Next education, next governance, next business: towards 21st century resilience and innovation capacity in Groningen city and region

Train today’s students for tomorrow’s jobs and let today’s professionals develop themselves alongside the progress in their field - these are the two most urgent demands we need and want to meet in vocational education. However, the world is changing so rapidly that the focus of Universities of Applied Sciences (UAS) only on the design of initial education is no longer enough. Education must connect with industry, governments, NGOs and population in a more intensive and permanent manner.
In the Northern Netherlands, in particular in the city of Groningen, higher and secondary vocational education are aware of this urgency. Therefore, knowledge institutions have innovatively developed formal partnerships with industry, governments, population and social organisations in their field. What stands out most is the cooperative model in which education institutions, local governments, citizens and entrepreneurs steadily collaborate within a single organisation, a new type of company. This is a business model where education and research cooperate with hundreds of companies, civil society organisations and social organisations in the city and the region. Each level has its own form: a Regional Cooperative for the region and a Community Cooperative for the neighbourhood. In this brochure we would like to introduce you to these forms of collaboration.