By Anette Marcher, AAU Kommunikation

After an extended process with input from faculties and departments, the University Board was informed last week on the themes of the four missions that AAU will launch over the next two years under the strategy 'Knowledge for the World II'. The first two missions, which will take further shape up through March, will deal with issues related to the well-being of children and young people, and green energy supply. Later, two more missions will follow dealing with the future healthcare system and sustainable life in the cities.

- Thus, we have chosen four themes – or areas – needing solutions that are crucial for our society. Our choice of these themes shows that AAU is a university that finds solutions to real problems in the wider world. With the missions, we are looking at the really big and will tackle major challenges with very broad societal relevance, says Thomas Bak, who as dean of the Technical Faculty of IT and Design is responsible for the strategy efforts on mission-oriented research at AAU.

The four themes of the missions were selected following a process where the faculty management teams and the departments worked throughout the autumn to identify themes that could form the basis for an AAU mission. The work resulted in a total of 16 mission proposals that were sent to the Strategic Council for Research and Innovation (the strategic council) on 14 October.

Twelve out of sixteen proposals incorporated

To narrow the field, the strategic council chose to merge some of the proposals so that 12 out of the 16 proposals received were incorporated into one of four missions. Each of the missions was then given a working title. The four working titles of the missions are:

• A sustainable energy system in Denmark by 2045
• Inclusiveness and wellbeing of children and young people
• Shaping the future health care system, using digital solutions
• Sustainable urban living

The titles and the next steps in the process were approved by the Executive Management on 30 November, and the University Board was informed on 15 December.

Working groups to flesh things out

While the latter two missions will not be launched until later this year or in 2024, the work on specifying the content of the missions on green energy and the well-being of children and young people is already in proces. A working group has been set up for each mission, and in January and February they will define the domain of the mission, describe realistic results and effects of the mission, and prepare a tentative plan for how the mission will be carried out.

The working groups will identify which AAU research environments will be involved in the mission, which challenges they will work together to solve and with which partners.

The two working groups consist of the following members:

A sustainable energy system in Denmark by 2045

• Henrik Lund, Department of Planning (head of the working group)
• Torben Bach Pedersen, Department of Computer Science
• Lasse Rosendahl, Department of Energy
• Per Kvols Heiselberg, Department of the Built Environment
• Anders Horsbøl, Department of Communication and Psychology
• Lill Rastad Bjørst, Department of Culture and Learning

Inclusiveness and well-being of children and young people

• Maria Appel Nissen, Department of Sociology and Social Work (head of the working group)
• Signe Agergaard, Department of Health Science and Technology
• Henrik Bøggild, Department of Health Science and Technology
• Stine Grangaard, Department of the Built Environment
• Thomas Szulevicz, Department of Communication and Psychology
• Dorte Hammershøi, Department of Electronic Systems
• Stefania Serafin, Department of Architecture, Design and Media Technology

The two working groups will present their work at a meeting of the Strategic Council for Research and Innovation on 9 February after which the missions will be presented to the University Board for final approval on 1 March.

More communication

Dean Thomas Bak is very pleased with the process for selecting the mission themes.

- The ambition to be a mission-oriented university is a major investment in our strategy. I’m delighted that so many people have been involved and offered ideas and suggestions for what the missions should be about, says Thomas Bak.

He adds:

- But I'm also aware that many are still unsure of what the mission mindset entails and what it might mean for them. So in the coming weeks and months, there will be noticeably more talk and communication about the missions and the aspects of the strategy they address.