Description
The aim of the project is to study and adapt different higher education, academic research and innovation management models and best practices in various Nordic art and design universities; to encourage knowledge transfer and job shadowing; to build partnership and initiate collaborations. The relevance of these activities is underlined by the current largescale campus and academic development of MOME. Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design Budapest (MOME) is one of the oldest design universities in Europe with a unique profile that covers almost all fields of the creative industries. In 2014 MOME has started a four years long campus development program that will fundamentally redefine the university for the next 50 years. Parallel to this infrastructure development, new education, R&D programs will be formulated, based on relevant international models. The objective is to visit three centres of the best Nordic art and design higher education: Oslo, Bergen and Reykjavik. Representatives of MOME will be studying the best practices of Artistic Research, Theory/Practice, Urban Space Design, New Craft and Innovation management. Target universities will be: HiO, AHO, KHiB, LHI To strengthen the efficiency of the best practice transfer and the job shadowing, we would like to invite Norwegian professors to MOME to help us adapt the models and methodologies. The assessed models will be adapted and incorporated in the upcoming R&D strategy and new Doctorate School Programs.
Summary of project results
As MOME is actually facing to a major campus development project which will not only renew its infrastructural background but will lead to an overall review of the academic program and R&D&I activity as well, therefor our university is looking for international best practices to learn from and also for refreshing its international network in order to establish new project based collaboration content fitting for the future workshops, media studios, innovation and technology park. Regarding that the university had already contacts in the donor countries as well as MOME was willing to know better other reference higher education institutions we applied for the EEA M2 grant which offered us an excellent possibility to be able to realize these plans. We applied for job shadowing mobility for teachers and staff members (12 person / 252 days) to visit the partner schools to collect best practices. As the university had to move temporary due the construction works and we also had some difficulties to contract with The Oslo School of Architecture and Design (AHO) we could only start the visits in the second half of the project period, and with shorter term visits, but as a great result we could finally involve a higher number of teachers and staff members into the project (23 person / 165 days). The beneficiaries were asked to present their experiences of the visits and share their professional adventures with the community of MOME on a special dissemination event entirely dedicated to the EEA project, by screening their photos, with the possibility of q & a and more relaxed mood for conversations. About 50 staff members and teachers were present and had the opportunity to learn about the beneficiaries’ experiences in the partner institutes AHO (Oslo), USN (Rauland) and IAA (Reykjavík). The visits could bring up relevant questions and issues regarding the campus development process and could at the same time reassure and also insecure us in several decisions, but were definitely useful this way for the whole university's community. Besides the direct contact with their colleagues in the partner institutions the representatives of the Photography Department and the Social Design Lab (EcoLab) got very motivating feedbacks and had inspiring discussions during their visits which will lead to long-term collaborations with IAA, also the management representatives from MOME both in AHO and IAA could earn real-life knowledge useful for our actual development process.
Summary of bilateral results
We are glad to had the possibility to visit AHO, one of the most renewed school of architecture and design in Europe, and discuss with USN the continuation of our project collaboration (Future Traditions also supported by EEA), but we are even more happy to find a new possible partner: with IAA we started to develop the content of their photography program with the help of the related MOME department, and we also started to work out a cooperation in the field of social and sustainable design. We expect to have IAA’s visit back at MOME in October to continue the planning of our cooperation. After the problematic start mentioned above the MOME delegation’s presentation convinced AHO and we managed to receive the visit of one of their teachers in our Doctoral School, which we definitely consider as a result. In Rauland the MOME delegation was present on the final exhibition of the Future Traditions project, they could discuss the evaluation results and think about the continuation. The most fruitful was both of the IAA visits, the first by the management and the EcoLab representatives where the management could get on site experience of the infrastructural and content practice of a same-size university with a similar educational portfolio all relevant for MOME’s campus renewal project, while the social design group could start the development of an educational and research collaboration between IAA and MOME. The second visit by the Photography Department of MOME was eagerly waited and received by IAA as they are willing to create their own photography program with the best practices of MOME. From this point of view the EAA project was mutually beneficial for both institutions.