7. Sketches, concepts and solutions

PRINCIPLE 5:

An inclusive innovation district

A district that embraces the whole population

• The area should be inviting and actively stimulate diversity based on innovative social and environmental sustainability.

• Collaboration with schools and arenas for inclusive working life and lifelong learning will create a diverse and vibrant innovation district for all inhabitants of the city as well as the whole country.

• Kindergartens, schools and social meeting places, together with an active cultural, sports and organizational environment will create an inclusive and dynamic urban district.
  

Oslo Science City should team up with the rest of the city, being open, accessible, generous and inclusive to all. A successful innovation district provides services involving children, young people, the elderly and people with a background from other cultures. Strong links between the various neighbourhoods in the innovation district make it pleasant, easy and intuitive to move around. Regardless of where you live and stay in Oslo Science City, there will be a clear experience of being part of an open and inviting innovation district with opportunities for all.

SCHOOLS AND LIFE-LONG LEARNING

Through close cooperation with schools in Oslo, pupils are inspired to learn, raising the interest for innovation-oriented work. Collaboration with upper secondary schools will motivate and increase interest for higher education and science. Oslo Science City should also play a key role when it comes to further education, providing specialist qualifications. Life-long learning is becoming ever more important for the Norwegian workforce. Universities, R&D-institutes and enterprises will gradually obtain a more important role in this learning effort. The urban fabric must promote innovative social and environmental sustainability.

TESTING ARENA FOR SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

The district functions as a living and experimental arena for innovation. Here, it is possible to test different ways of organizing and designing social functions and public services. Oslo Science City should be a living lab for societal innovation where public sector agencies like the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration, the primary healthcare service, the education sector, Innovation Norway, the Norwegian Environment Agency and a number of others can test out new solutions. In other words, the innovation district is to be a real-time learning arena for researchers, the public sector, the businesses, education and the local population. The major changes we are facing as a society should be knowledge-driven. It is crucial that the population trusts the knowledge communities, setting the premises for the development of society. This concerns us all. Therefore, Oslo Science City should develop an open, inclusive and inviting innovation district. Here, you can meet school classes that participate in research projects, employees on their way to get further qualifications, elderly who join important debates on social issues. Also, you find residents, students, entrepreneurs and researchers using one of the many social meeting places in the area.

Neighbourhoods with their own identity

Identity through scale

Oslo Science City consists of several neighbourhoods. Each neighbourhood has its own network of local communities, which in turn consist of several clusters of personal relationships. To build a strong feeling of identity and trust through meetings and collaboration, we need to establish community infrastructure on all levels, from the local micro network of physical neighbours and work colleagues to the local network of formal and informal activities and gatherings. The goal is to create a sense of pride and a feeling of ownership in organizations and businesses.