Major initiative in entrepreneurship

A letter of intent has recently been signed by the University of Oslo, BI Norwegian Business School, OsloMet, Kristiania University of Applied Sciences, the Oslo National Academy of the Arts, the Oslo School of Architecture and Design, and the Norwegian Academy of Music. Its aim is to promote closer collaboration on entrepreneurship and innovation

In his welcome speech at the signing, one of the initiators, BI Pro-Principal Thomas Hoholm (bi.no), emphasised that the initiative now has the backing of senior leadership at all seven institutions. He outlined three lines of work:

“First, we need to start giving students access to each other’s elective courses and create cross-institutional modules, so that these become part of the curriculum and count towards our students’ qualifications.”

According to Hoholm, the institutions must then create opportunities for co-creation through extracurricular activities:

“One example is the workshops on ‘calm tech’ (forskningsparken.no) – technology that improves people’s lives without requiring scrolling or stealing their attention, privacy or sense of satisfaction.”

Last but not least, Pro-Principal Hoholm believes that initiatives from the Oslo School of Entrepreneurship must reach people and society more broadly:

“We need to engage with the wider community, and both students and teaching staff must be made aware early on of the value of reaching out.”

Vice-Principal for Education Vivianne Sydnes signed the letter of intent on behalf of NMH. She wants NMH to take part because the Academy, too, needs to be challenged on and develop how music works in society.

“We need to explore this together with others. There is a fairly broad range of educational institutions involved, and we believe we will also make an important contribution through our expertise in creativity and creative practice,” says Vice-Principal Sydnes.

The collaboration is also intended to help strengthen the Oslo region’s innovation and entrepreneurship community. The Oslo School of Entrepreneurship aims to create better opportunities for students.

Through the collaboration, students can meet across disciplines and institutions, share experiences and develop new ideas and projects. NMH Principal Astrid Kvalbein is also aware of these opportunities. She sends her greetings from a meeting abroad, where she met other leaders in music education from around the world this week:

“It is today’s young students who will shape the future. We must give them places to meet where they can challenge one another, be innovative and together shape tomorrow’s culture and society,” says Astrid Kvalbein.

For NMH, entrepreneurship is about giving students the knowledge and tools to shape their own careers. Working as a musician encompasses many different roles and ways of working, and the ability to develop projects, build networks and identify new opportunities is important for creating a sustainable career.

This is also a central part of NMH’s Strategy 2035: Moving Music. The strategy highlights social relevance, innovation and closer exchange with professional practice. It sets ambitious goals for NMH to educate courageous and adaptable music professionals and seeks to improve students’ opportunities to succeed in a significantly changed industry.

Vivianne Sydnes, who is also Professor of Choral Conducting and Cathedral Cantor in Oslo, puts it this way:

“When I encounter other forms of expression and areas of expertise, I gain a better understanding of myself and my own musical project. Musicians know about creativity and have a great capacity to create, but we benefit from a collaboration that helps us see this more clearly and also gives us support in developing and communicating it,” she says.

The letter of intent signed by the seven institutions on Wednesday 4 November opens the way to exploring joint academic events, seminars, innovation workshops, student projects, networking activities and entrepreneurship programmes.

They will also explore opportunities to collaborate on applications for external funding.

“The word entrepreneurship may be off-putting to some artists and musicians because it has so many associations with its commercial side,” says Vivianne Sydnes.

“But for a musician today, entrepreneurship is more about recognising the impact music can have when combined with other areas of expertise.”

She adds: “For me, entrepreneurship is about how we can benefit from one another and create something bigger, something different, or something that becomes relevant to new recipients or audiences.”

The main goal is to create more opportunities for students and contribute to a vibrant entrepreneurship and innovation community in Oslo, bringing together different disciplines, institutions and future career paths. The collaboration could give NMH students access to new academic communities and partners. NMH will also help bring musical and artistic expertise into contact with other disciplines.

The agreement expresses the institutions’ shared ambition to explore the collaboration further. It is not legally or financially binding, and any specific activities will be governed by separate agreements.