Ársfundur NOVA

It is a pleasure being with you here today opening this NOVA university network conference. As a minister for Nordic collaboration as well as education and science I am happy to see that Nordic collaboration can really make a difference. The Science and Technology Policy Council has recently adopted a strategy for the next three years. One of the guiding lights of the strategy is international collaboration. I guess that among the lessons we have learnt, or at least should learn, from the crisis is that we can not do everything by ourselves. We need to be aware of our place in the larger context of things and willing to learn from others. But this does of course not mean that the world is flat, to borrow a metaphor occasionally used of the globalised world. It is a simple fact that we have more in common with our Nordic neighbours than with our brothers and sisters further away. We share language and history and have a long standing tradition for working together. Let us build on this foundation for our own good but also for the benefit of all.

It is a special pleasure to welcome representatives of the sister project from the Baltic states – BOVA. Nordic collaboration is always changing. It adapts to changing circumstances and influences the world as well. The Nordic area is growing with the Baltic States increasingly participating in joint programmes – Nordplus being the most advanced so far. Russia has also been very interested in collaboration in higher education and science. We do have a lot in common, not least concerning agriculture and forestry which is heavily influenced by the climate we live in.

In many ways the NOVA network exemplifies how small universities can, by joining hands, become something much bigger than the sum of the individual parts. This NOVA network allows the participating universities to run master’s and PhD programmes that each of them would not otherwise be able to offer. Iceland is a small nation. Even so we have seven universities – which is a standing joke in some circles. They vary greatly in scope and size and the Agricultural University of Iceland is among the smallest. It is a good example of a small institution with a big role. The tricky bit is making this work – and this is especially tricky now when we are forced to make serious cuts in university funding. The avenue we have been exploring is how increased collaboration and even mergers of universities can help us maintain a similar level of operations as in recent years.

I have been happy to see in recent months that the universities are increasingly talking and working together. It used to be the case that Icelandic universities collaborated a lot – just not with each other. This is changing to the better and I hope that in the nearest future we will see a university system in Iceland that is based on collaboration and joint understanding. But collaboration is not only a domestic issue. Especially in areas where we, in the Nordic countries, are all faced with small research communities we need to join forces over borders to build a robust and varied university education. The NOVA network is an example of a very successful collaboration that can be a model for the rest of us.

I wish you all the best and hope you continue being a model for how we can work together for the benefit of all.