The FREIIA Project: Innovative Island Sustainability Projects: Creating Economic Resilience #NEO23

Active student involvement in sustainability projects on islands can lead to the development of innovative business models and entrepreneurship, addressing environmental challenges and creating economic resilience

Questions to inspire discussion 

• What is the focus of the University College of W Fall?

  —The university focuses on practical approaches in engineering, teaching, healthcare, and business administration.

• What is the goal of the FREIIA Project?

  —The project aims to facilitate resilience and enhance innovation in the North SE region, co-funded by the European Union.

• How does the project involve students?

  —Students are actively involved in projects, cooperate with each other, and work on external funded projects with companies.

• What are the challenges faced by small businesses on islands?

  —Small businesses face challenges related to tourism dependence, aging population, and affordable housing for younger people.

• How does the project aim to promote sustainability on islands?

  —The project aims to identify challenges, develop innovative ideas, and encourage the public sector to adopt these ideas on the mainland. 

Key Insights

• 🎓 An active approach of the students increases the learning and competences, leading to the creation of new business models and entrepreneurship.
• 🏞️ Students in cooperation with companies are working to establish and develop sustainability strategies, showing the potential for collaboration in addressing environmental challenges.
• 🏝️ The FREIIA Project aims to use islands as a laboratory for innovation and resilience, involving various partners from different countries.
• 💡 The project aims to encourage young entrepreneurs to visit islands, identify problems, and come up with innovative solutions to benefit the communities.
• 📚 The project involves taking students to islands to meet stakeholders, analyze data, and develop new business ideas and services to overcome challenges.
• 🏝️ The students from the hog School H in Gran went to the Northern frean Island, highlighting the importance of hands-on experience and collaboration in island sustainability projects.
• 🏝️ The challenge of creating job opportunities and affordable housing to attract younger people back to the islands is a pressing issue for many island communities.
• 🏝️ Encouraging entrepreneurs to set up businesses that can be sustainable year-round, not just dependent on tourism, can lead to economic resilience and job creation.

