Learning outcome

After successfully completing the course, the candidate will have achieved the following learning outcomes defined in terms of knowledge, skills and general competence.

Knowledge

The candidate has:

• Knowledge of product and service development, business development and establishing processes for cultural enterprises
• Legislation and regulations for establishing and winding-up enterprises, including contracts and understanding of intellectual property rights
• Good knowledge of creative processes, innovation and entrepreneurship for the development of cultural enterprises
• Knowledge of cultural entrepreneurship and regional development
• Thorough knowledge of cultural and social entrepreneurship; the social and environmental responsibilities of businesses, and ethical issues
  

Skills

The candidate:

• Has skills in developing a business plan as a dynamic document
• Has experience in developing, operating and winding-up business enterprises / cultural products and services
• Has knowledge of the daily operations of enterprises; different business roles; including board activities
• Can reflect upon and relate to ethical and environmental issues
• Can master establishing contact with mentors and partners in the public and / or private sectors (customers, suppliers, competitors, etc.) and be able to work with them to optimise the operation of a student enterprise
  

General competence

The candidate has:

• Skills in managing changes

Course Description

This course aims to provide students on the study programme in cultural management with practical experience of running a business. Over the course of a year, students will set up, manage and close down a cultural enterprise. The course allows students to test a business concept within a secure framework. A ‘student enterprise’ may be registered as such in the Brønnøysund Register, provided that at least two students are participating in the establishment of the business.

Students learn about the processes involved in establishing, managing and winding up a cultural enterprise, with a particular focus on innovative and entrepreneurial skills relevant to the cultural sector. Business development and the preparation of business plans are key components of the course. The course provides a basic introduction into creativity in the context of cultural entrepreneurship, and emphasizes, in particular, the relationships between creativity, entrepreneurship and regional development. Cultural entrepreneurship is examined closely from two perspectives: that of the entrepreneur, and that of regional development. The entrepreneur will tend to focus on the establishment of working environments in the cultural sector, with the entrepreneur’s creative and aesthetic expression enabling him or her to engage in income-generating work and various types of self-employment (based on music, art, cultural heritage, and curatorial activities in a broad sense). From a regional development perspective, cultural entrepreneurship is viewed as a social phenomenon, with different regions and locations providing particular and differing preconditions for creative and cultural entrepreneurship.

Students participate in regional and theme-oriented meetings, trade fairs and competitions. Working conditions are governed by the ‘Young Entrepreneurs’ guidelines for student enterprises.

The course continues into the final semester, when any student who has taken this course must base his or her Bachelor’s thesis on field work conducted while running his or her own student enterprise. The thesis must cover the processes involved in the establishment, running and winding-up of the business. Note that each student’s performance on this course is evaluated separately from, and in addition to, his or her thesis.

Teaching and Learning Methods

Lectures, seminars, group work, and mandatory meetings and submissions. Students choosing this course must choose a BA thesis based on their own student enterprise in the sixth semester (see course description) with internal supervisor for the BA thesis and external mentoring for the cultural enterprise.

Assessment Methods

The course includes mandatory coursework. Final assessment comprises portfolio assessment based on two papers, the first submitted in mid-term, which counts 40 %; and the second at the end of the course, which counts 60 % of final grade. The course teacher will provide information regarding the content of the portfolio.

Minor adjustments may occur during the academic year, subject to the decision of the Dean