Studying in
Joensuu, Finland
» STUDENT EXPERIENCES
Welcome to Karelia University of Applied Sciences
KARELIA UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES NEWSLETTER INTERNATIONAL EDITION | 2014
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» EDITORIAL
BECOMING THE MOST COMPETENT NATION IN THE WORLD
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he national strategy of Finland is based on the vision of a highly proficient society. The aim is that Finland would become the most competent nation in the world by 2020. Besides children’s and young people’s education, enhancing the level of competence in the adult population is a key matter in becoming one of the top countries in global competence. This is also indicated by the latest PIAAC Survey on Adult Skills, conducted in 24 countries and published by OECD in October 2013. The study examines the basic skills adults need in different walks of life and how to apply these skills at work and in everyday life. The literary, numeracy and computer-aided problem solving skills, in particular, of people aged 16-64 were investigated. As with Finnish children, the adult population fares well in international surveys. One of our strengths in the survey included good literacy and reading comprehension skills, also with more in-depth content. In contrast, the mathematics skills of the adult population were only on an average level, and the computer skills of people over the age of 45 proved to be inadequate. Thus, there are still plenty of challenges to overcome. Life-long learning and adult education are part of the educational policy solutions that are applied in the process of developing the competence of the Finnish adult population. According to the PIAAC survey, more than half of the Finnish adult population had taken part in adult education in 2012; this is a higher proportion than in any of the other countries surveyed. It is a typical feature of Finnish adult education that one’s own interests direct the choice of education in addition to developing one’s own profession and
skills needed at work. Thus, Finnish adult education is not only an activity enhancing one’s own work performance and career, but it is also lifelong learning that feeds people’s own curiosity and improves their quality of life. Finns not only appreciate the opportunity to become educated, but they also rely on the quality of education and opportunities provided by it. It is typical of Finland that higher education institutions are considered trustworthy and the education and research provided by them are seen as reliable. A recently published Science Barometer 2013 survey examining the attitude of Finns towards science and scientific and technological progress indicates this tendency clearly and also reveals the exceptionally strong confidence of Finns in the quality and high level of education and research. Higher education institutions are seen as strong enablers of well-being, quality of life and development. Universities of applied sciences play an important role in this context. Petri Raivo, President
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Âť Draft - a new innovation paradigm in action
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KARELIA UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES NEWSLETTER INTERNATIONAL EDITION | 2014
» Internationalisation of regional companies
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» MULTIMEDIA BASED SERVICES VIA MOBILE DEVICES
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Editorial: Becoming the Most Competent Nation in the World
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Cross-continental partnerships - curiosity and great learning experiences
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Studying in Joensuu, Finland
Internationalisation of regional companies
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Students’ Winternational Games
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Welcome to Karelia University of Applied Sciences
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Story of the ELLAN project
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Internationalisation is a central strategic goal for Karelia University of Applied Sciences
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Precision Engineering
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European higher education cooperation - ETAP
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Multimedia based services via mobile devices
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Intensive courses - an integral part of international activities at Karelia UAS
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Student experiences: Huong Ngo and Isaac Adaam
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Draft - a new innovation paradigm in action
Expertise and Top Sector Competence with the help of RDI
Editorial-in-chief Petri Raivo, President | Sub-editors Anneli Airola, Senior Advisor, Katriina Korhonen, International Relations Coordinator and Eija Piiparinen, Communications Officer | Layout Salla Anttila, Graphic Designer | Photos Karelia UAS/archive, Salla Anttila | Photo of the front cover Salla Anttila | Translations Laura Väistö and Henri Romppanen | Publisher Karelia University of Applied Sciences, Tikkarinne 9, 80200 Joensuu | Contact information international@ karelia.fi, info@karelia.fi, www.karelia.fi | Circulation 1000 | ISSN 2323-8453 (Printed), ISSN 2323-8461 (Online Publication)
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Studying in Joensuu, Finland Joensuu is the student capital of eastern Finland, as the city hosts many higher education institutions. Here you can lead an active student life: due to the high number of students, the leisure time services and the lively culture in the city will not leave you cold even during the most freezing winter months.
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n order to keep the balance between studying and free time, the city offers creative opportunities for your leisure time. If you are into sports, you have plenty of sport clubs to choose from. The sports facilities vary from indoor swimming pools, skate ramps and climbing walls to football fields, ice skating rinks and ski slopes. Cultural activities include concerts from classical music to rock and jazz, fine art exhibitions, cinemas and dance performances. The student union POKA at Karelia UAS offers you many sports classes ranging from street basketball to yoga. If you are interested in unspoiled nature, our city and its surrounding area gives you plenty of opportunities to experience peaceful forests and dozens of lakes. Relaxing might include hiking, fishing and bird-watching.
