples demonstrated that alternative forms of university organisation are possible, even though they remain exceptions rather than the norm. If universities are to become “houses of impact” that systematically and purposefully turn research into action, actively contribute to shaping the regions they are part of, and meet people’s learning needs throughout their lives, deeper institutional transformation is required.
This means being willing to rethink organisational structures, governance models, funding mechanisms, and how academic careers are recognised (Read more only in Norwegian).