Den digitala bron Erasmus Project

Project Title

Den digitala bron

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for vocational education and training

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2015

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: ICT – new technologies – digital competences; Entrepreneurial learning – entrepreneurship education; New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses

Project Summary

The Digital Bridge is a Nordic digital platform for competence in digital imaging and entrepreneurship. The project offers online tuition in digital imaging, ranging from basic to very advanced levels, as well as in entrepreneurial growth. The target groups for The Digital Bridge include education programs and students of photography and digital imaging, as well as professionals in the field of imagery and visual communication.

Communication in today’s society is increasingly based on imagery, which makes the need for extended competency in this field essential. The complex realities and stories being told through visual communication require high quality regarding content, communicability and technical execution as the image in itself becomes a bearer of news, marketing and entertainment.
We are facing major changes in the modern media landscape. Digitalization has transferred a large part of media consumption from paper newspapers and television to the internet and smartphones. Ad revenue is more widely distributed among different kinds of media and media companies are digitally transforming their operations to a greater extent. This offers challenges when it comes to maintaining high quality, visually and technically. Artistic talent is no longer sufficient, as one must also possess profound technical expertise, for example in editing and post-processing. At the same time, the communications industry is facing a deep crisis and many media companies are being forced to cut back. Newspapers are letting entire staffs of photographers go and venerable media companies are being shut down or merged. The labor market within visual communication is no longer what it used to be and the number of permanent jobs is rapidly decreasing. The need for imagery and visual communication, however, is not in decline. Therefore, professionals in this field need new tools and skills to be able to navigate in a labor market where they must create their own jobs.

There has long been a need for a digital platform, aimed at Nordic students and professionals within the field of visual communication, gathering expertise in working business models specific to the industry, as well as advanced technical knowledge in digital imaging and post-processing. This is why Finnish Novia University of Applied Sciences, Swedish Folkuniversitetet – Fotoskolan STHLM and Danish Media College Denmark – Mediaskolerne initiated a joint strategic partnership project called “The Digital Bridge – Cooperation in a Changing Media Landscape”, which was carried through 2015-2018.

The participating organizations all offer higher vocational training programs in the photographic field and are nation leading in their respective countries. Together, they offer a wide range of specializations, from culture and entrepreneurship, to advanced technical training in photography as well as advanced courses in digital imaging and post-processing. Additionally, Folkuniversitetet runs not one, but two programs within the photographic field: one towards photography and one towards digital imaging and post-processing specialization. All the programs apply the Nordic countries as a base for student admissions and are well known and well connected in the photographic industry and labor market.
The overall aim of the project has been to build long-term business structures for a digitally based center of excellence in visual communication, particularly specializing in business modeling and technical expertise.

The objectives of the project were to:
− Develop and implement a long-term and viable business model for a digital platform in visual communication.
− Create a virtual environment for development where both student and professionals are able to strengthen their technical and entrepreneurial skills.
− Further develop the currently existing networks for training programs, businesses and other actors in the visual communication and media industries.
− Pick up and strengthen the potential for innovation in visual communication. This could involve new types of business models, partnerships, products or services.

The target group of the project consists of both students and professionals in visual communication, as it is their future that is at stake. For obvious reasons, teachers and other staff actively involved in developing and working with the digital platform make up another important target group.

“The Digital Bridge – cooperation in a changing media landscape” – has utilized Swedish (Scandinavian) as its working language and the material produced during the course of the project has been developed from a Nordic perspective. However, we have chosen to translate some parts of the film material and certain sections of text into English, in order to show the possibilities and potentials of such a project in a wider European context. A digital platform completely in English would open up possibilities for use and development in all of Europe and, indeed, worldwide.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 311100 Eur

Project Coordinator

Folkuniversitetet Stiftelsen Kursverksamheten vid Stockholms universitet & Country: SE

Project Partners

• Media College Denmark
• AB YRKESHOGSKOLAN VID ABO AKADEMI