FACTS AND FIGURES ABOUT FINLAND Population
5.4 million, 15.8 inhabitants per km²
Spoken languages
Finnish, Swedish, SamĂ (English widely spoken)
Form of government
Republic, parliamentary democracy
International cooperation
Member of the United Nations since 1955 and the European Union since 1995
GDP per capita
35,150 Euros (2011)
Currency unit
Euro
Capital
Helsinki (1.25 million inhabitants in metropolitan area)
Climate
Cold winters and fairly warm summers (2010 extremes: coldest day in Kuhmo -41.3 C/-42.3 F, warmest day in Joensuu 37.2 C/99.0 F)
Source: Statistics Finland
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Elephant football
STUDENTS’ WINTERNATIONAL GAMES TEXT Mervi Hinkkanen | PHOTOS Annika Sorjonen
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arelia’s international students have always been welcome to all events organised by the Student Union POKA and other student associations. One of these special annual outdoor events is Winternational Games, which date back to the year 2009. Because the international week took place in wintertime, it was natural to take people out to experience the Finnish snow and try funny sports such as Eukonkanto (Wife carrying), Resukapula and Mölkky (stick throwing games). The idea of Winternational Games was launched to get together both Finnish and international exchange and degree students. In cooperation with the Student Union POKA the first Winternational Games were carried out.
anto, k n o k u E pula Resuka ky lk and Mö nal io - tradit tdoor ou Finnish es? gam
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Snow shoe walking
Spending relaxed time together and participating in the events like this is fun for all students. Maybe you don’t seriously think that Eukonkanto really is as traditional as told but what about Resukapula or Mölkky? In the games students have the chance to try snow shoe walking and play Elephant football in mixed teams – an experience for someone coming from a country where snow is an unknown natural phenomenon. To make the event even more exciting, winners get good prizes – thanks to the sponsors of the event. Prize giving is one act at the After WG party, which has usually been thrown internationally themed like Cultural Costume Party in 2012 – students wore costumes typical of their nationalities. Winternational Games will be coming again soon and Student Union POKA will be pleased to organise the event and welcome Karelia’s students and international guests to spend a sporty day!
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an experience for someone coming from a country where snow is an unknown natural phenomenon.
Cultural costume party
ˆEukonkanto
MĂślkky
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Welcome to Karelia University of Applied Sciences! arelia University of Applied Sciences (Karelia UAS) is the easternmost university of applied sciences in Finland and the European Union. We operate in North Karelia, which is itself the easternmost province of Finland. Karelia UAS provides education as a part of the European and national system of higher education. Our institution provides an efficient highquality answer to the growing demand for an expert labour force. Our goal is to respond to the demands of modern working life with excellence and efficiency. With a total of 6 major fields of study to choose from, Karelia UAS offers education leading to a Bachelor’s degree in 16 degree programmes and a Master’s degree in 3. The Degree Programme in International Business is completely conducted in English. Innovative learning environments, quality teaching and active cooperation with surrounding enterprises ensure that our graduates’ competences better their career opportunities. Karelia UAS guarantees high quality education with a long, consistent and comprehensive tradition of quality assurance work (audited by FINHEEC in 2011). The student’s voice is heard with an extensive feedback system as well as active interaction between students and staff. Karelia UAS consists of four multi-field education and research centres.
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Centre for Bioeconomy » Energy and Environmental Engineering » Forestry » Renewable Energy (Master’s degree programme)
Centre for Business and Engineering » Building Service Technology » Business Economics » Business Information Technology » Construction Engineering » Information Technology » International Business (conducted in English) » Mechanical and Production Engineering » Technology Competence Management (Master’s degree programme)
Centre for Creative Industries » Media » Music » Tourism
Centre for Social Services and Health Care » Nursing » Physiotherapy » Public Health Nursing » Social Welfare Work » C ompetence in Ageing (Master’s degree programme) (starts in autumn 2015) » Management and Development in Social Welfare Work and Health Care (Master’s degree programme)
A central development target in the renewal has been to strengthen internationalisation.
Areas of focus » Competence in Ageing » Renewable Energy » Wood Construction » Russia Competence » Precision Engineering » Multimedia Services
STRONG REGIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL INFLUENCE
Karelia UAS offers education leading to a polytechnic degree for young and adult learners and takes actively part in regional development work and research and development activity. Down-to-earth cooperation extends from the region’s business life up to the active networks of international institutions of higher education and different organisations. As far as its impact on regional development is concerned, Karelia UAS is one of the best universities of applied sciences in Finland. We take actively part in the development of the region by carrying out different research and development operations. Internationality in its different forms is present in the everyday activities of Karelia UAS. The university of applied sciences offers a broad variety of possibilities for internationalisation for students, teachers and other staff members.
THE CURRICULA IN KARELIA UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES IS RENEWED IN 2013-2014 The curricula in Karelia University of Applied Sciences is renewed in 2013-2014. A central development target in the renewal has been to strengthen internationalisation. It is supported by language and communication studies, by increasing student exchange and the amount of courses instructed in English, and by integrating more international elements into the curriculum. Karelia UAS complies with the national recommendations concerning language and communication studies: the extent of the studies in English, Swedish and Finnish is at least five credits. The students are also offered preparatory language studies. Intercultural communication is taught in separate courses or integrated in, for example, foreign language studies. In order to develop student exchange and international elements in the curriculum, the amount of tutoring in English will be increased. The goal is that each degree programme can offer 30 credits in English. When planning the studies, special attention is paid to making the education supply suitable for our partner universities. Common study modules are planned with partner institutions, and more students are offered a possibility to take a double degree.
