Here below you can find all master courses the University Centre offers. All courses are taught in 1-3 week modules running from August through June. See how the courses are organised in the teaching schedule for both programs. Usually 2-3 courses are taught at the same time, but students may only enroll in one course at a time.
The master courses are available to you whether you plan to pursue a degree or just take a course or courses. Please review the options for guest studies to determine how you can apply.
For further information, contact the Administrative Director of Education and Teaching.
Innovation and Entrepreneurship
- Summer 2024
- Next course: 29. April - 05. May 2024
- CMM/CRD Elective Course | 4 ECTS
- Course:CRD09
- Instructor: Arnar Sigurðsson
About the course
As innovation and technology disrupt traditional ways of life and policy all over the world, they pose both a threat and an opportunity for remote and rural communities. Concepts of innovation and entrepreneurship will be explored and applied in a hands-on way to the challenges confronting coastal communities. Students gain insights into the importance of innovation and entrepreneurship for regional planning.
- Should innovation be confined to urban areas, or can coastal communities participate in the knowledge economy?
- What are innovative communities and how can communities be innovated?
- Can policy be modeled to create circumstances for innovation?
- Can a region’s path dependence be disrupted with storytelling?
Forming cross disciplinary teams, the class will develop innovative solutions to regional development issues that the students have identified. In the process the students will acquire tools for ideation and creative thinking.
Instructor
is an entrepreneur and social innovator. He holds a BA degree in Comparative Literature and Creative Writing, from the University of Iceland and an MA degree in Film Production from Goldsmith, University of London. Recently Arnar headed The Blue Bank, an innovation incubator and social development hub in Þingeyri, a coastal community in the Westfjords.
Arnar's background is in startups, technology and other creative fields. He co-founded Karolina Fund, a crowdfunding and sourcing technology provider. Arnar has worked on introducing experimental culture within public administration, grass roots creative movements and is a public speaker on the relationship between community and innovation. His current experiments and ventures are channeled through his company, East of Moon.
Learning outcome
As innovation and technology disrupt traditional ways of life and policy all over the world, they pose both a threat and an opportunity for remote and rural communities. Concepts of innovation and entrepreneurship will be explored and applied in a hands-on way to the challenges confronting coastal communities. In this course students gain insights into the importance of innovation and entrepreneurship for regional planning.
On completion of the course, a student:
- can apply concepts of innovation to regional development and critically evaluate them
- can identify challenges of entrepreneurship in remote and rural areas
- has acquired a set of tools for ideation and creative thinking
- has developed an innovative project within a cross disciplinary team through a creative process