There is something about meeting the people that you see every day in a different setting. We went to Lillesand for our department seminar with the department og Global Development and Planning at UiA. The focus on day one was on research groups, how they currently are, and what they can (and should?) be.
It was interesting to reflect on something together, that I do not think about as much. I have to say I really enjoy the research groups where we can meet up, discuss, and not necessarily have a planned agenda or the goal of producing something together. I appreciate the moments of sharing thoughts and ideas without feeling the need for it to become something. Not a project, not a book, not an application. Just shared academic thinking.
In a time where everything “needs” to be efficient, productive and documented, how can we create spaces for “just” thinking together? If the focus is always on producing, I worry that we get stuck. My greatest ideas are often the “result” of not trying to get a result. So if we do not create those spaces, what will happen?