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INTER NATIONALI SATION is a central strategic goal for Karelia University of Applied Sciences The Ministry of Education and Culture of Finland set as the goal for the internationalisation strategy 2009-2015 that Finnish higher education institutions will be genuinely international study and work communities by 2015. The aim is that the higher education institutions offer high-quality tutoring in English language and are internationally attractive research environments. The amount of foreign lecturers, researchers and students should increase considerably. Karelia University of Applied Sciences offers the students many ways to develop their international competence during the studies. There are courses instructed in English in most degree programmes, and in Business it is even possible to take the whole degree in English. Karelia UAS participates in several exchange programmes (e.g. Erasmus+, North-SouthSouth, Nordplus, FIRST), and it has made several cooperation agreements with higher education institutions around the world. Karelia UAS has about 100 cooperation partners, some of which have been chosen as key partners.
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Karelia University of Applied Sciences offers the students many ways to develop their international competence during the studies.
ETAP
EUROPEAN HIGHER EDUCATION COOPERATION TEXT Pekka Sivonen
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TAP, i.e. European Taxation and Accounting in Practice, is an international network consisting of European higher education institutions cooperating in the teaching of financial administration. Karelia University of Applied Sciences and its predecessor, North Karelia University of Applied Sciences, has been involved in these activities already since 1996. Finland’s accession to the European Union in 1995 had a significant impact on the university of applied sciences initiating its active membership within this European higher education cooperation network. Some years earlier, the former Degree Programme in Financial Administration had already taken the first steps of international cooperation in its field of operation by visiting various educational institutions abroad and getting acquainted with a number of new colleagues, which led to an enthusiasm to do something new together. In the beginning, there were colleagues and institutions from France, Belgium, Russia and Greece involved in these activities. This was the beginning of the production of common English materials for students. It was rather soon after that we also wanted to provide the students from different countries with an opportunity to study together for a week. First, the contents of the week were related to the taxation and accounting practices in different countries. The number of students was approximately twenty and the students formed multicultural teams. The desired approach was established in a few years and new higher education institutions also joined the network, which resulted in an increasing number of both teachers and students getting involved. The topics of the intensive study week changed to cover consolidated financial statements and
taxation. In the early 2000s, more than ten institutions were engaged in the activities and the number of students participating each year ranged from 60 to 80. Direct EU funding was also applied for the operations and project funding was received for a few years. As a result, the duration of the intensive week was extended, but the two-week period turned out to be too long and difficult to carry out alongside with other educational activities. In recent years, the operations model of the network has been executed by arranging a planning meeting in autumn in some of the cooperating educational institutions and then the one-week intensive course in spring. The topic of the intensive week has changed to deal with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and accounting analysis. Students participating in the intensive week are provided with both oral and written assignments on the topic and besides studying, the students are introduced to the local area and the culture of the country they are visiting. Over the years, the participants have visited historic sites and natural attractions and got familiar with the art, food and beverage cultures of different countries. In addition, company visits have been arranged for the participants. The teachers involved in the activities of the network have experienced a lot together and actually, we already talk about the “ETAP family�. The feedback received from the students has been positive, which has inspired us to continue carrying out this valuable cooperation after all these years. At present, there are 22 teachers and 15 higher education institutions involved in annual activities. We had our recent planning meeting in Joensuu in September in 2013 and the next intensive week will be arranged in Brussels in March 2014.
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INTENSIVE COURSES MULTICULTURAL LEARNING Intensive courses aim at developing education and encourage tackling interdisciplinary topics. The courses bring together students and lecturers from different countries for two weeks, in most cases, to learn and work together in a multicultural atmosphere. Intensive courses provide a lowthreshold internationalisation opportunity to e.g. students who cannot find time for longer exchange periods. For the higher education institutions, successful collaboration in intensive courses often leads to other joint projects and development efforts. Intensive courses have been supported by several European and other programmes such as LLP/ Erasmus, Nordplus, FIRST and North-South-South. Each programme has its own characteristics and provides geographically complementary possibilities for higher education institutions.
Erasmus has been promoting European collaboration, Nordplus is meant for the Nordic and Baltic countries, FIRST for Finnish-Russian partnerships and NorthSouth-South provides opportunities for networks of higher education institutions in Finland and in developing countries. Karelia UAS has taken an active role in organising intensive courses as a means to provide an international quality learning experience to as many students as possible. In 2013-2014 Karelia was involved in seven Erasmus intensive programmes, in three of which as a coordinator. Moreover, Karelia students and staff participated in two North-SouthSouth intensive courses in Africa and a few more intensive courses implemented with merely the participating institutions’ own funding. TEXT Katriina Korhonen
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PRODUCT LIFE -CYCLE IN TWO WEEKS TEXT Jukka Tulonen
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n spring 2013, 24 students and five teachers from Belgium, Portugal and Finland attended a two-week intensive programme. The participants included students and teachers from the fields of mechanical engineering, marketing and financial management. The topic of the programme included producing two different types of bicycles: a three-wheel bicycle and a bicycle to be steered the wrong way. The aim was to design and make prototypes of these bikes. At the same time, the students were assigned to create a marketing plan for the bikes and calculate the costs of starting the production and running the production for the first few years. The students were also advised to present the entire product life cycle of the bikes from raw materials to disposal, considering the technical, economic and marketing aspects. The two different types of bikes had different challenges to overcome; the three-wheel bike was mechanically complex to implement and the bike to be steered the wrong way was “just impossible� to be marketed. The students were divided into groups that included students from different fields. The purpose was to make a mixture of both the different fields of study and the different nationalities, so that the students would need to teach each other and learn from each other. The students were provided with a few lectures to support the critical steps of the process, but otherwise, the instruction was based on working together in groups. During the programme, it became clear that there are different approaches and ways of working and thinking even within Europe. Thus, it was discovered that the desire to understand each other and expressing your thoughts to another person in an understandable way is an essential part of multicultural activities. Finally, the programme resulted in two impressive -looking bikes with realisable marketing and financial plans. Considering the two-week time the students had for implementing all this, the result was successful. When viewed from a distance, the finished products were suitable to be marketed and they were mechanically functional so that at least the smallest members of the groups could use them. This project will continue in Leiria, Portugal in spring 2014.
EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION IN MULTICULTURAL TEAMS TEXT Marjo Piironen
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he Language Services of Karelia University of Applied Sciences has been involved in the implementation of the Erasmus-funded intensive course ECMT: Effective Communication in Multicultural Teams. The aim of the two-week course is to prepare students for working in international teams in work-related contexts. The course introduces students with, for example, intercultural communication, project work and team work. In the course, students create a company concept in multicultural teams, which is presented at a fair at the end of the course. The first IP course was organised in 2012 in Roanne, France, and the second one in Salzburg, Austria in 2013 and the last one in Joensuu, Finland, in February 2014. - Although we studied and worked really hard for these two weeks, the most valuable outcome for me was to get to know these wonderful people and have the opportunity to work with them. Thank you, ECMT 2012 was an incredible experience, concludes Suvi Hakkarainen, a student from Karelia University of Applied Sciences.
Useful in Every Aspect
There is a variety of indicators to be used when measuring the results of educational activities. The results of an international intensive course organised by Language Services can be viewed at least from the two following points of view: 1st view: one hundred students, approximately twenty company projects, and almost 500 credits, or 2nd view: public speaking and presentation skills, multicultural competence, networks, friendships. And a bunch of other results and experiences you cannot even measure.
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CROSS-CONTINENTAL PARTNERSHIPS
– curiosity and great learning experiences! Karelia University of Applied Sciences has been developing partnerships to Canada through international projects for already six years. Canadians and Finns seem to be alike in several ways and it has been easy to find similar areas of interest and forms of cooperation. The latest European-Canadian project was a two-year EU-CAN BioPower project, which resulted in sustainable partnerships between all the organisations involved. TEXT Liisa Timonen
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WHAT IS BIOPOWER?
The BioPower project (3.9.2010-15.9.2013) enabled altogether 40 students and ten teachers from the participating partner institutions to conduct exchanges across the continents. The idea of the project was to promote sustainable development and increase competence in renewable energy through teacher and student mobility, curriculum development and a small scale joint research. The students could choose between studies and internships whereas teacher mobility was integrated into curriculum development and research. The BioPower project was funded by the European Commission and Canadian HRSDC. The total budget was approximately EUR 300,000 allocated between the partners following the mobility.
Slovakia
WHAT IS BIOPOWER NETWORK?
The BioPower network is a Canadian-Finnish-Slovakian combination of universities, universities of applied sciences and vocational schools. The network is diverse, bringing together three different levels of education. Karelia University of Applied Sciences was the European lead partner and Collège Communautaire du Nouveau-Brunswick (CCNB) the Canadian one. Other partner universities included Nipissing University (Canada) and Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra. The BioPower partners have formed an especially effective network with trustful, sustainable and future-oriented relationships. Furthermore, the partners are committed to the co-operation and the continuation is ensured by bilateral agreements between all of the institutions. Good practises in partnership development, co-operation, communication, building trust and commitment are examples to be applied in other fields and networks, too.
Slovak University of Agriculture
Finland Canada
Karelia UAS Nipissing
CCNB
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BIOPOWER FOR STUDENTS
BioPower offered some Canadian students an opportunity to explore European studies and regions, and vice versa. The exchange students participated in a study programme or completed internships in the region. Karelia UAS welcomed more than ten Canadian students during the two years, most of them conducting internships or a combination of studies and practical training. The students were all very pleased with their experiences. Some of them are aiming at an international career in the future, like Daniel. Daniel, student from CCNB, a trainee in SECRE project: “My thirst for adventure and the work experience in a different cultural setting motivated me to participate in the exchange internship in Joensuu, Finland. The fact that we had such an opportunity through our education at CCNB Bathurst was a great motivational aspect for me. I learned a lot in my work placement. Social entreprises passionnated me. My work colleagues were always ready to answer my questions. I also appreciated the time I spent after work hours.“ Daniel conducted his practical training in the SECRE project of Karelia UAS as a research assistant working with databases and compiling reports. The experiences gained in Finland inspired Daniel to seek for new international adventures after his graduation. Daniel graduated last summer and is working abroad now. Besides this, he is planning to come back to Finland one day for Master studies in renewable energy.
BIOPOWER AND THE FUTURE
The BioPower partnership which started in the field of renewable energy has expanded during the project and is now one of the institutional partnerships of Karelia UAS. Now the Canadian and European partners are planning a new project focusing on changes in economic structures and challenges and innovative solutions in rural areas in partner countries. Some of the focus areas at Karelia UAS will be integrated in depth to the development of future co-operation. Thus, the international network brings added value to regional development and working life partnerships in North Karelia.
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Karelia UAS welcomed more than ten Canadian students during the two years, most of them conducting internships or a combination of studies and practical training.
My thirst for adventure and the work experience in a different cultural setting motivated me to participate in the exchange internship in Joensuu, Finland.
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INTERNATIONALISATION
of regional companies Strengthening and development of regional cooperation has been one of the missions for universities of applied sciences since their inception. Both an interest and an obligation for universities of applied sciences is to be actively involved in regional development work in cooperation with other local organisations, companies and the third sector. Cooperation between universities of applied sciences and local businesses needs to be target-oriented.
TEXT Anneli Airola
PARTNERSHIP MODEL SUPPORTING COOPERATION
A partnership model has been developed at Karelia University of Applied Sciences for cooperation between Karelia UAS and business life. The partnership can be defined as an alliance between the organisations, the purpose of which is to strengthen the most important challenges for each organisation. Karelia UAS has three types of partners: strategic partners, key partners and operational partners. The first key partner companies were selected in 2011 among the companies Karelia UAS centres and degree programmes had been cooperating closely with for several years. The number of key partner companies was 55 in spring 2013. In spring 2013, Karelia UAS discovered the need for charting the state of internationalisation in partner companies as well as their needs for developing their international competence. In addition, cooperation in internationalisation-related affairs between Karelia UAS and its key partner companies was studied. The survey was conducted as an equestionnaire submitted to key partner companies (N=55)
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in March 2013. The response rate was 87%. In addition, 10 of the companies were interviewed in May and June 2013. This article describes the development of internationalisation cooperation between key business partners and Karelia UAS.
DEVELOPING INTERNATIONALISATION THROUGH COOPERATION
The economic globalisation has resulted in internationalisation becoming a part of the operations of almost all fields of industries. It is expected and requested that Finland deepens its internationalisation in the near future, since it is the lifeline for a small country such as Finland. According to the key partners of Karelia UAS, internationalisation is considered a significant issue. More than half of the responding companies are planning to expand their market coverage in the next three years. Internationalisation is also important for Finnish higher education institutions, including Karelia UAS. Universities of applied sciences should be high-quality, international, internationally competitive and, thus, attractive.
In this survey, cooperation between companies and the UAS is defined broadly, including e.g. students’ practical training periods, joint research projects, and business development projects. The aim of cooperation is to provide benefits for all parties involved: companies, the UAS, and students. The results of the survey show that the cooperation related to internationalisation between the key business partners and Karelia UAS is considered very meaningful. The majority of respondents considered the most important forms of internationalisation-related cooperation including students’ traineeships and personnel training. Moreover, more than half of the responding companies also saw the importance of students’ theses and project work conducted for the company, cooperation related to recruitment processes, traineeships conducted by international students, and organising company visits for the students. More than half of the respondents also considered it important that a representative from the company is a member of Karelia UAS cooperation teams, and emphasised the importance of the company participating in the planning of new UAS curricula and arranging work orientation placements for teachers. Students’ practical training periods have traditionally been a significant form of cooperation between Karelia UAS and local companies, since the training is an integral and compulsory part of the degree-awarding education at universities of applied sciences. Furthermore, recruiting an international trainee in a company can be seen as a means to promote the internationalisation of the company. For some of the companies, cooperation with Karelia UAS has become an important recruitment channel.
Karelia region, but e.g. educational organisations shall be involved in the work as well. Cooperation related to the development of curricula at universities of applied sciences is also an extremely important form of cooperation. The curricula compiled at universities of applied sciences define the specific, concrete aims of competence in each degree programme. The purpose of these learning outcomes is to describe what knowledge and understanding as well as skills and competence the students are encouraged to develop during their studies, and what kind of values and attitudes the studies should strengthen. Whether these objectives of the UAS education correspond with the changing needs of the business life and labour market requires a close dialogue with Karelia UAS and its business partners.
MUTUAL BENEFITS THROUGH COOPERATION
The new competence requirements are smoothly transferred into the everyday activities of both the UAS and the companies as a result of their close cooperation. In addition, cooperation enhances the development of competence of the staff both at the UAS and in companies. Practical implementation of cooperation affects the experiences students gain from working life and different fields of operation. Development of cooperation regarding internationalisation has a positive impact on the internationalisation of the entire North Karelia region.
INTERNATIONALISATION REQUIRES COMPETENCE
The development of international competence and skills in export activities of the personnel working in small and medium-sized companies is increasingly perceived as a critical success factor. Enhancement of the level of international business competence is a key factor for the international competitiveness of Finnish companies. The development of competitiveness and business operations in companies is based on skilled personnel. Thus, personnel training organised by Karelia UAS is considered an important form of cooperation. It is evident that regional companies cannot be solely responsible for the internationalisation of the North
The development of competitiveness and business operations in companies is based on skilled personnel.
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Expertise and Top Sector Competence with the help of
RDI Karelia University of Applied Sciences has been an active project participant during the last three EU programming periods. In the programming period of 2007-2013 the research, development and innovation (RDI) activities have been refined into expertise, especially in the chosen focus areas. The focus areas of Karelia UAS are Competence in Ageing, Multimedia Services, Wood Construction, Precision Engineering, Renewable Energy and Russia Competence. The RDI activities in Karelia UAS have been acknowledged for their high quality and innovation and for their special competence in the focus areas and new, innovative openings. In addition to the focus areas, Karelia UAS is a remarkable developer in many areas in the society: locally, nationally and also in international networks. With the help of RDI activities, Karelia UAS tackles the challenges of developing the subject fields and promotes the introduction of new methods and applications. The core competence of Karelia UAS,
experts and partnership networks are utilised in the activities. Also the students of Karelia UAS are closely involved in RDI activities in the form of practices, commissions or theses, for example. The RDI activities have resulted in new competences and in a new kind of expertise that combines knowledge from different areas, and it has also met the developmental needs of companies and local actors and contributed to creation of new enterprises. As a new EU programming period is starting, Karelia UAS continues together with its international partners to emphasise high-quality RDI activities that are closely related to working life. TEXT Anne Ilvonen
tion informa r e h t r AS u F Karelia U in I D R t abou
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arelia www.k
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STORY OF THE ELLAN PROJECT TEXT Ritva Väistö
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n Karelia University of Applied Sciences, international activities include for example international projects, in which we can develop for example education and curricula and act as a member in international networks. Centre for Social and Health Care has been rather active in international research. In addition to successful projects with European partners, we are now working with capacitybuilding projects with African partners. The project work in international networks is demanding but at the same time very interesting. This is a story about a very large project called ELLAN, European later life active network. For ELLAN, we had to work many years to get the EU-funding. The story began actually in 2011 when Karelia UAS (then North Karelia University of Applied Sciences) arranged an international Ageing Seminar in Koli. In the Koli Seminar there were participants from Liverpool John Moores University, 5 Boroughs Partnership NHS Foundation Trust from Liverpool and people from Savonia UAS and Karelia UAS. As it turned out that ageing is one of the main challenges in the whole Europe in the future, building a European association around the ageing challenge was considered important. In Centre for Social Services and Health Care we started the work immediately for this target. In Karelia UAS Ms Ritva Väistö prepared first ideas for the project as early as in 2011. Together with her colleague Ms Irma Mikkonen from Savonia UAS, they decided to apply for a large EU-project. As they wanted to have partners from all European countries, Ritva worked in John Moores University in Liverpool for two months in expert exchange. During those two months she worked together with her colleague Ms Judith Guthrie and looked for partners and possibilities for the EU funding for this kind of a large project. In the end they decided to apply funding from the ERASMUS Academic Networks programme. In this project there should be at least 25 LLP participating countries. This program is very demanding and only few can get funding. The work continued in Liverpool for one week. During that week we collected 26 partners from EU countries and made the first draft for the ELLAN project. After returning to Finland an application was written with hard work. The task was not easy as there were partners from 26 countries.
Altogether there were 28 partners as we had two partners in Finland. In 2012, of 26 proposals only 8 (31 %) were selected for funding. Although this project was not selected, it seemed that this programme was the only possibility to get funding for this kind of cooperation. In autumn 2012 it was decided to apply for funding once more and the work begun again. This time our Research and Development Services supported us by offering external evaluation for our first application. After this evaluation the idea of the project plan was brightened. In autumn 2012 we also arranged a meeting with some partners in Groningen in the Netherlands where five excellent colleagues were planning and writing the proposal together with us. In 2012 we made a decision that Savonia UAS be a coordinator of the Ellan project and Karelia UAS be a partner. So hard work was finished in Savonia UAS this time and again we started to wait for the decision from EACEA. This time we were lucky: ELLAN was accepted and we got the funding. It took three years to get the money for this project! Now Savonia UAS is leading this excellent project and we can be a part of it. Now during the years 2013 -2015 we have a possibility to build a European professional network around ageing and we will also get other results which will be useful for example in building curricula around ageing
THE MAIN IDEAS OF THE ELLAN PROJECT:
The ELLAN project promotes European cooperation and exchange of innovation as well as good practices related to the ageing population and to the educational preparation of those that work with older people. The project reconstructs the diverse educational approach by developing a European Competencies Framework for working with the older people, sharing innovation in teaching and identifying factors that influence students in choosing to work with older people thus strengthening the quality of higher education for professionals providing care for older people (ELLAN webpage: http://ellan.savonia.fi/) It is easy to wish good luck for this project. We all hope that the project will have excellent results and will be useful to all of us. This cooperation with Savonia UAS and Liverpool John Moores University has been excellent and has proved the power of networks.
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PRECISION ENGINEERING adds value to the end product by combining in-depth understanding of manufacturing and material technologies with metrology
TEXT Jussi Kinnunen | PHOTO Salla Anttila
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ut what does it mean? It is not easy to explain precision engineering in one sentence. Apparently it is possible (see the title), but sadly the beautiful, concise explanation makes no sense for most people. Since precision engineering has been chosen as one of the six focus areas of Karelia University of Applied Sciences, it is worth trying to make it understandable, although it takes the whole chapter. When you manufacture pieces with high requirements on geometry and surface quality, such as optical lenses or the parts found in a particle accelerator, you are applying precision engineering. In the process, not only the manufacturing tools need to be carefully selected to suit the task, but in addition, the materials need to perform equally. And, that is not even enough. After you have spent a million euros on a diamond turning machine and a lot more for the facilities around it, including trained staff who knows about the materials and processes, you will still need to take care of the metrology. By metrology you can confirm the geometry and surface quality, and based on the measurements the piece can still be corrected to suit the requirements of the original design. This is all done at Karelia University of Applied Sciences, research and education for precision engineering. International cooperation with universities, research centers and companies plays a crucial role in the field. For further information on precision engineering at Karelia UAS, see http://projektit.karelia.fi/upu/. On the website, you can also watch a video of a diamond used in making parts for manufacturing lenses. The lens diameter corresponds to the diameter of your hair. Pretty cool, isn’t it?
MULTIMEDIA BASED SERVICES via mobile devices TEXT Timo Rui | PHOTO Karelia UAS/archive
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he world is moving towards a more powerful leisure- and entertainment-centred social reality, where economic activity aiming at productising experiences, i.e. so called experience industry, is becoming one of the most significant fields of activity. Being a part of the creative economy, experience industry introduces a totally new concept of productisation based on culture, media, and stories, as well as their phenomenal experiencing by the means of new interactive technology. Several mobile guides and services have been created at Karelia University of Applied Sciences since year 2009. Our main idea has always been to integrate our teaching and RDI activities. Teachers and students have the chance to learn by doing as they are implementing state-of-the art mobile guides. Different types of projects, both local and international, have also been an important part of our mobile guides.
EXAMPLES OF OUR MOBILE GUIDES
Our most successful service has been Ilosaarirock Mobiiliopas (Ilosaarirock Mobile Guide). It is a service provided for the rock festival Ilosaarirock arranged in Joensuu. The first Ilosaarirock Mobile Guide was launched in 2010 and back then, it was the first mobile guide used in Finland. Ilosaarirock Mobile Guide is an offline smartphone application for Android, iPhone and Windows Phone platforms, and in summer 2013 there were over 7,000 downloads. Besides event guides, we have created mobile guides with multimedia experience services in order to support the authentic interpretation of culturally and historically interesting resorts. They offer a variety of new experiences for visitors and create a sustainable way of utilising the rich cultural and natural heritage. An example of these services includes Hattuvaara Mobitrail, which represents the culturally and historically interesting sites of Hattuvaara village in Ilomantsi. Another mobile guide with a multimedia experience part is MobiKoli. It is a mobile and web service, which is a combination of a mobile application and mobile optimised web-pages. It contains the following parts: Informative content of tourist companies located in Koli area and the Multimedia experience service part, including the sound based Adventure originating from the myths and stories of the Koli area. The Adventure includes, for example, Goblins, Vikings, Warlords and Warlocks, and the target group is young people and families with children. Our mobile guides can be found in Google Play or App Store, and Ilosaarirock Mobile Guide in Windows Phone Store as well.
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How Karelia UAS made me stay TEXT Huong Ngo | PHOTO Salla Anttila
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y name is Huong Ngo. I’m 19 and I come from Vietnam. I’m now studying the second year of International Business (IB) degree program at Karelia UAS. Owing to the lack of high school graduation certificate at the application period; which is due to the regulations of Ministry of Education; Vietnamese applicants have few options of UAS that accepts discretionary admission. Therefore, lots of students take the entrance exam and move to other schools as long as they receive the certificate. But I didn’t. I feel quite satisfied with subjects and schedules. Most of subjects are relevant to group work and presentations in order to improve our teamwork skill and present speeches in front of the crowd. It literally works as teachers sometimes ask some of us to lead the discussion. Teamwork skills are specially enhanced according to the rule of teachers: “mixed genders and mixed nationalities”. We have chances to experience and exchange cultural differences. IB students of Karelia are lucky as well to have excursions to other countries. It is a trip of approximately a week to another country that students are able to meet and attend presentations of companies. The trip to Tallinn, Estonia last year enabled us to widely open our eyes towards a market whose have similarities to Finland with 6 presentations from different companies. Consequently, I’m really waiting for the trip this year to Stockholm, Sweden. Being located in Joensuu – a student city, is an advantage of Karelia UAS. There is a large number of libraries, both private and local libraries own by universities and the city. Students could find the silent atmosphere with huge resources of books, magazines, newspapers, novels, etc. Additionally, a campus of Eastern Finland University (UEF) is also situated in Joensuu. There are many courses and
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activities between Karelia and UEF so as to create an international environment for students. One more reason that made me stay in Joensuu is the “friend-family program” or “ystäväperhe”. Karelia UAS makes itself distinctive by running this program, which allows staffs and international students to exchange cultures in spare times. I found myself lucky to have such a foster family that I always feel happy spending time with them. Thanks to them and the program, I have opportunities to understand Finnish culture at some aspects and feel less homesick as well. We usually meet once a week at weekend, a way to relax and set work aside for a while. As a result of reasons above, I decided to stay in Joensuu and graduate from Karelia UAS. I’m sure you will have the same decision when you start in Karelia UAS.
