As part of the Government’s Research and Innovation Bill, Vinnova was allocated funding to help achieve those goals identified within the Government’s innovation partnership programme on the theme Skills supply and lifelong learning . The purpose of the Government’s strategic innovation partnership programmes is to find innovative solutions to major challenges faced by society and to contribute to Swedish competitiveness. There are four themed innovation partnership programmes, of which Skills supply and lifelong learning is one.
In relation to the initiative, the Ministry of Enterprise and Innovation wrote: “Skills requirements are changing in these times of social transformation and there is a risk that workers may lack the skills that are in demand. A lack of access to skills is an obstacle to both the public and private sectors being able to contribute to enhanced prosperity, competitiveness, innovation and growth. It is therefore urgent for partnerships between regions, universities and other higher education institutions to continue developing with the aim of satisfying the needs of the labour market for people with higher education qualifications across the country.”
Three calls for proposals
Based on the funding allocated to Vinnova for this initiative, they have announced the following three calls, the final deadline for applications to all three calls is 5 October:
Educational collaboration and work-integrated learning – model and method development 2021
This is aimed at universities and other higher education institutions who want to collaborate with another organisation to develop and test innovative models and methods for educational collaboration which include a design for developing work-integrated learning.
Mobility for innovation, learning and knowledge exchange 2021
This funding is intended to afford individuals working in research and innovation the opportunity to work in a different organisation to their current one. Its purpose is to strengthen personal contacts, insights and collaboration by means of time spent in another organisation, as well as allowing for the sharing of skills, knowledge and experience between the organisations.
Attract, integrate and retain international excellence
Many international researchers based in Sweden thanks to funding from the EU’s Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) leave Sweden once they have completed their MSCA project. This funding makes it easier for employers in the business community, research institutes and the wider public sector (beyond the university and higher education sphere) to employ researchers who have completed an MSCA project in Sweden. This is an opportunity to satisfy organisations’ need for leading expertise within these researchers’ areas of specialisation and to create conditions that will allow the researchers to remain in Sweden.