In this article we interrogate how University of Sweden (UoS), the leading Work-integrated learning (WIL) university in Sweden, represents WIL publicly, discussing this in relation to higher education’s changing role within an increasingly knowledge-based capitalism, in which knowledge and research become subsumed under demands for market utility and student employability. Through analysis of WIL literature we distil a theory-practice ‘gap’ with spatial, institutional, epistemological and pedagogical dimensions that WIL as a field of educational practice tries to ‘bridge’. We use this conception to deconstruct how (UoS) presents WIL to potential students, partners, employers, and society at large. We find that while the university at the central level presents WIL as a synergistic and multi-dimensional activity that bridges the theory/practice divide to produce ‘advanced knowledge’ and employable students, the actual educational programs articulate WIL in a manner which privileges practical usability and employability over theoretical knowledge, in line with an academic capitalist focus on utility. Further, there is a significant difference in how vocational and academic programmes implement WIL. Whereas WIL components seem relatively easily integrated into professional programs present, academic programs must undertake advanced discursive manoeuvres to incorporate WIL’s principles into what would otherwise be quite theory-focused programs.

Purpose

This study aims to explore barriers and facilitators for knowledge transfer and learning processes by examining a cross-departmental collaborative project in the municipal organization. It is based on a R&D collaboration between University West and a Swedish municipality.

Design/methodology/approach

To explore the barriers and facilitators, the data collection was made through observation of the project implementation process, as well as 20 interviews with public servants and external actors. To conduct a systematic qualitative-oriented content analysis, the article constructs and applies a theoretical analytical framework consisting of different factors influencing knowledge transfer and learning processes within a municipal organizational setting.

Findings

This study explores the facilitators and barriers to knowledge transfer and learning processes, specifically focusing on strategic communication, individual roles, common goals, time pressure, group learning, trust and relationships and absorptive capability. Lack of communication affected the group learning process, while the close relation between time pressure, group learning and trust in colleagues is also pointed out as crucial areas. Trust developed through dialogue efforts helped overcome project fatigue. Coaching with a human rights-based approach improved organizational absorptive capabilities.

Originality/value

The study gives important insights into organizational learning within a municipality in Sweden for the successful implementation of collaborative projects. Knowledge must be transferred for the organization to learn to develop and tackle future challenges and its complex responsibilities. The theoretical analytical framework provided in this article has proven to be effective and is therefore transferable to other organizations in both the public and private sectors.

The article develops a model for how an academic discipline like Political Studies can embrace work-integrated learning (WIL) to the benefit of students, the discipline, and wider society by interpreting WIL in relation to discipline-specific forms of knowledge and knower. The model is of a new Master’s in WIL in Political Studies (WIPS) at University West, Sweden, an institution that is experimenting with the idea of WIL as a discipline beyond the mainstream framing of WIL as pedagogy only. In this innovative context, three ideas are central to WIPS. First, the content of WIPS is about research knowledge, rather than Political Studies knowledge. Second, drawing on political philosophy, the important relationship between theory or science (episteme) and practice (techne) is framed in terms of an additional concept of practical knowledge (phronesis) regarding the particulars of political action to equitable ends and wisdom (sophia) in regard to the philosophical and ethical nature of those ends. Third, WIPS re-thinks student learning in ontological ways that focus on the capabilities of the political knower. In sum, WIPS frames WIL as “reflective practice on research-intensive political work”, offering a novel and enriched theoretical model of higher education learning of interest to other academic disciplines looking to embrace WIL.

Purpose: Social sustainability is a concept frequently referred to in public debates concerning how to construct the governance of future societies. The interpretations of its meaning, however, are ambiguous, and practices often dubious. Confronting top-down technocratic governance structures, this paper aims to argue for for tripartite collaborations between residents, higher education institutions (HEIs) and local government, as an approach toward social sustainability that involves residents’ interests in local governance. Design/methodology/approach: This study argues that a specific time-spatial method of analysis can benefit the co-creation of knowledge as it passes through the spectrum of resident–HEI–local government. It provides a way for resident perceptions to become structured knowledge that originates from the residents, effectively engendering a bottom-up governance structure. Findings: This study shows how to include residents in policymaking and implementation processes as co-creators of knowledge, and thereby displays the possibility of examining knowledge and competence within municipal projects for social sustainability. Originality/value: The model developed in this study can be used as a methodological instrument to analyze and expand resident participation in local social sustainability work. It thereby provides a toolbox for inclusive policymaking and strategies. © 2023, Fredrik Sunnemark, Emil Gahnström, Hedvig Rudström, Erika Karlsson and Per Assmo.