#DigitalIslands #FREIIA

Clips 

• 00:00 🌴 The FREIIA Project aims to facilitate resilience and innovation in island communities, with a focus on practical approaches in engineering, teaching, healthcare, and business administration.
  • Ivan ler from frar discusses the FREIIA Project and his background in banking.
  • The University College of W Fall in Norway is located in the southeastern part of the country, with two campuses and a substantial number of students and staff.
  • The academy offers modern theater and the faculties focus on practical approaches in engineering, teaching, and healthcare, with a side in business administration.
• 04:44 🌱 The FREIIA Project focuses on product-based learning to increase student engagement and learning outcomes, emphasizing the importance of hands-on experience and project-based learning for developing entrepreneurial skills and preparing students for the job market.
  • The program focuses on product-based learning to increase student engagement and learning outcomes, using an active approach to teaching and emphasizing the importance of hands-on experience in developing new business models and entrepreneurial skills.
  • Lectures and traditional teaching methods have limited impact on students, but when students are actively involved in projects and cooperate with each other, the outcome is much better.
  • Students need to be prepared for the job market by being trained in skills that will make them motivated and capable project managers.
  • Green Camp sends students into the forest for three days to improve their team skills and ability to overcome challenges, and later focuses on building project management skills.
• 09:50 🌍 Students in the FREIIA Project develop practical skills and work on sustainability projects with companies, including building a bridge and studying nature's solutions for business models.
  • Students in the FREIIA Project build a bridge, develop practical skills, and work on external funded projects with companies.
  • Fedix is close to Oslo F and they are studying nature's solutions for sustainability and how to apply them to business models, including a project with companies and students to develop sustainability strategies.
  • Students plan, build, and cross a bridge as part of a project that has put EPL on the map in Norway for outdoor education, and the project also involves a woman swimming in various harbors in the North SE region.
  • A dangerous animal in Oslo had to be put down, but a statue was erected in her memory, and various institutions are working on a project in the same region.
• 15:50 🏝 The FREIIA Project aims to enhance innovation and resilience in the North SE region by using islands as a laboratory for finding innovative approaches and encouraging young entrepreneurs to identify and solve problems through design thinking.
  • The FREIIA Project aims to facilitate resilience and enhance innovation in the North SE region, co-funded by the European Union, with the goal of advising and improving the public sector to meet sustainability challenges through innovation and entrepreneurship.
  • The project aims to use islands as a laboratory for various institutions in France, the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, and Norway to find innovative approaches for resilience and development.
  • Ireland and Iceland are good places to test new ideas and solutions in isolated geographical areas before implementing them on the mainland.
  • The project aims to encourage young entrepreneurs to visit islands, identify problems, and use design thinking to find entrepreneurial solutions, with the goal of presenting a report to the intergovernmental secretary in 2025.
  • High school students visit islands to meet stakeholders, analyze challenges, and develop new business ideas to overcome specific island problems that also affect mainland societies.
  • Students visited a group of islands near Fredick, stayed overnight at a lighthouse, and interviewed various stakeholders, including the mayor, political parties, and local shopkeepers, as well as entrepreneurs of a vineyard, to discuss cooperation with other businesses and the municipality.
• 24:33 🏝 The FREIIA Project aims to promote sustainability and resilience on islands in the North Sea region through research, collaboration with stakeholders, and addressing environmental challenges.
  • Data was collected through interviews and discussions, and a program was used to transcribe the spoken words into written form, creating a database for the project.
  • They conducted a Gap analysis, used the sign thinking model to overcome challenges, and collaborated with stakeholders to find solutions, resulting in a good start for the project and progress to the next step.
  • In September, students from a Norwegian school visited a Northern Frisian Island in close cooperation with universities and colleges in the region, exploring the area and addressing the issue of sea level rise.
  • Gas and oil drillings, transportation, and a project for drilling for gas are putting the area with the second highest biodiversity at risk.
  • The project aims to identify challenges and develop innovative ideas to promote sustainability on the island, with the goal of encouraging the public sector to adopt these ideas on the mainland.
  • The project involves students conducting research on various islands in the North Sea region to contribute to academic research and provide innovative solutions to local stakeholders.
• 34:08 🏝️ Tourism brings income and jobs to islands, but also puts pressure on the environment and infrastructure, leading to challenges in creating jobs and affordable housing to attract younger people back, with regulation needed to find the right balance.
  • Tourism brings income and jobs to islands, but also puts pressure on the environment and infrastructure, especially on popular islands like Mallorca and the Canary Islands.
  • Younger people leave the islands for education and job opportunities, leading to an aging population, and the challenge is to create jobs and affordable housing to attract them back.
  • In Norway, there is a law preventing the purchase of second homes to prevent rising prices, while in Sweden and France, there are no such restrictions, leading to wealthy people buying weekend homes and driving up prices, causing difficulties for young people to settle in those areas.
  • Regulation is difficult to find the right balance, as it can have negative effects, but leaving it to the free market can also exclude people who want to settle, so there needs to be a regulated approach, possibly involving the municipality.
• 39:15 🏝️ Younger people need housing and tourism/craftsmanship opportunities, leading to a shift from traditional agriculture to tourism; small businesses on Bon islands are using the sea as a resource to create year-round jobs; dialogue is needed among stakeholders to determine the direction, with a strong local brand being a common factor; cooperation with the academic world is helping develop brands and seek solutions for the future, but managing for universities is difficult due to lack of resources and time constraints.
  • Younger people need decent housing and opportunities related to tourism or craftsmanship to settle on the islands, leading to a transformation of the business structure from traditional agriculture and fisheries to tourism.
  • Small businesses on Bon islands are encouraged to use the sea as a resource, with a brewery selling to tourists and the mainland, in order to create year-round jobs and reduce dependence on tourism.
  • Stakeholders on the island have different opinions and there is a need for dialogue to determine the direction and how to get there together, with a strong local brand being a common factor.
  • Brands are being developed on islands through cooperation with the academic world to set up campuses and research stations, benefiting the community and seeking solutions for the future.
  • Academic institutions can contribute positively to the island, but it is difficult to manage for universities due to lack of resources and time constraints.
• 46:37 🏝 The FREIIA Project focuses on practical application of methods, including bridge building and green Mission, with an integrated approach, implemented in various subjects, motivating students and staff, but part-time students face challenges and lower results, while living in a tent during strong rainfall creates social cohesion.
  • The company will present a problem for practical application of discussed methods, including the bridge building project and green Mission, with emphasis on the integrated approach.
  • FR leaves are implemented in various subjects, with students and staff motivated to participate, but students who work part-time face challenges and have lower results compared to full-time students.
  • Living in a tent during strong rainfall brings people together and creates social glue.

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