CIMO ANNUAL PUBLICATION 2016

Quarter of a century of internationalisation

CIMO is an expert organisation providing services on international mobility and co-operation. As an

agency of the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture, we promote internationalisation in a variety

of ways. We coordinate exchange programmes, trainee opportunities and scholarship schemes, and

implement and inform about EU programmes in Finland. We support the teaching of Finnish language

and culture in universities outside Finland and raise the international profile of Finnish education. We

collect, produce and share data and knowledge on internationalisation with experts, decision-makers

and the general public. Our vision is a genuinely global-minded Finland.

Key figures for CIMO’s year 2015

• total budget EUR 47.8 million

• EUR 37 million distributed in scholarships and project support

• 24,850 people took part in projects and programmes

• nearly 2 million visits to web sites

• personnel included 103 people in Helsinki and

16 teachers of Finnish language and culture abroad

CIMO 1991–2016 3

THIS YEAR, 25 years will have passed since the founding of CIMO. A Finnish act from 1991 states the fol-

lowing: “The purpose of the Centre for International Mobility is to promote student and trainee exchange

and other mobility between Finland and other countries.” A great deal has happened over the years. The

sector and tasks of CIMO have changed and the clientele has expanded. The operating environment has

been through a radical change. Two of the four current neighbouring countries of Finland did not exist at

the time of drafting the first version of the act.

In this publication, our goal is to outline the progress of internationalisation in our sector. The chrono-

logically structured text contains highlights from events in Finland, Europe, and around the world. We

will delve a little deeper into the development of some themes and depict some of the turning points in

CIMO’s operations. Finally, Permanent Secretary Anita Lehikoinen from the Finnish Ministry of Education

and Culture will share with us some of her visions for the future.

Co-operation with customers and stakeholders has always been characteristic of the way we work. We

have worked together to build an international Finland. We would like to extend our warmest thanks to

you all for allowing us to walk this path with you.

2016 will be CIMO’s final operating year but our work continues. As of the beginning of next year, we will

continue the work in a new agency together with the current National Board of Education.

The journey towards a more international and genuinely global-minded Finland continues.

Samu Seitsalo

Director General of CIMO

To the reader

4 CIMO 1991–2016

The images in the publication are from 1996 and credited to Pekka Ailio. The young people in the images are members of the Pilotit sports team from Vantaan Voimisteluseura

and their friends.

Erasmus students from Finland

1992–1993821

2000–2001

3,286 2010–2011

5,081

5CIMO 1991–2016

1. Heading to Europe (–1994)

2010–20112013–2014

5,569

THE MID-1980s are a time of rapid international-

isation in Finland. The stage is set with turbulent

changes in international politics, such as the inte-

gration of Western Europe and the collapse of so-

cialism, after which the Soviet Union disappears

from the map and the Eastern European coun-

tries begin their process of change.

Finland sees the integration of Europe as both a

challenge and an opportunity. The country hopes to

be prepared for the free movement of capital, goods,

labour and services and to secure opportunities to

take part in the increasing international interaction.

New professions and international tasks are created

in different sectors.

The general mindset in Finland is that the foun-

dation for the skills and knowledge required for in-

ternationalisation comes through education. As a

result, the state starts to increasingly support devel-

opment activities promoting international mobility,

as studying, doing research or undertaking train-

ing periods abroad have been deemed efficient ways

of obtaining international skills. Internationalisation

becomes one of the main areas of emphasis in high-

er education, and the Finnish Ministry of Education

drafts an agenda to develop international operations

in institutions of higher education.

At the turn of the 1990s, international mobility

in Finland concerns a few thousand people.

It is mainly organised using bilateral pro-

grammes with the principle of reciprocity and man-

aged in different ministries. New multilateral mo-

bility programmes, such as the Comett and Erasmus

programmes of the European Union as well as the

Nordic Nordplus programme, have already been in-

troduced on the market due to the development of

European integration. These programmes are also

arriving in Finland.