In recent decades, internationalization has become an important component of higher education for universities. The rationale behind the internationalizing of university courses and programs varies, depending on focus and interest, with some being of more marketing/economical character and other more concerned to deepen the quality of higher education. Irrespective of the main reasons behind the process, the internationalization of higher education tends to expand even further, not least due to the possibilities connected to digital technology.Indeed, in more recent times the Covid-19 pandemic, has deeply digitalised educational and working life, raising deep questions not just about the modalities of learning, but the possibilities of new kinds of learning too. It is this concern that is the ma in focus of this paper: in what ways does deepening digitalisation enable internationalisation, and what are some of the dynamics, positive or negative, associated with this new trend?This paper answers this question through an initial high-level study of a joint international master’s program in Work Integrated Political Studies (WIPS), developed between University West (UW), Sweden, and the University of Western Cape (UWC), South Africa. The collaboration is unique in that it introduces new academic ways of learning and substantive content, formed through the development of Work Integrated Learning (WIL) as an academic subject and postgraduate degree. Central to WIL is the idea that learning happens equally through doing real world tasks as much as through traditional teaching, and this involves workplace as well as University activities. Consequently, and important part of the WIPS programme is a final year research internship, integrated with a compilation thesis, which provides the students with a possibility to study and conduct research on real world challenges, for a host organization. 

The paper employs an analytical framework using six concepts from the literature: (i) neo-liberal versus (ii) better quality education; (ii) pedagogically integrated a nd (iv) accessible digital technology; (iv) learning through doing as well as teaching; as well as (v) better life readiness.

The internationalisation literature highlights the distinction between the development of programmes aimed to secure more short-term, elite status and financial ends, and those orientated to better quality education through longer term, multicultural engagement of difference. This gives the first two concepts to look for: neo -liberal internationalisation versus internationalisation for better quality education. The digitalisation literature notes the importance of digital technologies that are thoughtfully integrated into a coherent pedagogical approach, and that are accessible to users, whether through public infrastructure or skills development. This gives the pedagogically integrated and accessible digital technologies. Finally, the WIL literature identifies an approach to education that integrates traditional teaching with real world practice, through synergies between the university, the student and the workplace, and that better prepares students for life after the University. This highlights the learning through doing as well as teaching and better life readiness concepts. Based on the primary data gathered from students and staff at both Universities during the first year of the masters, the paper demonstrates how digital technology, complemented with student and staff exchange, helps make the programme a more international, and a more educational environment. Interestingly, this remains true, even while the collaboration between Sweden and South Africa exposes real and important differences in practices and meanings of university teaching, working life and the significance of employability across context – indeed, it is the confrontation of these differences from which much new learning emerges. At the same time, there are limitations or challenges to internationalisation using digitalisation, and a key one is the uneven access to digital infrastructure across the two contexts, a s well as the limitations to boding in an online only environment. The article concludes by arguing that to develop a truly international educational environment, digital technologies should also be organized alongside real-world interactions in a way that enhances students’ interaction, nvolvement, and feeling of belonging. Done correctly, long-term sustainable international collaboration using digital technology, and thereto connected pedagogics, can bring the world closer, and can also reduce the economic and environmental cost of internationalization.

This paper explores and analyse the evolvement and outcome of formal international partnership between University West (UW) in Sweden and Central University of Technology (CUT), South Africa. The collaboration was initiated in 2017, based on a mutual interest in the field of Work Integrated Learning (WIL). The differences in the universities' views, policies and strategies of WIL in research and education was seen as a strength, where the universities, through international collaboration, could learn from each other to foster further knowledge, skills and practices to develop the field of WIL in higher education and research.This study explores how an international university partnership aims to develop and integrate WIL a research and education approach to enhance societal development. The paper introduces a conceptual framework focusing on views and policies of internationalisation, connected to views and perspectives of WIL. The paper thereafter explores and analyse how an international collaboration is used to enhance and improve the different forms and approaches of WIL at the respective university.

UW and CUT comes with different history, perspectives, and strategies of WIL. The institutions recognised different strength, weaknesses and focus of WIL, which was seen as an important starting point and cornerstone for a partnership to learn from each other, and jointly develop WIL in higher education and research. In connection, the partnership aimed to further develop WIL as a new academic field, focusing on applied research approaches and strategies, together with and for societal actors, adress real societal challenges.

The partnership has been instrumental in creating opportunities to discuss and analyse the concept and application of various forms of WIL that through a close collaboration strives to overcome challenges and provide opportunities for development to the benefit of society at large. In short, the partnership has sparked various developments of WIL in higher education and research, including PhD student from CUT to be enrolled in the WIL doctoral at UW. Collaboration through an international master’s program me in WIL, will enable students from CUT and UW to study together. Through networks with industry and organisations in the respective country, internship placements is another WIL component being planned for undergraduate- and postgraduate students from both universities. Researcher from UW and CUT has initiated several research ventures and are co -publishing research outputs with a distinct WIL profile. In all, the collaborative partnership has enhanced the integration and development of, from local to international level, improving the outcome for students, researchers, and society. The partnership includes several important components, with definite possibilities for further development.Students from CUT are enrolled in the doctoral programme in WIL at UW, providing relevant WIL research and PhD staff in WIL at CUT. This helps to make inroads into establishing WIL as an independent research field of its own in the South African context and to possibly further international networks. It also helps to deve lop WIL as a research field at UW by adding South African perspectives and experiences.

The collaboration of the master's programme in WIL, offered by UW, will enable students from CUT to apply and enrol in a post-graduate WIL education and degree, without moving across the globe, hence providing a more inclusive approach to higher education, connected to the local society. Also here, WIL can be further developed by international experiences adding perspectives to both the Swedish and South African context. This both as an educational philosophy and structure as well as a field of study. Internships that are local in practice have the possibility of being global in scope through being part of an extended network, and thereby develop ways of studying WIL-processes that further strengthens WIL as an independent field of study.

Under- and postgraduate students from UW can, through the established formal structure at CUT, conduct internship placements in South Africa. A long-term sustainable collaboration between the institutions creates a foundation for opening for work and practice placement for students from all faculties, wanting to further their study period with international experiences and learning in and from working life in another context than their usual.

Researchers from UW and CUT has initiated several research ventures and are co-publishing research outputs with a distinct WIL profile. By connecting this to extended personal and professional research networks, the independent field of study can be further stabilised, and not least grow in the South African context.

The collaboration has also strengthened the WIL profile and branding of the respective university, nationally as well as internationally. As an example, the universities are planning to co-host an international WIL conference in South Africa during 2024.

Under 2021 beviljades Vänersborgs kommun statsbidrag från Delegationen mot segregation (Delmos) för ett samverkansprojekt mellan det lokala brottsförebyggande rådet och den kommunala arbetsgruppen Samverkan för social inkludering. Projektet kallas Delmosprojektet och syftar till att skapa mer jämlika och jämställda förutsättningar för medborgarna i den socioekonomiskt utsatta stadsdelen Torpa att påverka sina liv. Samverkansarbete är ett nytt arbetssätt inom Vänersborgs kommun, där man hoppas hitta långsiktiga sätt att samverka kring det brottsförebyggande och trygghetsskapande arbetet.För att kvalitetssäkra arbetet i Delmosprojektet och ta fram underlag för fortsatt metodutveckling fick forskargruppen Samskapande hållbar samhällsutveckling (SHS) vid Högskolan Väst i uppdrag att genom observationer och intervjuer genomföra följeforskning. Forskningen genomfördes utifrån ett deltagarperspektiv och under projektets inledande fas, från september 2021 till januari 2022. Denna rapport är en både beskrivande och analytisk sammanfattning av projektet under den här tiden, med målet att illustrera utmaningar och möjligheter när det gäller kunskapsöverföring mellan de samverkansaktörer som representerar Vänersborgs kommun. Analysen är gjord utifrån ett arbetsintegrerat lärandeperspektiv och inkluderar faktorer som anses påverka lärprocesserna, såsom absorptionsförmåga, systematisk kommunikation, projektroller, gruppdynamik, gemensamma mål, tillit och relationer samt tidspress.Generellt uppfattas Delmosprojektet som positivt och dess mål som viktigt. Samarbetet i arbetsgrupperna beskrivs som väl fungerande med givande diskussioner i en trygg och inkluderande miljö. Genom medborgardialoger visar kommunen stort förtroende för och tillit till medborgarna och deras kunskaper och erfarenheter av området. Projektdeltagarna förstår vikten av medborgarperspektivet och önskar att det även fortsättningsvis är en del av kommunens arbete.Samtidigt uttrycker deltagarna att det finns utmaningar, framför allt i form av otydlighet kring projektstruktur, roller och gemensamma mål. De efterfrågar mer information kring projektet som helhet, men även en struktur för kommunikation mellan grupper och inom de olika förvaltningarna. Likt inom många andra kommunala projekt önskas också mer tid och resurser.Följeforskningen har funnit goda exempel att ta vara på inför framtida projekt men också möjligheter till utveckling. Att förankra kommande projekt är en viktig förutsättning för deras start och fortlevnad, och därtill krävs systematiska kommunikationsvägar, långsiktiga mål och ständiga utvärderingar. Att medborgarnas röster måste vara ledande i arbetet finns det inga tvivel om, men rapporten lämnar utrymme för frågor kring hur man bäst når medborgare som i vanliga fall inte kan eller vill nås.

