Action Plan - Jamtland

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Observatory PASCAL
Place Management, Social Capital and Learning Regions PASCAL Universities Regional Engagement Project (PURE) ACTION PLAN JAMTLAND, SWEDEN July 2009 – December 2010
The needs of the region The ultimate goal of the region and the university is to make Jamtland a learning region. This means that Jamtland will be a region in which all segments cooperate to make effective use of existing resources, such as human, cultural, learning, environmental and community resources. The areas we would like to start focusing on are the cultural and creative industries and tourism, since these are important sectors in the region with great potential for growth. As a first step towards this there are three main issues we propose to work with: a) Benchmarking; b) A regional plan for lifelong learning focusing on learning for improved regional innovation and renewal and c) A method for better communication and cooperation between primary stakeholders within the region. We feel that there is a need for benchmarking in the region and at the university in order to make clear where we stand and what can be improved. A suggestion made from the review team is that regionwide statistics on tourism should be gathered in order to be able to measure development. Both these tools will be useful, if used on a regular basis, to get a better sense of where the region and the university are heading in terms of cooperation on tourism. We also believe that the region would benefit from having a regional plan for lifelong learning, including all stages of education (pre-school, 9 years of compulsory school, upper secondary education, higher education and informal learning) focusing on learning for innovation and cultural and creative industries and tourism. As the review team pointed out in their report, the region would benefit from a plan which links the region, education, community and business in order to focus education on key sectors of the region and achieve higher levels of participation in higher education. A coherent approach towards lifelong learning would be beneficial for regional innovation and renewal as well as cultural and creative industries and tourism, which are areas that the region wants to promote in the future. To achieve this, the key issue is cooperation within the region. As pointed out in the reviewers’ report, the effectiveness of the current cooperation, for example through the council for regional development, can be questioned. However, in order to start working towards smoother cooperation and greater regional development and renewal we propose the following action plan for the next 18 months: 1. Before November 1st 2009 Two one-day-workshops will be held, one for the university and one for representatives of the region. The aim is to work with the benchmarking tools provided by PASCAL and get the opportunity to discuss region-university cooperation and the possibility to create a regional plan for life-long learning with some of the key people of the region and the university.
Action Plan – Jamtland
http://www.obs-pascal.com/ 
Page |1
Observatory PASCAL
Place Management, Social Capital and Learning Regions 2. December 3 – 4th 2009 Second visit from review team, which will coincide with the biathlon world cup and the Christmas market at Jamtli – two of the largest events of the year which both attract many tourists. During this visit a seminar with representatives from region and university will be arranged to discuss the results from the benchmarking process. This will enable the review team to meet with both tourists visiting the region and to listen to the discussion between representatives from the region and from the university.
3.
April 2010 A workshop will be held with representatives from region and university to start planning an action plan for improving the collaboration in the region. The starting point will be the results from the benchmarking and the review team’s comments after their visit.
4.
October 2010 Finalisation of action plan for working towards a regional plan for lifelong learning, a method for better cooperation and communication within the region and then towards becoming a learning region with special focus on cultural and creative industries and tourism.
Action Plan – Jamtland
http://www.obs-pascal.com/ 
Page |2