H A M K U N I V E R S I T Y O F A P P L I E D S C I E N C E S , F I N L A N D • J O U R N A L 1 | 2 0 1 3

New steps in the internationalisation of HAMK

Training of trainers in Nepal project

Export of education increases Finland’s competitiveness

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HAMK University of Applies SciencesPO Box 230 (Visamäentie 35 A)FI-13101 Hämeenlinna, FINLAND

tel. +358 3 6461fax +358 3 646 4200firstname.lastname@hamk.fiwww.hamk.fi

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PrintingMustasaaren Painotalo OyCirculation: 3000

Editorial StaffEditor-in-chief: Lea MustonenEditor: Taina LehtomäkiLayout: Karin PasilaTranslation: PasaNet Oy Lingsoft TranslationsCover: Ville Salminen

ISSN 1459-1545 (printed)ISSN 1459-7888 (web)

1|2013 20th edition

PHOTO: Ville Salminen

Making dreams come true ..........................................3Internationality – from something unusual to everyday life ...........................................................4HAMK News ..............................................................4New steps in the internationalisation of HAMK .............6Better quality through an international approach ..........8FUAS Research Review: A lot of potential and the kernel of success ............................................9In FUAS, learning is based on partnerships with employers and international cooperation ..................10An evaluation of international degree programmes (IDP) in Finland ................................... 11

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Making dreams come true

I began in my current job as the President of HAMK in spring 2013. Before that, I had worked in different po-sitions in our institution for almost 20 years. If I was to

name one thing that has changed in that time, it would be our level of internationalisation. Twenty years ago, just a few of the teachers at the institute of technology where I worked spoke English – luckily, also the number of foreign visitors was low, not to mention that of foreign students. Initially I was afraid of the new developments, but soon I found myself thinking that my dream institution would involve real, genuine, effort-less and interactive cooperation with international partners. My dream was a campus where students representing differ-ent continents, cultures and nationalities would enjoy working in the same projects and also share activities in their free time.

Today, more than 500 foreign students are studying in the five English-language degree programmes offered by HAMK, and hundreds of our own students have completed studies abroad. We are actively implementing teacher exchange pro-grammes with our partner institutions, and have also recently launched researcher exchange activities.

In an institution of higher education, the shrinking of the globe means not only active student and staff exchange but al-so the international evaluation of our activities. Various eval-uations were carried out in the spring 2013, and they consti-tute an integral part of FUAS cooperation between HAMK,

Lahti University of Applied Sciences and Laurea University of Applied Sciences. In June, an international team perfomed a research review of HAMK, we are currently implementing a benchmarking project in cooperation with the Belgian KU Leuven Association, and preparations for the international evaluation of quality management to take place in 2016 have already started.

We have also initiated the goal-oriented development of our international research activities. HAMK is currently form-ing joint research groups with our international strategic part-ners. Sharing information, exchanging results and developing new ideas acquire a completely new dimension when work re-lated to the project is being done simultaneously in China, Bra-zil and Denmark. This also means more effective utilisation of research results. The first training courses sold abroad and establishing the role of HAMK in the internationalisation of our Kanta-Häme and Southern Pirkanmaa regions constitute further interesting openings in this respect.

I might even venture as far as to say that my dream would seem to be coming true. We still have some way to go. Even today, in our daily lives, few of us pick up the phone to call an international colleague to discuss research projects or student projects. On the whole, the more extensive benefits of inter-nationalisation are still around the corner.

TEXT: Pertti Puusaari, President

Better wellbeing at work through competence management and development ...............................12Aren’t we all special? ..............................................13HAMK has been active in the HEI ICI programme since the beginning .................................................14Export of education increases Finland’s competitiveness .....................................................16Exchange studies in China offered a master’s student a whole range of new experiences ................17Determination took Anna to China ...........................18Inspirational Cambridge ..........................................19

Mentoring Programme provides inside perspective into the Finnish company and work culture as well as the labour market ...............................................20International talents boosting the competitiveness of business .....................................21Students motivated by the authenticity of summer studies ..................................................22Students’ Finland-Iceland cooperation aims to improve tomato cultivation .......................................24Two weeks of intensive international experience ........26

�� EDITORIAL

PHOTO: Ville Salminen

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Internationality – from something unusual to everyday life

Strength from the partnerships

At HAMK, every field of education has a good partner net-work for international activities. Some years ago we started a strategic partnership process. We have now been deepening cooperation, especially in research activities with three part-ners: Via University College (Denmark), Feevale University (Brazil) and Jiangxi Science & Technology Normal Univer-sity (China). The strong commitment of the partners forms an excellent foundation for new activities. Currently, we are launching a joint research process in digitalisation and bio-process. The research teams have been formed and they start-ed working in autumn 2013. In the teams, more experienced researchers guided the inexperienced staff members and stu-dents. The first research seminar will take place in Hämeen-linna, Finland in autumn 2014. The results of this process will be seen in a few years’ time.

In addition to our strategic partner network, our other partners are also very important to us. In some situations we need a partner with special know-how; we also need a wide partner network so that we can efficiently implement student mobility. Through all joint activities we have more capacity to develop our community.

TEXT: Marja Räikkönen, Head of International Affairs

Refugee camp set up in Evo campus

Almost fifty Finnish and foreign students studying for a Mas-ter’s degree in Disaster Relief Healthcare gathered in August 2013 to rehearse their practical skills and set up a refugee camp in Evo, which is one of HAMK’s campuses.

The students came to Finland to take part in an intensive period of the Msc in Disaster Relief Healthcare degree pro-gramme. This programme is implemented by the University of South Wales in partnership with HAMK University of Ap-plied Sciences. – During the year, the students work online, and in the summer they come together to attend a shared in-tensive period, which takes place in Finland and Wales in al-ternate years, says HAMK Principal Lecturer Sari Miettinen.

- The intensive period is structured around a variety of themes. A refugee camp has been used as a theme several times already, as the students have found it extremely useful.

Research team from HAMK received prize for best article at conference in Portugal

HAMK is involved in implementing a national project that aims to develop entrepreneurship education. As part of this project, the HAMK Professional Teacher Education Unit ex-perimented with pedagogy that enhances risk-taking and ob-served the entrepreneurial spirit of two groups that started in teacher education in August 2011. The research team mem-bers were teachers Heikki Hannula, Taru Dorra and Markku Kuivalahti and trainee Tarja Hallavainio. The team's article on the experiment was presented at the ENTENP 2013 con-ference in Portugal, where it won an award for the best article.

Rapid changes

M any of us still remember the time when international cooperation required travelling, sending letters and us-ing fax. ICT has made a huge change to many of our

activities and there are many possibilities for negotiations, on-line meetings etc. Virtual mobility is nowadays in the head-lines. One example is a practice where students from partner universities work together in joint study assignments using ICT. These solutions are important especially for those stu-dents who do not participate in student exchange programmes. We have promised to offer different kinds of alternatives to develop the international competence of students studying at HAMK and these virtual activities are one way of doing it.

Here in Finland, there is an interesting discussion taking place on the concept of international competence. Demos Hel-sinki is an independent think tank from Finland. Last spring, they published a study on the meaning of internationality in the changing society and future workplaces. The interesting conclusion was that international competence is not only lan-guage skills and understanding different cultures, it is also in-terest in the multifold questions in the world: fundamentally it is curiosity.

For the development of this competence we need to change our culture. There must be more and more space for open dis-cussions and critical thinking.