Finnish citizens are living the era of President

Mauno Koivisto and Prime Minister Esko Aho. The

economy has taken a downward turn and the in-

creasing unemployment is taking its toll on the peo-

ple. Working life has reached a turning point: topics

of discussion include information work, temp jobs

and the continuous need for education and train-

ing. A success story is taking root; in the summer

of 1991, Harri Holkeri, the Governor of the Bank

of Finland, makes the world’s first GSM call with a

Nokia mobile phone.

6 CIMO 1991–2016

Students feel that spending

time abroad develops social and

interactive skills and teaches you

to get along with people

from different cultures.

• Global Mindedness survey (see p. 32)

”

This is the Finland in which the Centre for In-

ternational Mobility is founded.

The desire to enhance administration, coordi-

nation and services by concentrating all the pro-

grammes under one roof drives the will to establish

the centre. The issue is prepared by a service cen-

tre committee appointed by the Finnish Ministry of

Education. The committee proposes establishing a

centre for managing the increasing mobility duties

in the ministry’s administrative sector. The act and

decree on the Centre for International Mobility en-

ter into force on 1 June 1991 and the centre launch-

es its operations two days later.

The promotion of internationalisation in edu-

cation and working life with the means of mobility

is defined as the key task of the centre. The centre

plans, implements and coordinates exchange pro-

grammes, provides its customers with information,

communication and publication services, and offers

its stakeholders training and consultancy.

The operations transferred to the centre are its

backbone: international training from the Finnish

Ministry of Employment, the scholarship agency

and housing operations from the Ministry of Educa-

tion, and the expert exchange, training programmes

and scholarship schemes from the Ministry of Trade

and Industry.

Personnel from the Ministries of Employment

and Education follow the transferred programmes;

the newly established centre has a staff of 26 em-

ployees. The 11 programmes cover 3,500 students,

researchers and trainees from Finland and other

countries.

The centre decides to adopt the name CIMO

after its English name, Centre for International Mo-

bility. CIMO starts to profile itself as an expert and

service organisation. Citizens need information on

internationalisation opportunities and, in 1992,

CIMO promptly launches an enquiries telephone as

the first of its counselling services. One year later, an

information desk is opened for visitors.

The integration of Europe can be seen in

CIMO’s operations from the very beginning. Fin-

land was accepted into the technical field’s Comett

programme at the beginning of 1990 and the higher

education Erasmus programme a year later. CIMO

becomes the national agency for Erasmus in charge

of managing the programme in Finland. The aca-

demic year 1992–1993 marks the first time Finn-

ish participants can undertake exchanges in the pro-

gramme. In the first round, more than 800 students

7CIMO 1991–2016

At the founding stage of CIMO, academic mobility

looked very different to what the Erasmus generation is

used to. Studying, doing research or teaching abroad was

only possible for a select few.

Mobility was based on high-level negotiations be-

tween Finland and different countries and the resulting

agreements regarding cultural exchange. The first agree-

ments were made as early as in the 1930s, but the busiest

times for them were the 1950s–1970s.

The agreements resulted in bilateral cultural ex-

change programmes. These programmes also included

mobility, which usually meant at least student and post-

graduate student exchange and often the exchange of

science and culture experts, as well as language courses.

The number of people and the visitation months were

strictly based on reciprocal quotas. The largest number of

countries taking part in the programmes was 40, most of

them European countries.

Cultural exchange programmes did not reach the

masses but were a sought-after option, for instance,

for academic people from socialist countries: movement

from the East to the West was quite strictly regulated and

expensive for the visitor.

Well into the 1980s, embassies can be considered

to have been the only agencies of international mobil-

ity. In the 1990s, mobility started to become a reality for

the masses. The framework programmes for research in

the EU and Erasmus turned the situation around perma-

nently, transforming the everyday lives of students and

professors in Finnish universities.

Scholarships based on cultural agreements have been

one of the cornerstones on which CIMO was originally

built. From the very beginning, CIMO has also devel-

oped other types of funding routes to enable the entry

of international postgraduate students and researchers

to Finland. The CIMO Fellowship scholarship scheme, for

instance, offered an alternative based on open competi-

tion instead of quotas.

