Transforming the 'Third Mission' in Norwegian Higher Education Institutions: A Boundary Object Theory Approach

Higher education institutions (HEIs) in Norway have been subjected to several reforms in recent decades. There are transformed relationships between institutions and their environment, and higher educations' third mission is emphasized. To improve our understanding of HEIs' third mission, this paper employs boundary object theory, enabling us to see how shifting projects are shaped and negotiated within these institutions. The paper concludes with a discussion of five main projects that are evident in third-mission presentations: the entrepreneurial project, the local and regional involvement project, the mode 2 project, the popular-science project, and the reputation project.