Learning opportunities like anywhere in the world TEXT Isaac Adaam | PHOTO Salla Anttila
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am Isaac Adaam and I am pleased with my decision to study at Karelia UAS. A year before gaining admission, I had admission to another UAS. Upon recommendations from my family and friends about studying at Karelia UAS, I decided to wait another year so I could join Karelia UAS. Although I cannot tell what the other UAS might offer, I have over the years been happy about my decision to pursue International Business at Karelia UAS. Coming from a different cultural background, I had my own expectations about the course, the school, lectures and fellow colleagues. Interestingly, most of my expectations have been exceeded. The class teaching environment can be likened to that of a team. Although we have our individual study plans, coaching in the course ensures that each student
is able to give off best his or best to the betterment of the whole group. As an international community of students, I personally trust that the practice of working in groups has aided a lot to a first step practical experience from other cultures without the need to travel to all these countries. Adapting easily into a new environment has always been of a great concern to me. It is worthy of mention how I easily settled down within my new environment at Karelia UAS back in 2012. Thanks to the support of lecturers, fellow classmates, student tutors and counsellor who are always more than happy to be of assistance and answer whatever question I had on mind. The continuous coaching from lecturers coupled with the friendship I enjoy with my colleagues has enabled me to give off my best and learn a lot more in a relaxed environment. It is an undeniable fact that the general Finnish education ranks high globally, however Finnish universities in particular do not, when compared with other universities worldwide. For this reason, I try to find out what the other supposedly top ranked universities in the US and UK are teaching, and what their courses entail. My findings have convinced me even the more about studying here at Karelia UAS. The course contents are basically the same, the difference lies sometimes only in the name of the course. As the saying goes, “a bird in hand is worth two in the forest�, I have come to the conclusion that Degree Programme in International Business offers great learning opportunities and experiences similar to what we could find anywhere in world. Additionally, you get to enjoy all these experiences in the t clean, relaxed and calm city Read more a / .fi of Joensuu. a li e r a .k
www udentadmission/st experiences
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Draft TEXT Heikki Immonen | PHOTOS Jussi Ratilainen
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ince 2008, Karelia University of Applied Sciences and other Finnish universities of applied sciences have been receiving special government-granted funding aiming at promotion of technology transfer and start-up creation. In practice, main form of activity has been very small-scale pre-seed type of funding for teams of students, faculty and staff with innovative business ideas. Nationally, first couple of years showed poor results in terms of idea volume, intellectual property generated revenues and number of new start-ups. It has been only in the past 2 years that some of these universities have been able to demonstrate real improvements in key indicators. We argue that the early difficulties were partly imposed to universities because of an erroneous innovation paradigm and operation policy advocated by the government funding agency at the time. In hindsight it seems that the key drawback of the idea and intellectual property centered innovation policy in 2008 was assuming that what had worked well in company and corporation context would also work in the university context. We can recognize several hidden assumptions behind the policy such as availability of entrepreneurial human capital and rationality of secrecy in company context. As these revelations about the weaknesses in the old paradigm became more and more clear, Karelia was well invested in a process to organically develop and adapt to a new innovation paradigm better suited to university context. Karelia’s key data clearly illustrates how this paradigm shift has been put to practice in the past few years. For example annual idea and start-up creation volume has been growing to fivefold since 2008 and just in the past 6 months first few pioneering teams have secured angel investments. Why so? The key feature of this new paradigm is that it is operating
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– a new innovation paradigm in action at the same time at the level of a single idea and team and at the higher level of transforming the university in to a dynamic innovation ecosystem with entrepreneurial culture. In autumn 2012, Karelia launched a new innovation and startup creation program called the Draft. Twice a year teams of students, faculty and alumni pitch for available resources. Since autumn 2013 The University of Eastern Finland joined the Draft programme expanding its scope and diversity. Twice a month teams get to participate to workshops with startup centered curriculum, chances to meet experts and interact with other teams. All teams will get their profiles published thus contributing to the positive entrepreneurial buzz.
For example annual idea and start-up creation volume has been growing to fivefold since 2008 and just in the past 6 months first few pioneering teams have secured angel investments. karelia.fi | 29
Check out .fi/en/ draft.karelia for more info!
STUDY IN ENGLISH Bachelor for Business Administration (BBA) Âť Degree Programme in International Business
When you plan an international future for yourself, many aspects need to be considered. Where to study, where to live and work, and with whom? At Karelia University of Applied Sciences we offer you an opportunity start your international journey with internationally oriented business studies. Through your studies with us you gain competence in international business, create an international network and rehearse important skills needed in working life.
READ MORE THE AND CHECK FOR TIMETABLE ATIONS AT THE APPLIC a.fi/ www.kareli admission
The versatile education I have received at Karelia UAS has contributed greatly to the development of my career. I definitely recommend you to take part in as many international projects as possible; Karelia UAS offers great opportunities for that. J ARKKO PEIPO NEN, PR OJECT PLANNI NG OFFI CER , KAR ELI A UAS, SECR E PR OJECT BBA (I NTER NATI ONAL BUSI NESS) 2013