How to involve students in place development? How to unlock their potential to shape development solutions in places, territories, businesses, and municipalities? And a related question - what new forms of education could universities and research institutes offer to foster student involvement? BSC senior researcher and professor at the University of Latvia Tālis Tisenkopfs shares his experience of involving students in the IN-HABIT project at the "Prosperity and Long-Term Development of Latvian Regions" conference, held at the University of Life Sciences and Technologies on 1 November 2024.
How can students be involved in place development?
How can students be involved in place development? How to unlock their potential to shape development solutions in places, territories, businesses, and municipalities? And a related question - what new forms of education could universities and research institutes offer to foster student involvement? BSC senior researcher and professor at the University of Latvia Tālis Tisenkopfs shares his experience of involving students in the IN-HABIT project at the "Prosperity and Long-Term Development of Latvian Regions" conference, held at the University of Life Sciences and Technologies on 1 November 2024.
The role of students in the innovation ecosystem
I would like to propose the thesis that students are the driving force behind knowledge-based development - not just investors, entrepreneurs, politicians and scientists. We must be able to bring students into the innovation ecosystem and help them prosper. Students may lack experience, practical knowledge, and financial resources to jump directly into creating new things. However, they have passion, vision, determination and good intentions. Students care not only about their future but also about the future of society.
Students have always gone to study in centres of knowledge and then dispersed to different locations, much like in the days of Tērbata. The mindset in higher education remains deeply rooted in the 19th-century notion of students as individuals to be educated and granted a degree and a profession. This perspective has led us to undervalue students as a collective force for innovation.
Combining education and applied practice
It is time that universities introduced more education opportunities that integrate studies with applied practice across disciplinary boundaries, such as interdisciplinary internships, problem-based projects, and similar forms of learning.
In such internships and projects, students from different disciplinary backgrounds collaboratively explore and propose solutions to a problem defined by a particular company, municipality or public organisation. For instance, a team might include students specialising in sociology, environmental engineering, computer science, food technology, and international relations. Six individuals, six complementary perspectives, a collaborative analysis, and valuable proposals - ones that are likely innovative and unconventional.
Experience of student involvement in projects
I will provide two examples. One comes from the "Sustainable Development” course I teach at the University of Latvia. This year I substituted my lectures with a course project. I aligned it with the European Union's Horizon Research Programme project IN-HABIT - "Inclusive Health and Well-being in Small and Medium-Sized Towns" (grant agreement No 869227), which is implemented by BSC. It helped that the students' project was tied to a specific place - the Āgenskalns Market in Riga which hosts a range of diverse economic, social and cultural activities and is also one of the partner organisations in the IN-HABIT initiative. The students were tasked with addressing a problem formulated by the market’s management team and BSC researchers. The central question the students had to research and propose solutions to was: “What innovative partnerships and financial mechanisms could contribute to the future development of the Āgenskalns Market and increase its positive impact on the health and well-being of the neighbourhood?” The task may seem complex, but the students quickly grasped the essence and got to work.
The project was carried out in phases. First, BSC researchers held an introductory lecture on the IN-HABIT project and its results. This was followed by a tour of the market, which gave students a chance to familiarise themselves with IN-HABIT’s activities and the situation on-site. The students were divided into four groups, and the topic of the project was tailored according to their personal interests. A work plan was drawn up and methods of information gathering and analysis were selected, including market visits, participatory observations, interviews with traders and visitors, surveys, and document analysis. Throughout the project, students had the chance to consult with BSC researchers and the market team for guidance. The groups worked independently, but with a shared responsibility for the task. A joint meeting was held halfway through the project to review progress. Cooking dinner in the market's communal kitchen served as a bonding activity for the groups. At the end of the project, each group presented a report with the following sections: the problem studied, solutions identified, recommendations, and conclusions. The evaluation was carried out on a parity basis, involving BSC researchers, market representatives and the students themselves. The results of the students' projects will be used to further improve the market and for the IN-HABIT project deliverable requirements.
Students liked this approach because it was different from traditional classroom training and gave them a unique experience. Students recognised the value in linking the project to scientific research and a specific market development initiative. The freedom to find their own solutions was also highly valued. The groups were interdisciplinary and international, including ERASMUS exchange students from different countries and study programmes. This was the first course in my career where no student dropped out.
Another example is from Wageningen University in the Netherlands, specifically, their course titled "Academic consultancy training". The course offers students the opportunity to carry out a consultancy project with an external client. Groups of students with different disciplinary and cultural backgrounds work in a transdisciplinary way, combining diverse academic and practical expertise in data collection and analysis. The final product is an academic consultancy report, offering advice and recommendations in response to a real-life need, or a formulation of a challenge that needs to be addressed. The course is similar to the example described above. Only in the case of Wageningen University, the client pays approximately EUR 1000 for the realisation of one project. Part of this money is made available to the students for their research needs.
How to involve students in projects?
Latvian universities should involve students more in such practical projects to make them active participants in the innovation ecosystem.
This can be done in different ways:
- by introducing interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary student internships and projects;
- through more active use of problem-based learning;
- by involving student projects in research projects;
- collaborating with companies, municipalities, government organisations, civic associations in the implementation of student projects;
- using university technology transfer centres, accelerators and other innovation support infrastructure to support student projects;
- fostering cooperation between programmes, faculties, institutes and universities.
BSC can offer universities its expertise and project portfolio to support the broader implementation of interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary student projects, thus strengthening the overall innovation ecosystem in Latvia.