Free Norway of Plastic: Co-developing local solutions for a global problem

How many things in our daily lives do not contain plastic? A metal spoon, a ceramic coffee mug, what else? Nearly everything that we use daily can be made of plastic or contains plastic in one way or another. Can you imagine life without plastics or where plastics are handled more responsibly?

Marine litter, including foreign bottles & cans along Norway’s Arctic coastline outside Tromsø. Source: Bo Eide under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Introduction

Since the introduction of plastics in industry and private households during the 1950s, its image has changed significantly from a jack-of-all-trades to a problem child. Plastic, a “fantastic” material, is making our lives easier. However, the fact that plastic is durable, useful, and versatile has its downsides: polluted ecosystems including beaches and oceans; animals die because of plastics, and it is also dangerous for our health. 

In this course, we will provide insights from environmental psychology (value theory) and future thinking in relation to the project work. Thus, every team will work on applying this knowledge on envisioning alternative plastic-free futures in Trondheim based on their disciplines and skills. 

Relevant competency 

Students from all disciplines are welcome. Creative thinking, collaboration, proactiveness, and some degree of independence are key skills for in this EiT village. Students should be interested in moving on from problem focus toward envisioning solutions and exploring opportunities on how to tackle plastic pollution through collaboration with other disciplines. Bring your curiosity and your expertise we need all diverse perspectives. Context-specific knowledge and theory will be provided in the course.

Learning environment and assessment

All lectures, presentations, and team discussions will be held in English and “in person”.

In this village, the final work consists of an oral presentation of the project and a written process report, which count for 50% each. All EiT villages have the same assessment criteria, which can be found in the document "Formal framework in Experts in Teamwork - a guide for students and teaching staff".

To get inspiration from the structure perspective, project posters from previous EiT courses can be found here: EiT-posters under “Free Norway of Plastic 2023 and 2024”. However, this year the project task will be different. 
 

Attendance

IMPORTANT! First day, second day, and a presentation day are REQUIRED to attend for this course. Specifically, during first and second days (from 9:00 to 15:30) the group formation and team cooperation agreements will take place, therefore if one or two members of a group is missing it would be unfair to the rest of the group to fulfil these tasks. Please be mindful of that and book your travel tickets accordingly, there won’t be any exceptions. If one of these days or parts of these days is missed, we will advise to deregister for another village.

Additionally, please also be mindful of when you register for a Norwegian course, so it does not overlap with the EiT village. This EiT is an intensive village, and it will require daily and full workday commitment to the group work, so be conscious of the workload. With that said, we will offer open air breaks, and a lunch break daily (potentially some snacks, tea, and coffee), so it will not be as tiring.

Based on previous years, these measures are taken in order to protect and be fair with all students and to ensure equal and fair contribution from all group members based on each group’s agreed expectations.

How do I register for EiT?