The kick-off meeting was attended by 14 participants representing all six partner institutions. Several participants also contributed to a concert as part of the Rauland International Winter Festival, which was held at USN Campus Rauland from February 14–19.

The objectives of the kick-off meeting were to discuss each partner’s traditional music curriculum in greater depth, to produce a first draft of the joint module learning outcomes and course plan, and to plan the first “test semester” of the joint module, which will take place from March to June, 2022. The project’s budget, management, and dissemination plans were also discussed.

In addition, representatives from the Norwegian National Agency, HK-dir (the Norwegian Directorate for Higher Education and Skills) gave a short virtual presentation, in which they encouraged the project consortium to reflect on strategies for inclusion and diversity, in addition to the project’s main priorities. On Thursday afternoon the meeting consortium also joined a hybrid consultation convened by organizers of the FolkMusEd conference to discuss the possible formation of an AEC Platform for Folk, Traditional and World Music. 

Although the project partners have been meeting virtually for over one year, the kick-off meeting was the first opportunity for the partners to meet in person. The opportunity to gather in person at the TUNE kick-off meeting provided a productive starting point for developing the joint module, and the setting of the Rauland International Winter Festival also provided important context for the traditional music genres the partners will be exchanging until 2024.