The Agder delegation at the Austin City Hall Thursday morning.

A delegation from Agder, including industry, government and academia representatives, is visiting Austin this week.

37 people, including Kristiansand Mayor Harald Furre, Mandal Mayor Alf Erik Andersen, Vest-Agder County Deputy Mayor Tore Askildsen and CEO Anne-Grete Ellingsen of GCE NODE, met with Austin Mayor Steve Adler, The University of Texas at Austin and Capital Factory – Austin’s center of gravity for entrepreneurship – Thursday.

The purpose is to learn how the fastest growing city in the US promotes innovation and entrepreneurship.

The Austin visit concludes Saturday, when most participants continue on to Houston for the world’s largest oil and gas expo, OTC, which starts Monday.