OECD project Supporting the Contribution of Higher Education Institutions to Regional Development Final Self-Evaluation Report Trøndelag (Mid-Norway Region) January 2006 Table of Contents List of tables and figures........................................................................................................ ii List of terms ..........................................................................................................................iii List of references.................................................................................................................. vii Chapter I. Overview of the Region ............................................................................................ 1 1.1 The geographical situation ............................................................................................... 2 1.2 The demographic situation............................................................................................... 4 1.3 The economic and social base.......................................................................................... 4 1.4 Governance structure ....................................................................................................... 6 Chapter II: Characteristics of the Norwegian Higher Education System ................................ 10 2.1 Overview of the national system of higher education.................................................... 10 2.2 Regional dimension “inside” the national higher education policy............................... 16 2.3 Regional higher education system and governance ..................................................... 18 Chapter III: Contribution of Research to Regional Development ........................................... 23 3.1 Responding to regional needs and demands .................................................................. 23 3.2 Framework conditions for promoting research and innovation ..................................... 31 3.3 Interfaces facilitating knowledge exploitation and transfer........................................... 37 3.4 Conclusions.................................................................................................................... 43 Chapter IV: Contribution of Teaching & Learning to Labour Market and Skills ................... 48 4.1 Localizing the learning process...................................................................................... 48 4.2 Student recruitment and regional employment .............................................................. 55 4.3 Promoting lifelong learning, continuing professional development and training.......... 59 4.4. Changing forms of educational provision..................................................................... 60 4.5 Enhancing the regional learning system ........................................................................ 62 4.6. Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 63 Chapter V: Contribution to Social, Cultural and Environmental Development ...................... 66 5.1 Social development ........................................................................................................ 66 5.2 Cultural development..................................................................................................... 67 5.3 Environmental sustainability.......................................................................................... 70 5.4 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 73 Chapter VI: Capacity Building for Regional Cooperation....................................................... 76 6.1 Mechanisms to promote HEI-regional involvement...................................................... 76 6.2 Promoting regional dialogue & joint marketing initiatives ........................................... 82 6.3 Evaluating and mapping the impact of the regional HE system .................................... 84 6.4 Institutional capacity building for regional involvement............................................... 85 6.5 Human & financial resources management ................................................................... 88 6.6 Creating a new organization culture .............................................................................. 89 Chapter VII: Conclusions: Moving Beyond the Self-evaluation ............................................. 92 7.1 Lessons to be learned from the self-evaluation process................................................. 92 7.2 The potentialities for increasing the contribution that HEIs make to the region ........... 93 7.3 The way forward: the discussion of the region’s vision for future policy ..................... 94 Annex I – The Demographic Situation .................................................................................... 99 Annex II - The Economic and Social Base ............................................................................ 103 Annex III – The Norwegian Higher Education System......................................................... 112 i List of tables and figures Table 1.1: Changes in employment patterns in Trøndelag 1950, 1980, 2001 ........................... 4 Table 1.2: Division of responsibility between administrative levels ......................................... 7 Table 1.3: National policy instruments operated by Innovation Norway.................................. 8 Figure 2.1 Number of registered students 1971 – 2003........................................................... 10 Table 2.2: Students and staff in higher education institutions, 2003. ...................................... 11 Table 2.3: Budget allocation 2006 – basic funding and incentive-based funding. .................. 13 Table 2.4: Institutional evolvement and rank in national higher education system................. 20 Table 2.5: Sources of income for the HEIs, 2004.................................................................... 20 Table 2.6: Funding of research fellowships, 2004 .................................................................. 20 Table 2.7: Faculties by subject................................................................................................. 21 Table 2.8: Candidates regional adaptation............................................................................... 21 Table I.1: Population level and age structure........................................................................... 99 Table I.2: Emigration and immigration at a national and regional level ................................. 99 Figure I.3: Expected duration of life at birth in Trøndelag and Norway ............................... 100 Table I.4: The average days absent through illness for employees ....................................... 100 Table I.5: Disposable income per inhabitant ......................................................................... 100 Table I.6: Share of population 16 years or older with college or university degree.............. 101 Table I.7: Share of population 16-74 years with a science/engineering degree .................... 102 Table I.8: The new students in 2004...................................................................................... 102 Table I.9: Registered students in continuing education at the main HEIs in Trøndelag........ 102 Table I.10: Registered students and completed studies in distance learning programmes .... 102 Table II.1: Employment in different industrial sectors in Trøndelag and Norway, 2003...... 103 Table II.2: Employment in knowledge intensive sectors in Trøndelag and Norway, 2003... 103 Table II.3: Employment in high-technology manufacturing ................................................. 104 Table II.4: Employment in medium high-technology manufacturing ................................... 104 Table II.5: Employment in knowledge-intensive high-technology services.......................... 104 Table II.6: The value of exports in Trøndelag and Norway................................................... 105 Table II.7: Employed 4th quarter 2003, by region and type of occupation. .......................... 105 Table II.8: Enterprises and numbers of employees in Trøndelag and Norway...................... 106 Table II.9: The level of R&D in Trøndelag and Norway in 1999 ......................................... 106 Table II.10: Total R&D spending in NOK 1000 per capita,.................................................. 106 Table II.11: R&D spending in NOK 1000 per capita by sector of execution and region...... 107 Table II.12: Share of R&D spending by sector of execution and region............................... 107 Table II.13: New firms in all industries except public sector and primary industries ........... 107 Table II.14: Patents granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office .................. 108 Table II.15: Number (share) of registered patents by region and year .................................. 108 Table II.16: Development in total employment from 2000-2004.......................................... 108 Table II.17: Development in population 2001-2004. Source: Statistics Norway. ................. 109 Table II.18: Unemployment and economic activity rates in 2004......................................... 109 Figure II.19: Unemployment in % in Trøndelag and Norway from 1986-2004.................... 109 Table II.20: Education level in the population above 16 years of age..................................