The programmes based on cultural agreements were

renewed at the beginning of the 2000s and replaced

with the Finnish Government Scholarship Pool. This pro-

gramme also switched from quotas to an application pro-

cess where all the applicants from the contracting coun-

tries compete for the same scholarships.

When mobility in Europe became a possibility for

anyone, the international scholarship schemes at CIMO

turned their gaze beyond the continent. The Scholarship

Pool programme, for instance, is now only open to ap-

plicants from third countries. The programme has also

welcomed some new countries, with Namibia and Peru

as the most recent participants. At the moment, the pro-

gramme covers 14 countries.

From bilateral scholarships to the mobility of the common people

8

Erasmus students to Finland

CIMO 1991–2016 1992–1993

2000–2001

2010–20112013–2014

154

3,554

6,8057,279

from Finnish universities leave for Europe, while

Finland welcomes 150 Erasmus students. At this

time, there are also about 2,200 international degree

students studying at Finnish universities.

CIMO’s expertise on Russia grows when the

scholarship schemes and some of the staff of the

discontinued Finnish Institute for Russian and East

European Studies are transferred under its opera-

tions.

CIMO determinedly builds co-operation with

foreign sister organisations such as the German

DAAD and the Dutch Nuffic and, in 1993, becomes

one of the founders of Academic Cooperation Associ-

ation, a union of the aforementioned organisations,

also known as the ACA.

Finland has now entered a time of reaching out

from the tricky balancing act between the East and

the West and drawing closer to the rest of Europe.

Eyes turn to the Helsinki Senate Square where the

Leningrad Cowboys and the Red Army Choir per-

form in the Total Balalaika Show.

One year later, in 1994, Finland enters the era of

President Martti Ahtisaari and joins the European

Economic Area, which opens new pathways to Eu-

rope. At the end of the year, a referendum on mem-

bership of the EU is organised, and 57% of Finns

say YES to the EU.

The operations of CIMO extend from the inter-

nationalisation of higher education to include youth

work, as the EEA agreement allows Finland to join

the European Union’s Youth for Europe programme.

The programme supports learning outside class-

rooms, such as youth exchanges.

9CIMO 1991–2016

Everybody knows Erasmus – or at least someone who

has been on an Erasmus exchange. People talk about the

Erasmus generation, an age group that has already

reached middle age, found its place in working life, and

taken over the positions of control in Europe. In fact, their

children are now at the age of higher education.

The EU Erasmus programme has already provided ex-

change experiences to more than 3.5 million higher edu-

cation students in Europe. The programme was launched

in 1987, and Finland joined it five years later.

In Finland, joining the programme was prepared by a

team appointed by the Ministry of Education. The team

predicted that by the end of the 1990s, 250 Finns would

undertake an Erasmus exchange every year, but it was

not convinced that the number of students arriving in Fin-

land would reach the same level.

The predictions turned out to be overly modest

when more than 800 students left for the first Erasmus

exchange period 1992–1993 and the number reached

nearly 3,500 students by the end of the 1990s. In the ac-

ademic year 2014–2015, 5,600 Finns left for an Erasmus

exchange. Finland has proved to be a very popular Eras-

mus destination; after the initial hesitation, the number

of students arriving to Finland started to grow rapidly and

exceeded the number of students leaving the country in

2000. In 2013–2014, nearly 7,300 Erasmus students ar-

rived in Finland.

1 Effects of mobility on the skills and employability of students and the internationalisation of higher education institutions. Erasmus impact study. European Commission, 2014.2 Finnish age group = 60,000 people

Erasmus will change your life

In the impact study conducted by the European Com-

mission1, European higher education institutions found

that one of the merits of Erasmus is that it has helped

create new contacts and led to e.g. shared degrees and

intensive courses. However, it is still agreed that student

exchange is the heart of the programme.

In 2017, Erasmus will celebrate its 30th anniversary

as a part of the current Erasmus+ programme. By 2015,

some 84,000 Finnish students had taken part in the pro-

gramme. At this rate, the number of Finnish participants

will amount to 1.5 age groups at the time of the an-

niversary year2. The number of participants already cor-

responds to the population of a medium-size Finnish city .

