The Knowledge Network travelled to the countryside last week and took part in a local development conference in Vik, Mýrdal. The theme of the conference was "„Education without location?“and the presentations were related to it in one way or another. Among the things that particularly interested the staff of ÞÞ was the discussion about the role of FabLab workshops in training and skills that benefit the business community and create a more competitive society. There, Frosti Gíslason, project manager for FabLab Iceland, described how users of the Fab Lab workshops are being trained for the jobs of the future, which require, among other things, analytical skills, resilience, and flexibility, along with creative, solution-oriented and critical thinking. FabLab Húsavík will be one of nine FabLabs in the country when it opens around the turn of the year.
Many other interesting presentations were on the programme, such as”The grassroots and artificial intelligence: Can educational and cultural institutions propel rural areas into the future?”where economist Vífill Karlsson discussed, among other things, whether people's education has an effect on their willingness to move from the country's rural areas.
Thoroddur Bjarnason, Professor of Sociology, also delivered a talk on the relationship between education and migration in Iceland, entitled "”Are we educating our children away or keeping them at home?”and Anna Guðrún Edvardsdóttir discussed The role and function of knowledge centres in community development.
A recording of the conference will be available on the website of the Development Agency shortly, along with the speakers' slides.