KOLS2 - Competence Development for Organizing and Leading a Digitalized and Sustainable Society

The industry’s transition to more sustainable production is happening at a rapid pace, while digitalization and the fast development of artificial intelligence are intensifying. This accentuates the need for continuous learning to meet both current and future demands, and soft skills are taking on a greater role in increasingly high-tech companies. Competencies in developing, organizing, and leading operations in a changing society, with a particular focus on digitalization and sustainability, play a crucial role in securing the skills supply for the business sector.

The implementation of the project is based on Work-Integrated Learning (WIL) as both a philosophy for knowledge development and a pedagogical method. As a philosophical approach, WIL means that advanced knowledge is created in many parts of society and that collaboration between academia and industry is essential to address complex societal and industry-related challenges. It is through co-creation between the parties that the learning process and knowledge deepen, and new knowledge is developed. In this project, courses are tailored—meaning that the project, together with companies in the Västra Götaland region, identifies competence development needs and co-produces courses. Furthermore, with WIL as a pedagogical method where the student’s learning is connected to working life, conditions are created to focus on real challenges and thereby build expertise on how these challenges can be addressed and managed in different types of industrial companies.

The target group for the project’s educational initiatives is professionals and includes both staff and managers at various levels working in management, development, and change processes who want to strengthen their competence and thereby contribute to the development of their own organization.