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| Education & Development |
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The economy requires innovative entrepreneurship, the ability to operate in international networks, demand-orientation and investment in knowledge. Knowledge must circulate more in the Netherlands. But we cannot revitalise the knowledge economy with commissions, rigid patterns of thought, inspect and control. The distribution of the 800 million euros of Bsik money (Bsik: decree on subsidies for investment in knowledge infrastructure) over research programmes just reflects the same old moves. Patents that are left on the shelf are just one symptom of knowledge constipation, and in the meantime speed is increasingly crucial to success on a global market.
An appreciation of dynamic relationships is indispensable, from the biggest of authorities to the smallest of companies. The focus should not just be on “big” and “science”, but on providing access to the knowledge system for the many, especially the many young people. Involve them in the processes of innovation. Many innovations start off small. We must invest in people, in space to experiment, in strengthening self-organising ability, stimulating networks, space for initiative, communication – in short, education.
Young talent must be brought in. This is happening as part of many of the changes that are being made in higher vocational education (hbo) and senior secondary education (mbo). Interdisciplinary cooperation between students is on the increase, as is cooperation between schools and companies. The interest of young people is awakened by taking them seriously, encouraging their curiosity and responsibility. Young people are not frightened of knowledge, even exact knowledge, if they can make use of it. A culture of renewal and challenge is being created in the province North Brabant. It is exciting to discover your own wheel.
The hbo courses of HAS Den Bosch deliver about 300 professionals each year in the fields of food, agribusiness and green space. These courses are strongly aligned to international vocational practice. Each year some 150 to 200 projects are carried out for companies by students and teachers or advisors.
The “Education and Development” concept has been created to strengthen the focus on change. E&D must be placed alongside R&D. ‘Education’ is as essential to social and economic change as ‘Research’. In the long term, ‘Research’ leads to the development of new products and processes. But in the short term, good education promotes innovation in applications and in the market.
Coupling ‘Development’ to ‘Education’ creates more space for the personal ‘drive’ of young people, which is so crucial to change. On the one hand, this coupling makes it possible to offer students challenging individual work. On the other hand, new aspirants on the job market display more creativity and more personal involvement. For companies, it is easier to recruit innovators. From the start of the course, a student has the opportunity to make a personal contribution to the development of his future job, his company, his policy, his network. Curiosity and responsibility are found in people, not systems.
Within E&D, networks of students, teachers and companies orient themselves towards a specific, strategically important development in a sector or field. Familiar educational forms such as project education and problem-based education are adapted to this. The starting point is a divided strategic vision. Real problems are considered. Dilemmas that require the students to adopt a viewpoint. A cyclic knowledge model is used, to which each of those involved makes his own contribution, young or old, practical and theoretical. The activities within E&D can be varied, from minor improvisations to multi-year programmes of applied research. With E&D, a college becomes a service provider specialising in knowledge transfer. Entrepreneurship is given back its core position. Knowledge transfer is more than just submitting a report. The added value is usually in the adjustment to customer demand, i.e. in the quality of the relationship.
If education is to play a role in knowledge transfer, it must be oriented to new forms of cooperation. Networking and creating chains. In the coming years, therefore, HAS Den Bosch and HAS Knowledge Transfer will continue to focus on international, innovative entrepreneurship in the fields of “agribusiness, nutrition and health”. International education at bachelor and master level and applied research will be built up in the ‘Green Business School’ and the 'Anton Jurgens Institute'. An active network with multinationals and universities, in which young innovators can develop and new companies will be born. Education and development!
H.J.M. Naaijkens
Chairman of the Board of Governors of HAS Den Bosch
July 2005
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