�� HAMK NEWS

PHOTO: Taina Lehtomäki

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Seven students from HAMK took part in the Harvard National Model United Nations event

In spring 2013, a group of seven students in the De-gree Programme in International Business at HAMK's Valkeakoski Campus took part in the Harvard National Model United Nations event in Boston, which simu-lated the operation of the United Nations.

The students funded their trip themselves by or-ganising events and collecting sponsorships from companies. The group consisted of four Kosovan,

one Russian and two Finnish students. Albë Gronbalaj, the group leader, explains that they rep-

resented the state of Kiribati, located in the Pacific Ocean, at the event. – We took part in the various committees of the UN General Assembly. They gave us an opportunity to prac-tise our negotiation and communication skills in particular.

Boxing Glove Shoes bring second place in international design competition

Sini Tanninen, footwear design student of HAMK, received the second prize in the international Award for the Crazy Shoe competition with her Boxing Glove Shoes.

International student group studied ecoceramics in Hämeenlinna

The glass and ceramics major in HAMK's Degree Programme in Design organised a two-week international Ecoceramics workshop in Hämeenlinna in August 2013. Ecoceramics is a three-year Erasmus IP project, the participants of which are HAMK, the Estonian Academy of Arts and the Art Acad-emy of Latvia.

The themes of Ecoceramics are local materials, recycled and waste materials in the production of ceramics and alternative techniques for firing ceramics. Last year, this workshop was held in Estonia, where the programme included building a wood-burning kiln. This year, the special theme of the work-shop was, in addition to materials, firing ceramics in kilns run by liquid gas.

Energy expertise for HAMK and VIA students

HAMK's Degree Programme in Construction Engineering organised a five-credit intensive course titled ”Energy Effi-ciency and Sustainable Energy in Building” on the Visamäki Campus at the end of May. The course was intended for con-struction sector students of both HAMK and the Danish VIA University College.

The course, which was organised for the first time last sum-mer, was attended by 12 students from Denmark and 5 from HAMK. HAMK's team of teachers was backed up by Inga Sørensen from VIA, who visited Hämeenlinna for two days of lecturing.

During the three weeks that they worked together, the stu-dents familiarised themselves with different energy solutions and their practical applications, both in theory and in prac-tice. The participants reported on the progress of their work in a blog, which made it easy for those left behind at VIA to keep up with what was happening.

At the closing event of the course, group leaders Tapio Korkeamäki and Marita Mäkinen praised the group for its communal spirit and hard work during busy and labour-in-tensive days.

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R epresentatives of HAMK’s in-ternational network of strategic partners met at Feevale Univer-

sity in Brazil in May 2013. In addition to HAMK and Feevale University, the network comprises VIA University Col-lege in Denmark and Jiangxi Science & Technology Normal University in Chi-na. The main themes at this year’s sem-inar were quality assurance and region-al impact.

China and Brazil are current-ly among the fastest growing econo-mies in the world. They invest strong-ly in higher education. In the next few years, the state of Brazil will be send-ing a large number of higher education students to different parts of the world with aims such as increasing the quality of its own research activities. Denmark, on the other hand, is wrestling with a very similar set of problems as we are: the ageing of the population and insta-bility in the European economy are also reflected in the education sector.

“The strategic co-operation, on which an agreement was signed in 2011 at HAMK, is begin-ning to transform into actual research projects and broad-er exchange of stu-dents and experts,” states President Pertti Puusaari. The participants of the seminar also had the opportunity to learn about the extensive research and development activities at Feevale University.

According to Vice President Janne Salminen, aspects of particular inter-est from the viewpoint of HAMK were research on the utilisation of digitalisa-tion and improving the state of the en-vironment. The plan is to obtain more information particularly on the utilisa-tion of digitalisation in the promotion

New steps in the internationalisation of HAMK

of well-being and on re-search in the water sec-tor later this year. These areas have a clear link to development targets central for the Kanta-Häme region – where HAMK is located –and HAMK’s own re-search and development activities.

Professor Mariste-la Mercedes Bauer, al-

ready familiar to many people at HAMK, whose doctoral dissertation to be exam-ined in May focuses on the manifesta-tions of sustainable development in the activities of Brazilian companies, visit-ed HAMK in September 2013. We al-so received a visit from Professor Ser-je Schmidt, and approximately twenty students for the Degree Programme in International Business and the Degree Programme in Business Management and Entrepreneurship. Such exchange

“The strategic cooperation is beginning to transform into actual research projects and broader exchange of students and experts.”

The seminar was held in Brazil in May 2013

TEXT: Mervi Friman, PHOTOS: Israel dos Santos Monteiro

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activities will increase the level of internationalisation in our community as a whole. During their intensive period of stu-dent exchange, the Brazilian students also visited several in-ternational companies in our region. For our own students and teachers, this cooperation opens up an excellent opportunity for international research and development activities.

Jonna Pedersen, Director of VIA, made the following com-ment regarding the Danish perspective to the cooperation:

“We share the same starting point as concerns the goal of in-creasing research and development activities. The coopera-tion provides good opportunities for the promotion of re-search activities, their funding and the publishing of results. Our cooperation with VIA has expanded significantly in the last few years in areas such as staff exchange. The VIA Rec-torate took part in a staff event organised by HAMK in Au-gust 2013, and we had the opportunity to hear the views of VIA’s Rector Harald Mikkelsen regarding the development of higher education.

The decision to establish a seminar on applied research was one of the main outcomes of the meeting. The constitution and activities of the researcher seminar will highlight a multidis-ciplinary approach. An important objective of the seminar ac-tivities is to generate joint research projects. The first seminar in the series will be held in 2014. Assembling the group of re-searchers at HAMK will begin immediately. Cooperation like this is an integral part of the development of Hämeenlinna as a centre for higher education in Finland.

Students of information technology presented the outcomes of their work to interested visitors.

President Pertti Puusaari of HAMK and Rector Ramon Fernando da Cunha of Feevale.

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Participants of FUAS and KU Leuven Association in the benchmarking project photographed in Visamäki

KU Leuven Association is a federation formed by KU Leuven University and 12 universities of applied sciences in the Flem-ish-speaking area of Belgium with some 95,000 students. KU Leuven Association is the first strategic partner of FUAS. The benchmarking project is one approach to putting to practice the strategic partnership between the federations, intensify-ing their cooperation and sharing views in the higher educa-tion sector internationally.

The programme for the first visit of the benchmarking project was planned jointly during spring 2013. In the first phase of the project, the groups of participants focusing on quality management and social services took a closer look at operations in the other country. Players in the field of qual-ity management examined the following themes in particu-lar: ”Shared quality system and shared quality culture” and

Quality Assurance at HAMK

In Finland, the Finnish Higher Education Evaluation Coun-cil (FINHEEC) audits the quality assurance systems in high-er education. The quality assurance system of HAMK was au-dited at the end of 2010. The overall status of HAMK’s qual-ity assurance system is “advanced” - which is the highest lev-el and the best ever of a Finnish higher education institution.

At HAMK, quality assurance refers to the procedures, pro-cesses or systems that are used to secure and develop the qual-

”Evaluation of programmes and quality systems in Belgium and Finland”. Participants focusing on learning outcomes in the field of social services approached the subject through the following themes:”Core competences and regional profiles” and ”Constructive alignment of learning outcomes and cur-ricula”. According to the participants, the best part of the vis-it were frank discussions, workshop activities and the visit to Virvelinranta Development and Resource Centre for the Dis-abled that was part of the section on learning outcomes in the field of social services.

In autumn 2013, the benchmarking project continued with a return visit to Leuven. The aim of the second visit was to work in teams to introduce the participants in greater detail to the good practices selected on the basis of the first visit and to in-tensify the cooperation.