Forsknings- och utvecklingsmiljön Samskapande hållbara samhällen (SHS) vid Högskolan Väst har under flera år arbetat i nära samverkan med kommunen Trollhättans Stad. Främst genomförs samarbetet i form av projekt finansierade av Delegationen mot segregation (Delmos) där fokus ligger på olika aspekter av segregation och social hållbarhet. Denna rapport sammanfattar ett Delmos-projekt som genomförts 2021–2022. Projektet leddes av Samhällsbyggnadsförvaltningen vid Trollhättans Stad och hade stöd i kommunens mål- och resursplan, hållbarhetspolicy och strategi för social hållbarhet. SHS deltog genom forskning samt som utbildare för kunskapsspridning.Segregation har sedan länge varit en svår utmaning för Trollhättans Stad. Tidigare rapporter har beskrivit och analyserat den både ur ett generellt statistiskt perspektiv och ur perspektivet ungas rörelsemönster i staden (Karlsson etal., 2021; Sunnemark etal., 2021). Vad gäller bostadssegregation pekar tidigare rapporter på ett behov av mer kunskap om hur förväntningar på, och identiteter kopplade till, platser i staden påverkar var Trollhättans invånare bor, vistas och lever sina liv. Det Delmos-projekt som ligger till grund för denna rapport tog sin utgångspunkt i dessa resultat och lade grunden för ett hela staden-perspektiv där segregation – speciellt bostadssegregation – inte ses som en angelägenhet enbart för vissa utsatta områden utan är en angelägenhet för alla kommunens invånare. Därmed behövs djupare kunskaper och erfarenheter från ett brett spektrum av kommunens invånare för att driva integrationsarbetet framåt. Denna rapport syftar till att öka denna kunskap samt identifiera metoder för fortsatt kunskapsutveckling som kan stödja konkreta förändringar. En del av arbetet är att identifiera möjligheter och hinder för mer integrerade och inkluderande blandområden att växa fram och utvecklas i Trollhättan. Sådana områden kan identifieras med hjälp av ett antal indikationer i kombination med DeSO1-statistik (Sunnemark etal., 2021:19–24).Dessa två ambitioner – hela staden-perspektivet och blandområdet – förenas i denna rapport. En fallstudie har gjorts i Innovatum – Norra Skoftebyn – Pettersberg (INSP) som potentiellt blandområde. Enligt Segregationsbarometern (2021a) faller det under kategorin ”områden med goda socioekonomiska förutsättningar” och utifrån de ytterligare indikatorer som används i rapporten kan det anses vara ett blandområde. Statistiskt är det representativt för Trollhättan som helhet och kan därför betraktas som ett Trollhättan i miniatyr.Rapporten baseras huvudsakligen på en utvecklad tidsrumslig stadsrumsanalys av INSPområdet, med intervjuer och geografisk information som grund. Tio invånare från området har deltagit i individuella intervjuer och gemensamma fokusgruppsintervjuer. I rapporten benämns dessa invånare stadsdelsexperter, inte för att de besitter en högre grad av expertis om områdets omständigheter än andra utan för att de utgör den mest diversifierade demografiska konstellationen av de sökande till studien och därmed har goda förutsättningar att illustrera livet i området ur både ett brett och ett djupt perspektiv.Studien visar att det finns både möjligheter till och begränsningar för att området utvecklas som blandområde. Möjligheter identifieras främst i relation till rekreation, utbildning, samhällsdeltagande och trygghetsupplevelse, medan begränsningar identifieras i relation till ekonomiska och etniska förutsättningar på bostadsmarknaden, främst sammankopplade med befintligt bostadsbestånd. Etnicitet identifieras som delvis begränsande även i relation till upplevd trygghet och kultivering av en platsidentitet. Slutsatsen är att fortsatt utveckling av ovan nämnda faktorer, gärna i nära samverkan med områdets invånare, är viktigt för att INSP-området ska realiseras som ett blandområde utifrån ett hela staden-perspektiv

Trollhättan är en av Sveriges mest segregerade kommuner. Det har bekräftats och diskuterats gång på gång, såväl i studier som i media och i offentlig och politisk debatt. Rapporter om våld, kriminalitet och ekonomisk ojämlikhet, liksom skillnader i tillgången till service, utbildning och resurser, har presenterats upprepade gånger. Som en konsekvens har Trollhättans stad tilldelats medel av DELMOS (Delegationen mot segregation, en statlig myndighet med uppdrag att undersöka och minska segregation) för att i samarbete med Högskolan Väst undersöka segregationen i två forskningsprojekt. Den här rapporten presenterar det första av dessa projekt.I syfte att vara kort och lättfattlig fokuserar rapporten på de variabler som är att betrakta som allra mest centrala för förståelsen av segregation. För det första handlar det om ekonomisk standard, presenterad utifrån hur varje områdes befolkning fördelas över de riksövergripande inkomstkvartilerna. Detta ger en övergripande bild av de boendes ekonomiska ställning och klasstillhörighet. För det andra handlar det om etnisk bakgrund, presenterad utifrån hur stor del av befolkningen i varje område.