A new partnership… that goes way back!

Wednesday 09/09-26 , we welcomed a new partner into the family by signing an official partnership agreement with Roskilde University (RUC). A partner that feels both new and very familiar.

Because while this partnership is new, our history with RUC goes way back. A little more than two decades, actually, to when Open was founded by a group of RUC students with an idea and a newly found expertise in collaboration and problem-solving. 

Throughout the years, we’ve worked closely with students, researchers and the university community, and seen first-hand what can happen when knowledge and practice meet. 

What has always inspired us about RUC is not only what people learn there, but how they learn. 

Group work. Project-based learning. Collaboration across disciplines. Being given a challenge and having to work out what to do with it. In other words, being able to start with a blank page. 

So why is this important? 

Because of our shared history, there are plenty of parallels between how RUC works and how we work at Open. 

In consulting, our clients don’t always come to us with a clearly defined problem and a ready-made brief. Often, we’re brought in because the answer isn’t obvious yet. 

We need to understand what’s happening, ask the right questions, bring different perspectives together and work collaboratively to create something that makes sense for that particular organisation. 

That requires people who are comfortable not being told exactly what to do. It also requires people who can work with those who represent disciplines other than their own. And we see a lot of those people come out of RUC. 

Human collaboration is becoming more important than ever 

Today, technology is taking on more and more of the processes and tasks that can easily be automated, and that will only increase. 

So, it’s a different skill set that’s becoming increasingly valuable. 

• Can you look at something that doesn’t have an obvious answer and work out where to begin? 

• Can you collaborate with someone who thinks very differently from you? 

• Can you connect ideas from different disciplines? 

• Can you challenge what’s already there and come up with something original? 

• Can you turn an idea into something that actually works for people? 

We believe these capabilities are going to become even more important as technology changes how organisations work, learn and create value. 

And that’s one of the reasons this partnership feels particularly relevant now. 

Bringing knowledge and practice closer together 

The partnership gives us the opportunity to strengthen the connection between Open and RUC in practical ways. 

That includes student projects, internships and thesis collaborations, guest lectures and contributions to teaching, research collaboration where relevant, and opportunities to bring practical perspectives on leadership, communication and AI into education. 

It also gives us the opportunity to contribute to conversations about the skills and capabilities future graduates will need. 

But this isn’t intended to be a one-way exchange. We want to learn too. 

Students and researchers bring fresh thinking, different perspectives and questions that those of us who have been working in an industry for years may no longer think to ask. 

That’s when it becomes interesting. 

When theory meets practice. When different disciplines meet. And when people with different experiences get around the same table and start with a blank page. 

We’re excited to see where the partnership takes us and grateful to everyone at RUC who has helped develop the collaboration over the years. 

Sometimes, the most meaningful partnerships are the ones that bring you back to your roots, while giving you somewhere new to go.