Better quality through an international approachThe first visit that was part of a joint benchmarking project between FUAS (Federation of Universities of Applied Sciences) and KU Leuven Association from Belgium took place in late May 2013. The purpose of this project between strategic partners is to enhance the federations’ quality management in an interna-tional context and to focus on learning outcomes in the field of social services. The benchmarking pro-ject of FUAS and KU Leuven Association is funded with evaluation support from the Finnish Higher Edu-cation Evaluation Council.

ity of the institution’s education and other operations. Qual-ity assurance comprises quality control and quality develop-ment. The HAMK quality assurance system refers to the en-tity formed by the quality assurance organisation, including its responsibilities, procedures, processes and resources.

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D r Jack Spaapen from Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences and Research and Innovation Di-rector Matti Lähdeniemi from Satakunta University

of Applied Sciences took part in the FUAS Research Review process as external audit board members.

Jack Spaapen says that the most important finding in the FUAS Research Review is that FUAS has a lot of RDI poten-tial. This potential however is divided into too many fields. “If you really want to build an organisation you need to bring all the good things you have together,” Spaapen says. “Concen-trate in the fields you are already strong in, and then you have a chance to beat the strong competition.”

Matti Lähdeniemi has seen the same potential in FUAS. In his opinion the best advantage of FUAS are the talented and committed people. These people, Lähdeniemi says, are ready for higher speed FUAS. As his favorites within FUAS, Lähde-niemi highlights regional impact and student entrepreneurship.

Members of the external audit board: Matti Lähdeniemi (left) and Jack Spaapen (right) together with Ulla Kotonen, development manager of FUAS RDI activities.

“The kernel of success could be the high quality of staff and good quality students brought together,” Spaapen suggests.

Focus areas for improvement in FUAS Research, Devel-opment and Innovations (RDI) was already found in the self-evaluation. Spaapen has the impression that people working for FUAS know where room for improvement is. Spaapen encour-ages decision makers to show some bravery in organisational development and not to hesitate when making decisions, oth-erwise opportunities will be lost. “Now is the time to be clear about the future organisation of FUAS and make decisions,” Spaapen says.

The FUAS Research Review was carried out as self-eval-uation and external audit. The report of the process was pub-lished in the end of 2013.

T he Research Review was performed in order to get a clear picture of the current situation, to contextualize FUAS globally and to get momentum for future development.

The external evaluation will guide FUAS in the continuous de-velopment of RDI activities and help FUAS to reach its stra-tegic aims.

The aim of the FUAS Research Review is to give a clear and realistic picture of the RDI activities of FUAS by assess-ing the RDI activities of each member institution and to pro-

Research Review highlights the strengths of FUAS

duce strategic evaluation data that will develop the FUAS RDI activities. According to the FUAS Strategy 2011 – 2015, the Research Review produces information of the chosen fo-cus areas and ensures that the operation is competitive and multi-disciplinary.

FUAS Research

Review: A lot of potential and the kernel of

success

TEXT and PHOTO: Aino-Maria Pokela

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In FUAS, learning is based on partnerships with employers and international cooperationAn international Curriculum Review has been imple-mented in the universities of applied sciences that make up FUAS. The Curriculum Review found that workplace oriented learning, in which the students actively control their own learning, is clearly visible in the FUAS institutions. According to the review, the curricula have been developed boldly, and the institu-tions have not been afraid to take risks in these efforts. In FUAS, the RDI activities in the degree programmes have genuine links with learning and the develop-ment of workplace practices through various projects. The international review team also praised the visi-ble role of internationality as an essential and natu-ral part of learning and learning environments. The degree programmes have specialists and students with a strong involvement in international networks. The aim of the Curriculum Review was to assess the curricula in universities of applied sciences as a whole in terms of national and international ob-jectives. The review also focused on the strategies and priority areas of FUAS and its individual insti-tutions, in particular RDI.

To read the report Collaborating to achieve a strategic vision. An

evaluation of curriculum development in FUAS institutions, visit

www.fuas.fi.

FUASFUAS is formed by HAMK University of Ap-

plied Sciences, Lahti University of Applied Sciences and Laurea University of Applied Sciences. The strate-

gic intent of FUAS for 2020 is to be an internationally re-spected alliance between independent universities of ap-

plied sciences that strengthens the international com-petitiveness of the Greater Helsinki Metropolitan Ar-ea, offering all the higher education, research and re-gional development functions required by the met-

ropolitan area’s enterprises and population.

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A thematic evaluation of international Bachelor and Master level degree programmes was conducted in 2012-2013 by the Finnish Higher Education Evaluation Council (FINHEEC). FINHEEC is an independent expert body assisting universities, uni-

versities of applied sciences, and the Ministry of Education and Culture in matters related to evaluation. The process started in autumn 2011 when the planning team prepared a pro-ject plan for the process. The main themes for the evaluation were as follows: how the in-ternational programmes are organised, how they relate to institutional strategies, and how the students are integrated into the academic community and Finnish society.

The evaluation team made many recommendations for higher education institutions (HEIs) for example: 1. Sharing and comparing experiences is important to improve the quality of services. 2. Differences in learning styles and cultures should be recognised and improving multicultural competencies of all students can help the foreign student to be-come familiar with Finnish society. 3. Increasing cooperation between teachers and sup-port staff, alumni surveys, rewarding teachers for improving their languages skills as well as more active approach on the extra-curricular activities for IDP students are suggested actions at the institutional level.

There are three issues that - although mentioned in the evaluation report – may need ex-plicit attention: 1. The integration of foreign students into Finnish society, 2. language and intercultural competencies and 3. the stakeholders’ role and awareness.

There may be many reasons – outspoken or not outspoken – for the difficulties for foreign graduates to find employment in Finnish companies. But if students cannot overcome these difficulties on their own despite a national strategy and desire to increase internationalisa-tion, it may be worthwhile considering if HEIs could play a more significant role in achiev-ing the goal by actively establishing networks of institutions, students, employers, employ-ers organisations, policymakers, stakeholders, local communities, spare time organisations etc. Obviously that is an unfamiliar role for HEIs – some may even think: “this is not our responsibility” - but it is needed if HEIs want to improve statistics on “Numbers of gradu-ates, who stay in Finland after completing studies”.

It is evident that knowledge about how to teach, to learn and to behave in cultural di-versity as well as sufficient language skills are prerequisites for both students and staff in HEIs dealing with international education. Students can be enrolled on the basis of lan-guage tests and motivation letters/interviews but it cannot be overemphasized how impor-tant it is that a vast majority of staff (or all?) possess intercultural competencies and sufficient language skills why systematic staff training programmes and staff recruitment policies are recommended. The site visits and interviews indicated that although the approachability of Finnish staff was high and indeed satisfactory there still was room for improvement when it comes to language skills in particular.

From the site visits and interviews it appeared that the stakeholders / members of advi-sory boards / members of educational committees in general did not see internationalisa-tion as their most important task. This may be quite understandable since stakeholders of-ten come from the professional field representing companies, employer organisations, cham-bers of commerce etc. and thus focusing on the future workforce in general and maybe not on internationalisation in particular. A few interviewees paid little attention to IDPs to put it directly. Unfortunately this finding is based on site visits only as the questionnaire did not give any information as to how strongly stakeholders may focus on internationalisation. But if a HEI has agreed on an international strategy it may be helpful to select stakehold-ers (at least some) who have professional interest in and thus focus on IDPs and the future international workforce.

Jan Uwe Wolff from VIA University College (Denmark) was a member of the evaluation team and

Marja Räikkönen from HAMK University of Applied Sciences (Finland) was a member of the plan-

ning team of the evaluation process. An Evaluation of International Degree Programmes in Finland

Publications of The Finnish Higher Education Evaluation Council 2:2013

http://www.kka.fi/files/1822/KKA_0213.pdf

TEXT: Jan Uwe Wolff, Dean of Studies, VIA University College, and Marja Räikkönen, Head of International Affairs, HAMK University of Applied Sciences

An evaluation of international degree programmes (IDP) in Finland

PHOTO: Ville Salminen

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A t HAMK University of Applied Sciences, we complet-ed a teacher audit process where we audited internation-al competences of teachers teaching in the degree pro-

grammes taught in English. The process was an integral part of our HR Strategy, international development plan and na-tional auditing process. According to these, various system-atic feedback processes guarantee that the Municipal Federa-tion is able to renew itself in the near future. With the help of the teacher auditing process, competences will be made visi-ble and as a result it will be easier to set strategic objectives for the development of multicultural competences.

Auditing took place between October 2011 and April 2012. For-ty teachers, working in degree programmes where English was the medium, were observed in the classroom after a period of meetings and consultation. The main objectives were to create higher productivity for students and teachers, leading to im-proved student results and feedback, better-developed teacher competencies and well-being, and finally more market pulling power through reputation and results.

The auditing process comprised five phases: self-assessment, the interview (see photo), lesson observation, benchmarking & entering reports into Webropol and later Stara, and final-ly determining the competency gaps. During the observa-tions, three main categories were covered with notes taken on: general language proficiency, use of subject-specific lan-guage and the language needed to operate learner-centred pedagogical tools.

With observations now archived, further measures will be tak-en 2013-2014. These observations have highlighted the follow-ing needs for some teachers: pronunciation, questions struc-tures (oral and written) for the classroom and exams; sensi-tive use of specialist terms, clear explanations of processes and concepts with concrete examples; appropriate questions (open and closed) to check understanding, giving clear instructions, and use of stress and intonation to highlight key ideas. Con-sequently, staff courses will be offered to develop teachers and other staff involved in student learning.

All this information was presented to HAMK directors after the completion of the audit. It was discussed that the cultur-ally diverse learning environment is complex and that HAMK teachers need more tools than are currently available. It has been recommended that directors should hold discussions with the teachers concerning the tools and areas of development. This should happen before further processes are implemented with the new teaching models for staff development. The audit was also presented to one of our partner universities in Denmark, Via University College, where great interest was shown and co-operation possible.

Global partnerships are efficient networks for staff develop-ment. HAMK University of Applied Sciences and Via Univer-sity College have been strategic partners for many years. The teacher audit has been implemented now at HAMK and in the near future it will be tested at Via as well. Cooperation in com-petence management and development will be more system-atic and extensive after that, and will deepen the partnership.

Better wellbeing at work through competence management and development

Brian Joyce audited Henrik Räsänen about a course taught in English.

TEXT: Brian Joyce and Heidi Ahokallio-Leppälä

– How the Teacher Audit process will develop the competences of teachers

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sues intricately interwoven with these, necessitating si-multaneous support and solutions from multiple hold.

4. REGIONAL COOPERATION. Small schools and munici-palities are often better (if not solely) able to provide suf-ficient high-quality services by building cooperation co-alitions with neighbouring municipalities.

5. SOCIAL INNOVATION. Sustainable solutions, both from the perspective of the special educational service provider and the client (here, children with special learning needs and their families) call for novel, innovative solutions on the level of the schools and municipalities as well as re-gionally.

SPEDUREG IS A network partnership consisting of three Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland and Norway) and one Baltic country (Estonia) and a total of eight part-ners: UCC University College Capital, Denmark (Pro-gram Inclusion and Integration); University of Tallinn, Estland (Department of Vocational Pedagogy and De-partment of Special and Social Education); HAMK Uni-versity of Applied Sciences, Finland (Education and Re-search Centre for Wellbeing); the city of Hämeenlinna, Finland; Stord/Haugesund University College, Norway (Faculty of Teacher and Cultural); StatPedVest, Norway; and the municipality of Suldal, Norway (Education Sec-tion). SPEDUREG is funded by the Nordic Council of Ministers, Nord Plus Horizon program during 2012-2014.

– How to meet the educational needs of all children in the classroom? Competence, procedures and attitudes from a multiple actor and cross-administrative regional perspective

THE HAUGALAND REGION in southwest Norway has been working towards a regional cross-disciplinary, cross-admin-istrative, cross-sectorial cooperation with a focus on children with special educational needs. The cooperation is called “Hau-galand Lift” [“Haugalandsløftet”]. The initiative has its major starting point in the fact that the schools in this region rank above the country’s average in the share of children given spe-cial education services. Besides a couple of larger municipali-ties, the region has several small municipalities. It is a big chal-lenge to the latter to provide the special educational servic-es to meet the needs. Hence, new solutions are being sought from cooperation not only across the municipalities, but al-so across the traditional administrative sectors. The goal is to develop ideas towards innovative solutions in coherent, com-prehensive special education services for those children and schools that need them.

TO THIS END (and as an appendix to the “Haugaland Lift” main project), the SPEDUREG project is looking to Nordic and Baltic neighbour countries to share this challenge and mu-tually share experiences and good practices relevant to this is-sue. The goal is a shared, joined learning journey in the spirit of Nordplus. There are plenty of various “social innovations” within special education and early intervention developed in the Nordic countries.

THE PURPOSE OF the SPEDUREG network is to exchange knowledge and experience in various solutions to special educa-tion within an early intervention, “multi-helper” (cross-section-al) perspective, building on regional cooperation in the partic-ipating countries. To this end, we have organised the network activities as regional “case-studies” in the four regions where the network partners originate. Each case study comprises three elements: a field visit, a “theoretical” presentation of the case, and an open seminar with presentations from the part-ners. The seminars have been open not only to the students and staff in the organising higher education institution, but also to the local community and through other partners. The following have been key phrases in building the SPEDUREG network:1. SPECIAL EDUCATION. Children whose learning needs

are not optimally or adequately met in an ordinary class-room setting.

2. FOCUS ON early intervention. There is evidence that early, tailored intervention can help children with special needs get back on track in a normal classroom.

3. CROSS-DISCIPLINARY, CROSS-ADMINISTRATIVE,

cross-sector cooperation. Often (but not always), chil-dren with learning-related problems also have other is-

The goal is a joined learning journey. Statue of Joy in Stord, Norway.

TEXT and PHOTO: Merja Saarela, Principal Lecturer

Aren’t we all special?

University of Helsinki Viikki Tropical Resources Institute and HAMK developing forest education in South Sudan

TEXT: Eija Laitinen, Project Coordinator, HAMK, and Jörn Laxén, Project Director, University of Helsinki

The University of Helsinki Viikki Tropical Resources Institute (VITRI) and HAMK have a launched a joint project for the development of forest education in South Su-dan. VITRI has years of experience in development coop-eration in Sudan and South Sudan, with HAMK now add-ing new dimensions to the mix in the form of practical for-est expertise and vocational teacher training.

South Sudan, Africa’s youngest and most vulnerable state, needs assistance in the development of forest and environ-mental education, both in terms of running educational in-stitutions and teacher competence. The goal of the project is to promote natural resource-intensive enterprise based on the principle of sustainable development and the diverse and in-novative use of natural resources as well as to improve food safety. Agroforestry, which is the cultivation of food crops in a forest environment, is an integral part of South Sudan’s food production.

The project is being coordinated by VITRI. The HAMK Bioeconomy Education and Research Centre is providing its

PHOTO: Eija Laitinen

forest expertise to the project and the HAMK Vocational Teacher Edu-cation Unit will contribute expertise in teacher training. The South Sudanese partners are the University of Juba College of Natural Resources and Environmental Studies and the Kagelu Forestry College near the city of Yei.

In May, during the first phase of the project, basic data was analysed and operational matters related to the project were agreed upon during a two-week field visit. During the sum-mer, a seedling nursery was established for educational and research purposes, with the first educational courses being of-fered this autumn. The spring visit provided a concrete idea of the need for the project. Major challenges facing univer-sity education are outdated or a complete lack of education-al facilities, but the enthusiasm and commitment of teachers provides an outstanding basis for cooperation.

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F or many years in Finnish higher education, we have had discussions about our role in global responsibility. The Ministry of Education and Culture stated in 2009 that

our global responsibility means, among other aspects, consol-idating the knowledge base of developing countries. In 2009, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs launched a funding programme “The Higher Education Institutions Institutional Cooperation Instrument” (HEI ICI) to support collaboration projects be-tween higher education institutions in Finland and develop-ing countries.

The aim of the HEI ICI Programme is to strengthen develop-ing country HEIs as developmentally responsive institutions by enhancing administrative, field-specific, methodological and pedagogical capacity. The duration of HEI ICI projects is 1–3 years. CIMO (Finnish organisation for international mobility and cooperation) is responsible for the administra-tion of the programme.

HAMK has been active in the HEI ICI programme since the beginning

HAMK has been active in the programme since the very be-ginning. In the preparatory phase of HEI ICI 200, we had a project with Tanzanian partners “Institutional development and capacity building of forestry training institutes in Tanza-nia”. In the following period we were a partner in “Improv-ing Educational Leadership and Management Capacity of the Quang Tri Teacher Training College, Vietnam”.

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Training of trainers in Nepal project

A view from Surkhet campus, Nepal.

The purpose of training of trainers is to support the Faculty of Education (Tu FoE) at Tribhuvan University in Ne-pal to implement the so-called upgrad-ing programme for working teachers. JAMK and HAMK Universities of Ap-plied Sciences in cooperation with Tu FoE will organise training for 62 teach-er educators and 7 ICT experts from central campuses. Concretely, the pur-pose of the training of trainers is to sup-port teacher educators to plan and im-plement an upgrading programme of working teachers through open and dis-tance learning methodology.

The project started at the end of May with a baseline study and the 2-week workshop in Kathmandu and Surkhet. The main goals were to train teachers in three ways: a) open and distance learn-ing, b) adult learning and c) working by developing. After these kick-off work-shops, all the teachers at the six campus-es and also the Finnish teams (HAMK and JAMK) had a very clear idea about

the main challenges in implementing an upgrading programme for 13,000 teach-ers and how to continue the develop-ing processes started in these workshops.

Building open opportunities for students and teachers in the Vietnam project (BOOST)

In the BOOST project, the HAMK Professional Teacher Education Unit works together with JAMK and its Vi-etnamese partners: Quant Tri Teach-er Training College (Dong Ha), Hue University (Hue) and the University of Technology (Ho Chi Minh City).

The project is a continuing project for the Capacity Building project implement-ed by the first four organisations men-tioned above during 2010–2012. Through the Finland–Vietnam Teacher Educa-tion development network, Quang Tri

Teacher Training College’s competences are further strengthened in building di-verse learning environments and labour market cooperation in the region. The first workshop was arranged in Vietnam 11 – 18 June 2013.

The workshops started with two days of work at the University of Technology (UTE). The main goals were to train UTE e-learning teachers to develop their professional skills to plan, pre-pare and implement different e-learn-ing courses. UTE also organises teach-ers’ further training all over Vietnam. The workshops continued with five-day workshops in QTTTC in Dong Ha. The main goals were to train three teams to develop: a) ICT in education, b) project and work-based learning and c) action research working. After these kick-off workshops, all four teams and the Finnish teams had a very clear idea of what to do during this project period.

Both projects last from 2013 to 2015. The total HAMK budget is about €300,000. JAMK is the coordinator of the projects. Nepalese and Vietnamese partners will visit HAMK next autumn.

Photo: Martti Majuri

The HAMK Professional Teacher Education Unit participates in a HEI ICI programme with JAMK University of Applied Sciences, Finland, and Tribhuvan University, Nepal, to develop open and distance learn-ing in Nepal.

TEXT: Martti Majuri, Principal Lecturer, and Tauno Tertsunen, Senior Lecturer

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Export of education increases Finland’s competitiveness

in terms of selling continuing education, so the know-how accumulated over the years can be utilised to improve our inter-national business in the decades to come. Traditionally, Finnish degree-awarding higher education has been accessible to all, for free. At HAMK, the develop-ment of the education export business began a few years ago and has now been incorporated into strategies and devel-opment plans. The aim is to develop our education export business, design prod-ucts suitable for international markets and make a profit, which in turn, expos-es us to a new, interesting, and challeng-ing global competition. We have a lot to

learn, but Finland’s good reputation, as stated above, will help us to get started.

As a small country in northern Eu-rope, Finland is a tiny player in the worldwide education export market. Thus at HAMK, network and partner-ship building in Finland and abroad with other educational institutions and businesses is a crucial success factor in addition to normal business develop-ment involving products, prices, mar-keting materials, references and the se-lection of target countries.

T he OECD PISA acknowledgement of Finnish high-quality education, worldwide recognition of the high

level of Finnish teacher education, Uni-versitas 21 rankings of higher education systems, and Finland’s success in World Skills competitions provide a global con-text for Finland’s education export busi-ness. In the past few years, the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture has proactively encouraged Finnish high-er education institutions to productise education expertise and begin export operations.

For decades, HAMK has been suc-cessful in the domestic education market

TEXT: Maaret Viskari, Clien Relations Manager, and Vesa Parkkonen, Senior Lecturer

PHOTO: Ville Salminen

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P äivi Kontio, a student in the Business Management and Entrepreneurship degree programme at HAMK, packed her bags in September 2012 and headed for Jiangxi Sci-

ence & Technology Normal University in Nanchang for three months. As an exchange student she was somewhat unusual: her three children and her parents followed her to China. Dur-

Exchange studies in China offered a master’s student a whole range of new experiences

Case: Education expertise in lecturer’s pedagogical development

HAMK Professional Teacher Education Unit, a community of experts in the field of vocational pedagogy, is one of the only five vocational teacher education providers in the whole country. The outstanding reputation of Finnish teacher edu-cation has sparked the interest of international clients towards HAMK’s vocational teacher education programmes. This in-terest has facilitated the development of HAMK’s unique ser-vice products related to vocational teacher education, special needs teacher education, student counsellor education and skills training, which are geared towards international clients. Several areas of expertise provided by HAMK Profession-al Teacher Education Unit are of interest to the internation-al clients. The delegations coming to Hämeenlinna, Finland, wish to learn more about our professional pedagogical quali-fication which prepares teachers of higher education institu-tions and vocational colleges to combine theory and practice in their teaching, and to collaborate with business and indus-try representatives to understand and teach the modern trends of their professional field. Many clients are interested in devel-oping their own educational systems to serve the needs of the labour market and to make the system more inclusive follow-ing the Finnish model, in addition to furthering their coun-try’s economic development in the long run.

Lecturer Sirkka-Liisa Virtanen supervised Päivi Kontio’s thesis (right).

Case: Commissioned engineering education from HAMK

Finnish legislation includes one major obstacle to the develop-ment of education export products. The legislation rules out the sale of bachelor-level academic degrees directly to the stu-dents themselves. As the worldwide education export busi-ness, to a large extent, concentrates on selling degrees to for-eign students, this legislation becomes problematic to Finnish higher education institutions. One way to tackle this obsta-cle is to market commissioned higher education programmes to national agencies in charge of higher education. Some cli-ents wish to send a group of bright students to Finland to be-come highly educated engineering professionals who then re-turn to their home country. HAMK’s long tradition of en-gineering education with pedagogically qualified lecturers is a unique service product that has been developed together with our clients. Lately, HAMK has received delegations from around the world, for example, from Brazil, Russia, South Africa and China, and HAMK experts have visited many clients in Af-rica, Asia, South America and Eastern Europe to learn about their education needs. Together with clients, HAMK success-fully initiated curriculum development programmes and shot-term trainings in various fields.

ing the exchange period, Kontio took studies in multicultur-alism, international trade and marketing and worked on her Master’s thesis.

Kontio says she gained a wide range of experiences during her stay. “I was the first exchange student from HAMK at the university, which had received few foreign students from any-where. I lived on the campus, and a Chinese girl helped me organise my every-day life. Even so, it was lonely and chal-lenging at the start.”

Kontio wrote her Master’s thesis for Finnair Ground Han-dling on multicultural work communities. While in China, Kontio collected material for her thesis, for example by ob-serving features that are deeply embedded in our cultures. She also had an opportunity to visit UPM Kymmene offic-es in Shanghai.

TEXT: Taina Lehtomäki, PHOTO: Reima Kallinen

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TEXT: Taina Lehtomäki

THE PLANS OF International Business student Anna Ryabchuk to go and take a double degree in France did not work out, but she decided not to give up on the idea just like that.

Finally, her determination took the young woman to China. “I contacted a Chinese university myself, even though I had missed their application deadline. They agreed to admit me, so I obtained the necessary documents and went off to Beijing.”

Ryabchuk spent the last academ-ic year in its entirety studying at Bei-jing Technology and Business Universi-ty. In late May, she returned to Finland to work on her thesis. She aims to grad-uate on a slightly faster schedule than usual. After that, she will face the chal-lenge of finding a job. “I would like to get a job in the USA. My work could in-clude marketing, administration or even something to do with the media sector. This double degree will allow me to keep my options open,” Ryabchuk says.

The university was prepared to be flexible, as Ryabchuk also received pri-vate tuition on courses that are not nor-mally provided in English. Ryabchuk’s degree programme in China was also called International Business. “It is in-teresting to look at these things from the Chinese perspective for a change,” says Ryabchuk.

”I found this experience very interest-ing and of great personal value. I met so many people from various cultures, and I became familiar with and integrated into a culture that was completely alien to me. All in all, my time in China was great, and it helped me to understand what I want to do in the future. I would recommend both China and a double degree to other students.”

An International Double Degree is a form of cooperation between HAMK and a foreign higher education institu-tion where the students can complete an agreed part of their studies at both institutions and obtain a degree certifi-cate from both.

Anna in a park in Beijing.

Determination took Anna to China to study for a double degree

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L ast year I took part in a writing competition organised by the Federation of Universities of Applied Sciences (FUAS). I wrote about my 3-month practical placement

at Meldreth Manor School, and I really put my heart in it. Liv-ing and working in England was the best experience of my life yet! Luckily, I won second place in the writing competition – due to my humane and warm essay, so I heard. I got to travel to Cambridge, a city I fell in love with last year.

I arrived in Cambridge on Monday afternoon, and I soon found Pembroke College, a very beautiful place to stay for a few days! In the evening we met with Professor Alan Barrell (http://www.alanbarrell.com/), his assistant Apple, and the other winner, Thuy. We went to get to know each other over dinner at a pub called the Eagle, where DNA was discovered. Professor Barrell had already planned a very interesting pro-gramme for the next two days for us, but he also made sure that we could have some free time to wander around in the city on our own, too.

Tuesday started early. We left for Hills Road Sixth Form College already after 9 a.m. We got a chance to help at the Elevator Pitch workshops. Some students had business ideas to be presented to the other students and us in 60 seconds – and some invented something new in only 15 minutes. It was amazing to see how creative young people were there! Pitches were interesting, from self-wrapping gift paper to a fast freez-er. Professor Barrell also showed us an elevator pitch by stu-dents from the college, who actually did win prizes in Hong Kong in a competition!

INSPIRATIONAL CAMBRIDGE

On Wednesday we went to Judge Business School, which is located very near to Pembroke College. At first, Professor Barrell gave a presentation about entrepreneurship and relat-ed topics. We discussed innovation – how an idea is built in-to business and how anyone can become a great hero just by following their dreams! Even though I haven’t been too keen about entrepreneurship before, this presentation was really in-teresting. It really made me think how I too can innovate and create something big. As I am studying social services, there is much room for innovations in the whole world in my ar-ea. I think this could be a very inspirational lecture for any-one in HAMK.

Later that day, we went to Cambridge Science Park. We didn’t really have much time but we had an interesting talk about the Cambridge phenomenon. Cambridge has played a big part in technology and science, and the science park was a place to see that I probably couldn’t have experienced with-out this visit. I was surprised about how an important part of technological life Cambridge has been and how interesting it was to see parts of this great city.

I really enjoyed my short stay in Cambridge. I am real-ly happy that I got a chance to meet Professor Barrell. What an inspirational man! If he ever gave any kind of lecture in HAMK, I would be there. It’s amazing how only a few days and a couple of presentations can encourage people to develop ideas in their minds and maybe some day to carry them out.

TEXT: Mari Autio

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T he HERA Mentoring Programme started in the autumn of 2012 and lasted until the spring of 2013. Foreign students from ten different high-

er education institutions located in southern Finland participated along with a number of company repre-sentatives (mentors). The aim of the programme was two-fold: to build networks and guidance for for-eign students to enter the Finnish labour market and to increase the awareness of foreign students among employers.

Mentoring Programme to promote learning and sharing “When I heard about the HERA Mentoring Pro-gramme, I immediately thought that it provided yet another opportunity to learn and form networks with employers and other foreign students. So I decided to apply and was accepted,” Avinash recalls.

“After the first student orientation meeting, I met my mentor for the first time at the HERA Mentoring Programme Kick-off meeting. My mentor came from the company ABB and was very motivated to partici-pate in the programme as well. The programme coor-dinators had constructed a mentoring package with tools to help guide the participants through the pro-cess, which helped us to get started. We met a few times face-to-face, visited ABB and discussed en-gineering career-related matters, my strengths and weaknesses, job hunting skills and opportunities. In addition, we sent a lot of emails to continue our dis-cussions and edited my job application documents. The discussions with my mentor gave me more self-confidence in meeting professionals in my field and in marketing my skills to employers in Finland and abroad. My mentor is now a friend whom I can con-tact in any matter,” Avinash recounts.

Opportunities emerge through networks

“During the Mentoring Programme, my studies progressed so that I needed to find a thesis commissioner. My mentor helped me with my applications and I was lucky to find a the-sis commissioner from Germany, Stahl Cranesystems Gmbh. The German corporate culture was familiar to me because I had also studied at Kiel University of Applied Sciences as an exchange student for five months.

The group of students who also participated in the pro-gramme from the other higher education institutions became an important network for me. Through the network, I have already found project work in a company in Hyvinkää, Fin-land. We formed a LinkedIn group with mentors and stu-dents where our discussions can continue, as well as a mem-ory book of all mentors’ and students’ photos and contact in-formation,” says Avinash.

Actively seeking opportunities to engage with Finnish employers during studies“In addition to working part-time at the company SOL throughout my studies and participating in great programmes such as the HERA Mentoring Programme, I also participated in some projects during my work placement. One was at De-mola New Factory innovation hub in Tampere, where I worked in a team of students for a project commissioned by Tampere University of Technology. Our five member team designed a model for a roll/walking vehicle that can be used for example in the mining industry,” Avinash explains.

Future plans

“My next goal is to learn more Finnish, as it is important if I decide to stay in Finland after graduation.”

Mentoring Programme provides inside perspective into the Finnish company and work culture as well as the labour market

HAMK Mechanical Engineering student from Nepal, Avinash Dhital, participated in the Helsinki Education and Research Area (HERA) Mentoring Programme last academic year. The positive ex-periences and feedback from the programme encourages HAMK to start a mentoring programme of its own: the pilot project will be implemented by the PAJATSO project next year.

Photo: Mikko Hallikainen

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At the moment, foreign talented stu-dents are not integrated enough into the Finnish labour market, and higher edu-cation institutions do not maintain con-tacts with them after they graduate. Se-rious “brain drain” takes place after eve-ry semester. This is also very expensive for the whole society, as Finland grants free higher education for all. The stu-dents leave Finland and use the skills and knowledge gained during studies somewhere else. One of the best ways to tie the students to the Finnish labour market and society is to systematically coordinate cooperation with companies and to organise opportunities for net-working during studies.

PAJATSO project enhances the employability of foreign studentsThe employability of foreign students in Finland is a complex matter because they lack networks, language skills, and general knowledge about the Finnish work culture and industries. To enhance the employability of the foreign students of HAMK, the PAJATSO project was established in 2012.

The aim of the PAJATSO project is to develop foreign students’ employabil-ity and work search skills on the one hand, and to increase the cooperation between HAMK and companies on the

other hand. The project creates system-atic and functional ways to organise ca-reer-related training and company coop-eration for the benefit of the students and companies. As a result, students gain competence, experience and networks in Finland that will help them to find employment after graduation.

The PAJATSO project markets the competence of foreign students and the benefits of company-higher education cooperation. As a result of the marketing efforts, the local companies have already commissioned various student projects. The message from the local company representatives has been encouraging, as the professional and cultural compe-tence of HAMK students is easily at-tainable to them.

Example of cooperation between HAMK student team and a local company

In April 2013, various partners of HAMK invited the PAJATSO project to organise a business event to support the internationalisation of companies in the Häme region in southern Fin-land. The event brought together com-pany representatives, foreign students and organisations offering services fo-

International talents boosting the competitiveness of business

cused on internationalisation and inter-national operations.

During the event, the PAJATSO project representatives made connec-tions with several companies, and the planning of concrete cooperation started right away. One of the companies, an en-gineering company from the Häme re-gion, wanted to find a subcontractor in Eastern Europe. The PAJATSO project searched for suitable students from the desired target country, and arranged a visit to the company for a group of stu-dents from both business and engineer-ing programmes.

The commissioned project was de-scribed more specifically, and the role of each student was defined. Some of the students started to survey suitable subcontractors, and others researched the quality standards used in the de-fined business area. One of the students worked as a Project Manager. The PA-JATSO contact person guided the stu-dents in cooperation with a HAMK lec-turer. The project lasted for a couple of months and at the end the outcome was good: a suitable subcontractor had been found. The cooperation with the compa-ny continues with a pilot project to test if the new subcontractor relationship will actually benefit both parties. Students from the HAMK student team are par-ticipating in the project.

PAJATSO projectOBJECTIVE: Enhancing the employability of foreign students

MEANS: Developing the employability skills and increasing the company cooperation

TIME PERIOD: 1 May 2012 – 31 December 2014

PARTIAL FINANCIER: the European Social Fund and the Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment of the Häme region

HAMK has currently over 600 foreign students from over 50 countries studying in six degree programmes. The foreign students have the potential and ability to aid the internationalisation of the companies in the Häme region, located in southern Finland. These future employees, who are already trained to work in an international environment, are very valuable from the employer’s perspective as the domestic mar-ket has become more global. TEXT: Salla Niittymäki, Project Manager, and Maaret Viskari, Client Relations Manager

Photo: Sanna Mikkonen

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H AMK’s Riihimäki Campus offers work projects for stu-dents in three fields. The projects, carried out as summer studies, have offered over forty students the possibility

to improve their skills and speed up their studies during the summer. The projects enable companies to utilise the students’ skills by offering them an assignment benefiting the company’.

During the summer, the students have worked in different projects. Traffic and Transport Management students have fa-miliarised themselves with infrastructure development and im-provement in the neighbouring areas. Information Technology students have developed applications and web pages they need. In design Projects, students have developed different means of production as specified by their customers and designed a lay-out for a production plant. Both Finnish and foreign students participated in the design projects, as Mechanical and Produc-tion Engineering students were joined by students from the corresponding english-language Degree Programme in Me-chanical Engineering and Production Technology.

The summer projects are meant for companies in neigh-bouring areas who are willing to participate in the coopera-tion, enabling them to utilise the students’ skills and output. The company also gets to know the students who will enter the labour market in the coming years. At the same time, the summer project students learn valuable skills needed in the labour market, such as project work, scheduling and the rhythm of daily work. The summer project is a 12 credit course that can be included in a degree as a minor subject or work placement. This means that the students can speed up their studies while making good use of their summer.

According to the companies, working with the students has been a rewarding process which has worked out brilliant-

ly. They said the projects were successful and met expectations. Students and companies can continue their summer project cooperation with, for example a thesis which further develops and implements the summer project’s idea.

”The aim of the project was to design a machine and draw up the blueprints from which the machine can be manufac-tured. A great continuation to the summer projects would be to get the student who participated in the project to continue the process with a thesis. The icing on the cake would be to manufacture the machine,” says Tapani Kojo, the Production Manager of Suomen Kerta Oy’s Havi candle factory.

”The best thing about the summer project has been that I’ve learned more about programming during the project than in all the programming courses I’ve taken,” says Niko Järvelä, a third year Media Technology student, when asked what’s best about the project. In the summer projects, the students can utilise the skills they have learned and use them more ex-tensively. This leads to an increased level of application and independent study.

As the projects are allocated to the right companies, the students have viewed the work to be more interesting and more motivating than regular course assignments: ”You are not given information in the same way as you would normally get from a teacher, but you have to deduce and do more your-self,” says Santeri Rantala, a third year Mechanical and Pro-duction Engineering student. Niko Järvelä says that the par-ticipation of actual companies brings additional motivation to the work, as the output is intended for real use and is not just an assignment to be given to the teacher.

Students motivated by the authenticity of summer studies TEXT and PHOTO: Tony Ollila

“The best thing about the summer project has been that I’ve learned more about programming during the project than in all the programming courses I’ve taken”

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HAMK hasaround 7300 students

around 700 staff members

6 fields of education

4 bachelor’s degrees programmes delivered in English

2 master’s degree programmes delivered in English

1 professional teacher education delivered in English

13 double degree programmes with partner universities around the world

over 100 international partner institutions of higher education

over 70 ongoing projects

annual turnover around 67 million euros

R&D funding around 5 million euros

PHOTO: Ville Salminen

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Students’ Finland-Iceland cooperation aims to improve tomato cultivation

S ince autumn 2012, a group of hor-ticulture students at HAMK have studied greenhouse production as

their main subject from a very practical point of view and in close cooperation with Finnish and Icelandic greenhouse companies.

The efforts have evolved into a three year project entitled Cost-effective green-house climate management. From Finland, the project includes seven greenhouses, one of which is the Lepaa greenhouse. A total of five Icelandic greenhouses are involved in the project, including the Reykir research greenhouse (the Agri-cultural University of Iceland LbHI).

Larger and healthier tomato crops

The project aims to develop a produc-tion method yielding healthy tomato plants and maximum production capa-bility which would not require addition-al investments. The method would work in both Finland and Iceland. The vari-eties, techniques and artificial lighting used in the cultivation of tomatoes are similar in both countries.

For Finnish farmers, an additional motivation to take part in the study was information obtained concerning ener-gy consumption. The research group has visited Iceland on two occasions. The group has also visited Finnish farms and met Finnish farmers at Lepaa.

A manual based on measurements

In cooperation with farming advice ser-vices, farmers from both countries have

undertaken to carry out regular meas-urements on different parts of the to-mato culture and to report climate in-formation that will constitute research data to be analysed in the project. ”Ar-si Kujala, a student from the group, has developed a computing model that can be used by farmers to anticipate the size of the crops to be obtained from the culture in question. This has been of great interest to our cooperation part-ners,” explains Mona-Anitta Riihimä-ki, Principal Lecturer (Research) from the HAMK Lepaa Campus.

After two years, the data will be used to compile a manual or an online appli-cation to benefit farmers, advisory ser-vices and teaching. The manual will be published in Finnish, Swedish and Ice-landic. In the future, the methods of the pilot project can be applied, for example, in the management of cucumber cultures.

Independence, responsibility and motivationStudents Mikko Hänninen, Toni Valo, Siina Kaakinen, Katrianna Leino, Eli-sa Majara, Arsi Kujala, Tuomas Lau-ronen, Vilma-Lotta Mustonen and Ali Romar prepared the project and grant applications and created the operating network, information channels (includ-ing a blog) and the learning environ-ment. The teacher provided guidance and offered her contacts for the use of the group. The expert project was thus created entirely by students, which has increased networking, the workplace-orientation of studies as well as the stu-

dents’ motivation. In autumn 2013, the group that began the project mentored new students in the greenhouse produc-tion course regarding the project and other studies integrated with the pro-ject. In addition, bachelor’s theses are being produced on the cost-efficient management of greenhouse climate. Implementing the project through stu-dent work is beneficial for everyone, as the motivation of students is increased and the professional knowledge of the teacher is updated. This makes for a flex-ible training of experts that adapts to the needs of the workplace. In the best case scenario, a company can train itself a competent professional by commis-sioning a study that is implemented by students. The project also helps students network with Finnish and Icelandic or-ganisations, educational institutions and businesses in the field.

The project received a EUR 5000 grant from the Maiju and Yrjö Rika-la garden foundation for the year 2013. Other funders of the project are Puu-tarhasäätiö from Finland, Österbot-tens Svenska Producentförfundet and the central organisation of agricul-tural producers in Iceland (Samband Garðyrkjurænda). Cooperation part-ners in the project are the Finnish Glass-house Growers’ Association, an Icelan-dic farming advice service (Garðyrkju- og ylræktarráðunautur, Ráðgjafarsvið ), Närpes grönsaker and the Vocational College of Ostrobothnia (YA).

TEXT: Pia Rupponen

PHOTO: Mona-Anitta Riihimäki

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”Implementing the project through student work is bene-ficial for everyone, as the moti-vation of students is increased and the professional knowledge of the teacher is updated.”

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T he European Entrepreneur in a Digital World intensive period gives opportunities for various experiences. Stu-dents from different areas of study come together for

two weeks to develop digitalization in European businesses.The first EEDW intensive week was hosted by HAMK

University of Applied Sciences. The Visamäki Campus func-tioned as a base camp for forty students from five European educational institutions. Students and staff from Ludwigshafen University of Applied Sciences in Germany, Hanze University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands, Jagiellonian Univer-sity in Poland, the Technical University of Madrid in Spain, and Howest, University College West Flanders in Belgium gave their very best to develop digital marketing communica-tion across Europe.

“People usually go abroad to get new experiences. In the EEDW course I found a new thought: why do you have to go abroad to get new experiences when you can find new experi-ences here in Finland? Bring a bunch of foreigners here, add a few Finns, give a project assignment and see what comes of it. Different foreigners work in incredibly different ways. In this course, the best learning experience came from international work habits. For me, a typical style to say things just the way they are is a great surprise to foreigners. First I thought the problem was my English skills. After a few surprised faces, one student from my project team asked if I am angry or is every Finn so direct. Foreigners just don’t know how to react to our way of communicating,” says Toni Järvinen, a HAMK student.

Universities have collaborated in such intensive periods in previous years during the DIMA project. The encourag-ing experiences gathered from the previous years have con-vinced the universities to continue and enhance this fruit-ful cooperation.

The students especially value the cultural experience offered by such intensive periods. The practice of foreign language and the European experience motivated students to participate and helps them later on in their studies and career. Two weeks of international studies have sparked even longer exchange pe-riods among some students.

During the intensive period, the students will learn to ap-proach the development of new ICT from an international point of view and to merge the various disciplines while work-ing in international teams.

Participating students study either business administration, business information technology or marketing communication. Common elements for all study areas in the digital world are digital marketing, including the Internet, social media and other digital media as well as mobile marketing and planning technology for digital marketing communications. Also digi-tal service development and ways to measure the quality and effectiveness of digital marketing are crucial to modern mar-keting and it is important to combine technological and busi-ness knowledge.

Students and staff at participating universities work to-wards these goals to make European entrepreneurs prepared for the digital world.

“Before I started the EEDW course, I wondered how I’m going to manage. After the course I can say: you can manage in every situation well when you take others into account, you are polite and always ask yourself: how can I do this better? One small but really important thing we Finns need to de-velop is how we spend our spare time. Foreign people just go out together every week and just have fun. And without alco-hol! In nightclubs and bars, they just dance and chat, unlike Finns,” says Toni Järvinen.

TEXT and PHOTOS: Teemu Korpi

Two weeks of intensive international experience

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MISSIONHAMK is the only higher education institution in the re-gion. HAMK performs its statutory duties in a novel and unique way. The student is the centre of all our operations and the workplace is the immediate beneficiary. We are near the operations of the sub-regions. We are success-ful and the region is successful. That is why we put em-phasis on our presence in the sub-regions.

We improve Finland’s competitiveness and disseminate our expertise globally and also into the fields of educa-tion and research.

Success FactorsWe work together with our partners. We seize opportu-nities and assess our operations, we solve problems and correct mistakes immediately. We are a community made up of students and staff members.

We work together eagerly, openly, with the strength of diversity, and by being bold.

InternationalisationResearch units and groups function in important research projects with our international strategic partners (Feevale University / Brazil, Jiangxi Science and Technology Nor-mal University / China, VIA University College / Demark).

The export of expertise has become a central part of our operations. It has also expanded and become digital and is cost-effective.

All student, teacher and researcher mobility in all fields of study is systematic and directly supports our operations.

Degree programmes taught in English are linked to the internationalisation of the region.

PHOTO: Ville Salminen

Find us in social media:

facebook.com/hamkuas

www.youtube.com/hamkuas

http://instagram.com/hamk_uas/

https://twitter.com/hamkuas

www.pinterest.com/hamkuas

www.linkedin.com/company/hamk

PHOTO: Ville Salminen

Hämeen ammattikorkeakoulu/ HAMK University of Applied Sciences Viestintäpalvelut/Communications PL 230 / PO Box 230 FI-13101 Hämeenlinna, FINLAND