Supporting the Contribution of Higher Education Institutions to Regional Development Self-evaluation of the Värmland region, Sweden 18th of January 2006 TietoEnator VINNOVA Karlstad University County Administrative Board of Värmland Region Värmland Ministry of Education and Culture Metso Paper Municipality of Karlstad Supporting the Contribution of Higher Education Institutions to regional Development Self-evaluation of the Värmland Region, Sweden Supporting the Contribution of Higher Education Institutions to Regional Development Content FIGURES…………………………………………………………………………………………….4 TABLES…………………….……………………………………………………………………….4 DIAGRAMS………………………………………………………………………………………….5 ACRONYMES.……………………………………………………………………………………….5 AGENCIES ETC .…………………………………………………………………………………….6 APPENDICIES..……………………………………………………………………………………...6 SUMMARY………………………………………………………………………………………….7 0INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................................ 12 0.1 The OECD Project......................................................................................... 12 0.2 The Värmland Region and its relation with Norway....................................... 12 0.3 Karlstad University........................................................................................ 12 0.4 The history of Karlstad University ................................................................. 13 0.5 Vision 2015 ................................................................................................... 13 0.6 Re-organization ............................................................................................. 13 0.7 The re-organization of national defence ......................................................... 13 0.8 Writing this report.......................................................................................... 14 1REGIONAL OVERVIEW ................................................................................................................ 15 1.1 An historical and economic/geographic backdrop .......................................... 15 1.2 The geographical situation ............................................................................. 16 1.3 The demographic situation............................................................................. 23 1.4 The economic and social base........................................................................ 28 1.5 Governance structure ..................................................................................... 41 2CHARACTERISTICS OF THE HIGHER EDUCATION SYSTEM ........................................................ 46 2.1 Overview of the national system of higher education ..................................... 46 2.2 Regional perspectives on national policy........................................................ 51 2.3 The regional dimension of higher education................................................... 52 3THE CONTRIBUTION OF RESEARCH TO REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND GROWTH ................. 53 3.1 National conditions for supporting research and innovation ........................... 53 3.2 National stakeholders in research and innovation ........................................... 55 3.3 Regional needs and demands ......................................................................... 57 3.4 Karlstad University’s research strategy .......................................................... 58 3.5 Interfaces facilitating regional knowledge exploitation and transfer ............... 59 3.6 Results........................................................................................................... 65 3.7 Conclusion..................................................................................................... 65 4CONTRIBUTION OF TEACHING AND LEARNING TO LABOUR MARKET AND SKILLS .................. 68 4.1 Karlstad University’s Mission........................................................................ 68 4.2 Regional perspectives on the exchange of experience and relation to reality... 70 4.3 Student recruitment and the regional labour market........................................ 71 4.4 Contributions to life-long learning, and further professional development and training...................................................................................................................... 72 4.5 New forms of educational opportunities......................................................... 73 4.6 Reinforcing the regional educational system .................................................. 73 4.7 The project ”Wanted: Technologists”............................................................. 74 Page 2 of (109) Version: Final - 060118 Supporting the Contribution of Higher Education Institutions to Regional Development 4.8 Results........................................................................................................... 74 4.9 Conclusion..................................................................................................... 76 5CONTRIBUTION TO SOCIAL, CULTURAL, AND ENVIRONMENTAL DEVELOPMENT .................. 79 5.1 Social development........................................................................................ 79 5.2 Cultural development..................................................................................... 80 5.3 Sustainable development................................................................................ 83 5.4 The Gender perspective ................................................................................. 84 5.5 Conclusion..................................................................................................... 85 6CONTRIBUTIONS TO REGIONAL COOPERATION......................................................................... 87 6.1 Mechanisms supporting the contribution of higher education to regional development.............................................................................................................. 87 6.2 Support to regional dialogue and joint marketing initiatives........................... 93 6.3 Evaluation and Mapping of the impact of higher education on the region....... 95 6.4 Karlstad University’s regional commitment ................................................... 96 6.5 Management of human and financial resources .............................................. 97 6.6 Creating a new organizational culture ............................................................ 98 6.7 Interpersonal Contacts – workshop on cooperation......................................... 99 6.8 Imagine Värmland Providing Equal Opportunities to All – workshop on gender analysis ................................................................................................................... 101 6.9 Värmland is not Enough – workshop on regional enlargement ..................... 101 7CONCLUSIONS – BEYOND SELF-EVALUATION ........................................................................ 105 7.1 The process.................................................................................................. 105 7.2 Further steps ................................................................................................ 108 Page 3 of (109) Version: Final - 060118 Supporting the Contribution of Higher Education Institutions to Regional Development Figures Figure 1.1 Värmland in Europe 17 Figure 1.2 The Nordic Triangle 18 Figure 1.3 Värmland in Scandinavia 19 Figure 3.1 Supporting Entrepreneurship and Business Development 59 Tables Table 1.1 Population and demographic development 1990-2004 for the municipalities in the county of Värmland (source: Statistics Sweden) 20 Table 1.2 Population size in the largest local labour market regions in Sweden (source: Statistics Sweden, whose current division into labour market regions has been used) 21 Table 1.3 Age structure in the Karlstad region, the County of Värmland, and Sweden – percentages 1984, 1994 and 2004 (source: Statistics Sweden) 24 Table 1.4 Social-security payments in the Karlstad region, the county of Värmland, and Sweden in 2003 (source: Statistics Sweden) 25 Table 1.5 People proceeding to tertiary education and educational attainment in municipalities in Värmland, the County of Värmland, and Sweden (source: Statistics Sweden) 26 Table 1.6 The economic structure in the Karlstad region, the County of Värmland, and Sweden in 2003 (source: Statistics Sweden, Regional Labour Market Statistics) 28 Table 1.7 Labour-intensive, capital-intensive, and knowledge-intensive sectors in the Karlstad region, the County of Värmland, and Sweden in 2002; share of employees in % (based on Regional Labour Market Statistics by Statistics Sweden) 28 Table 1.8 Man-years and expenses for R&D in the business sectors of the County of Värmland and Sweden (source: Statistics Sweden) 30 Table 1.9 Occupational distributions according to occupational area in the Karlstad region, the County of Värmland, and Sweden in 2003 (source: Statistics Sweden, the Occupational Register) 33 Table 1.10 Unemployment and persons in labour market programmes in % of the labour pool in the Karlstad region, the County of Värmland, and Sweden in March 2005 (source: the Swedish National Labour Market Administration) 36 Table 1.11 Goal and effect indicators on the top level of the programme (Sustainable Growth in Värmland) 38 Page 4 of (109) Version: Final - 060118 Supporting the Contribution of Higher Education Institutions to Regional Development Diagrams Diagram 1.1 Demographic developments in