Research conducted by Universities of Applied Sciences (UASs) is frequently driven by professional practice where researchers are challenged with finding solutions to real-life problems. These real-life solutions are significantly enhanced by the participation of stakeholders. Through this inclusion and the resulting interactions, activities, and…

National policies on school digitalisation take shape in their local contexts. Consequently, to understand the outcome of national policy, the local translations must be set within a contextual perspective. This article explores how four contextually different municipalities in Sweden translate national school digitalisation policy. It draws on a…

The concept of a learning city has existed since the Faure et al. (1972) report proclaimed that lifelong learning was the path to a global learning society where all humans could achieve their best selves and by extension all countries their highest purpose. The rationale for learning cities is built on a belief that "lifelong learning lays…

Tiny though it is, The Hague's Chinatown is clearly presented as such, with Chinese lanterns, municipal street signage in Chinese characters, and sayings in Classical Chinese lining the streets. Doing fieldwork in the area, however, has shown that it proves to be less Chinese than its visual representation suggests. Few Chinese still inhabit the…

Purpose: This article aims to assess constraints on and facilitators of youth participation in rural border regions. Knowledge about regional participation of young people is useful for developing territorialised policies. Methodology: Using a mixed method approach designed in line with theories of civic and political participation and youth…

This paper feeds into scholarly interest on place-based creative industrial development. It considers the creative-led economic development of two UK cities, Dundee and Chatham as emerging through a series of interdependent relationships between locally based higher education institutions (HEIs) and cultural and creative industries (CCIs) that are…

Based on arguments about the need for greater individual freedom, school choice was introduced in Sweden in the 1990s. Swedish municipalities now set up local school choice systems, whose organization varies between municipalities. This study is based on interviews with three politicians and two civil servants from two average-sized municipalities…

This essay analyzes the rhetorical framing tactics of a group of disability activists to understand how they use key words, topic shifts, and other framing maneuvers to amplify marginalized voices in public debates. Focusing on a town hall meeting and a legislator update meeting between activists and lawmakers, the author uses "stasis"…

Purpose: This study aims to explore barriers and facilitators for knowledge transfer and learning processes by examining a cross-departmental collaborative project in the municipal organization. It is based on a R&D collaboration between University West and a Swedish municipality. Design/methodology/approach: To explore the barriers and…

This study aims to explore the practice for leading the expansion of the access to and application of digital technologies in K-12 education at the municipality level. Participant observations were used to collect the data in a network with three Swedish municipalities. The study drew on the theory of practice architecture as an analytical tool to…

Purpose: In collaboration with their home cities, universities increasingly develop courses in which students investigate urban sustainability challenges. This paper aims to understand how far-reaching the collaboration with urban stakeholders in these courses is and what students are meant to learn from the transdisciplinary pedagogies.…

Privatisation of public education is becoming more and more common across the world. As much current research presupposes causal links between the degree of privatisation and issues of competition and student's free choice, we see a need for research on other ways of organising the presence of private providers in public education. In this…

After the Mexican Revolution (1910-1920), the Mexican government sought to establish a series of frontier schools along the United States-Mexico border in an attempt to keep what officials believed were its most economically valuable citizens from migrating to the United States in search of improved economic and educational opportunities. This…

The purpose of this project is to establish a healthy community through conflict resolution in small communities through the relationship-oriented dialogue education. This project was designed as a practical program that serves as a guide for effectively coping with conflicts within small communities and was conducted over a period of 12 weeks…

The aim of this article is to explore how Swedish principals experienced the decentralisation and re-centralisation reforms and how they affected principals' autonomy and decision-making capacity. Data were obtained from three surveys of Swedish principals, carried out in 2005, 2012 and 2019. The results show that principals experienced a high…