The Bridge – strategic cooperation with IKEA
– This project has been completed –
Between 2009 and 2020, Linnaeus University and IKEA successfully collaborated in a strategic partnership called The Bridge. In 2020, the collaboration was transformed into a new form that now also includes Södra. The name remains the same, but the partnership now has a broader focus on forestry, innovation and sustainability. This collaboration represents a strategic investment in research and education and extends over ten years.
Below is a brief overview of the former project, which concluded in 2020.
Here is the page for the new collaboration in The Bridge.
This project was completed in 2020
The Bridge is a multidisciplinary research and education collaboration between Linnaeus University and IKEA. The programme concerns Life at Home and the various aspects of the production process. The goal is to create a better everyday life at home for the many people.
The Bridge is a programme for entrepreneurship, innovation, and production. The aim is to create an international meeting-place for research and education related to the subject of Life at Home.
Research
There are numerous issues connected to the concept Life at home. What does our home mean to us? What do our homes look like? How can we produce good furniture that most people can afford? What materials should we use?
Three different fields of subject at Linnaeus University are involved in The Bridge: business administration, engineering, and design. The project will bring with it a new, flexible way of working with collaboration between different disciplines at the university.
Business for a Better Life@Home
With in the group Business for a Better Life@Home we study how daily life changes and in what way this can be linked to innovation on the market, how innovation processes and production processes are changed as a consequence, and what consequences this have for society and business methods.
More and more innovation takes place on the market where we can actually participate. It is connected to our daily life, which we as consumers participate in as users and as ordinary citizens.
How we view product development has changed. What used to be a chair is now a combination of different parts, as a result of various processes – there has also been a change to the business part. Within business administration we look at, for instance, business models. That is to say, in what ways one can organise the entire production system, and how to get consumers and customers involved in these processes.
Design for a Better Life@Home
We need lots of new, innovative solutions in order to deal with the challenges we face. The Bridge brings the academic world, the entrepreneur and the factory floor together. A bridge to understanding and development, that results in learning and the development of new products.
Design helps to create added value and meaning, Good design involves showing respect for the function, production, environment, and aesthetic appearance. Improved function through a well thought-through design, knowledge about the conditions of production and the possibilities of the material.
Technology for a Better Life@Home
IKEA uses great quantities of forest raw material in its furniture production. In our research we try to find innovative solutions, based efficient utilisation of the natural resource forest. This in order to develop sustainable wood products that people can afford.
Education
Master programme
A programme with an interdisciplinary perspective, combining engineering, business administration, and design. By working together with other students and learning form their competence you increase your ability to run various innovation projects. The programme is given with three different specialisations: