Students as change agents for societal challenges –

An experimental IPE design across nations

Abstract

In 2025, the Centre for Interprofessional Workplace Learning (TVEPS) co-designed a Blended Intensive Programme (BIP) with partners from Denmark, Sweden, and Norway as part of a NordPlus project. The aim was for students from different disciplines and countries to become agents of change for grand societal challenges through collaboration on wicked problems in a workshop with representatives from municipalities and educational institutions. Exploring real-life wicked problems without straightforward solutions can enable students, municipalities, and scientific staff to create social, environmental, and economic value and to contribute to the fulfilment of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, including the provision of ethical and responsible healthcare services. The workshop comprised two parts: an online week and a one-week on-site challenge workshop at Chalmers University of Technology. Stockholm, Sweden. The students were introduced to grand societal challenges from the municipalities of Øygarden (Norway), Kolding (Denmark), and Aarhus (Denmark). Their task was to explore wicked problems in interprofessional teams comprising students from health, social care, engineering, design, and entrepreneurship disciplines, using an innovation process to identify sustainable opportunities and hypotheses that could later be investigated, developed, and implemented in collaboration with the municipalities. During the challenge workshop, the student teams engaged in close dialogue with municipal representatives, experts in municipal economics, and facilitators from the educational institutions. Educational institutions derived significant benefits from the interprofessional, cross-sectoral, Nordic teaching format. Students gained valuable insight through reflection and close collaboration, developing innovative perspectives, potential opportunities, and hypotheses related to the societal challenges presented. These can be further developed and implemented to benefit the participating municipalities, whose representatives received input of potentially high societal value.