The 25th anniversary of Erasmus was celebrated with

the theme Erasmus – Changing lives, opening minds. Er-

asmus indeed has a way of changing the lives of its par-

ticipants. Going on an exchange improves employment

and career prospects. It also increases the likelihood of

moving abroad, either to find work or to follow one’s

heart. Of all Erasmus students, 33% were in a relation-

ship with a foreigner, and 27% had met their partner dur-

ing their exchange. According to the calculations of the

Commission, the relationships started during exchanges

have resulted in about one million Erasmus babies.

According to the same calculations, about 28,000

Finnish Erasmus students are living with a foreigner and

23,000 of them met their partner during their exchange.

One question remains: How many Erasmus babies do we

have in Finland?

10 CIMO 1991–2016

2000

Finnish higher education students’ exchange periods abroad

2010

19985,644

6,880

10,123

11CIMO 1991–2016

2. The first years of EU membership (1995–1999)

1 Mitä mieltä suomalainen? EVAn asennetutkimuksien kertomaa vuosilta 1984–

2003. (“What do Finns think? Results of EVA Attitude Survey 1984–2003.”)

2015

10,139

FINLAND begins its EU membership alongside

Sweden and Austria. The first period of Presiden-

cy takes place in 1999, when Finland has had four

years of practice at being a member. For Finns, the

EU quickly becomes a fixed point of reference and

we start to evaluate our affairs and actions in pro-

portion to the EU. Finns now see active operations

in the EU as the most vital issue for the international

role of the country.1

Nokia has become the leading global mobile

phone manufacturer. Finns are also gaining a new

kind of traction in international sports arenas: Fin-

land wins the Ice Hockey World Championship

for the first time in 1995 and the World Junior Ice

Hockey Championship three years later.

The premiership of Paavo Lipponen is in its

early stages in Finland. The field of education takes

an enormous leap when the Polytechnics Act en-

ters into force and the institutions that previously

offered education based on upper secondary school

are replaced with a network of polytechnics (since

May 2016 called officially universities of applied sci-

ences). The new system plays its part in responding

to the changing demands of work and business life.

European co-operation is enhanced with polit-

ical-level processes. In the mid-1990s, the foreign

ministers of the Member States of the European

Union and the partner countries in the Mediterra-

nean basin meet in Barcelona to agree upon co-op-

eration. Thus begins the Barcelona Process, the goal

of which is to make the Mediterranean a shared area

of peace, stability and prosperity for all. The ef-

fects of the process impact, for instance, the forms

of funding for different programmes. Within a few

years, the EuroMed-Youth programme is launched to

support the youth work co-operation between the

EU countries and the countries in the Mediterra-

nean basin.

The sector of higher education also has its revo-

lutions: at the end of the millennium, the Ministers

of Education of the Member States sign the Bologna

Declaration to start a process of creating a consist-

ent higher education area in Europe. The objective

is to increase the attractiveness and competitiveness

of European education and make the acknowledge-

ment and comparability of degrees simpler by, for

instance, harmonising the degree structure and the

scaling system of the studies. Another objective is to

significantly increase mobility.

12 CIMO 1991–2016

At the same time, the Europass is launched to

help European youth compile their skills into a CV

for their job search. The Europass makes it easier to

compare skills and degrees and, as a result, improves

the mobility of students and workers throughout

Europe.

EU membership has given Finland the right to

take part in the programmes of the European Union

in full, and Finns are from the very beginning in-

volved in the programme period starting in the mid-

1990s. Programmes of general education, higher

and adult education, language teaching and educa-

tional experts are now complied under the Socrates

programme, whereas the Leonardo da Vinci pro-

gramme unifies the previous vocational education

and training programmes. The Tempus programme

supports the higher education co-operation between

EU countries and the neighbouring areas, and the

Alfa programme manages co-operation between the

EU and Latin America. Programmes for co-opera-

tion with the United States, Canada, Australia and

New Zealand are also launched.

In the youth sector, the third phase of the Youth

for Europe programme begins. The programme has

now expanded to cover co-operation with Central

and Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Republics,

Latin America and the countries in the Mediterra-

nean basin. The EU also wishes to support learning

outside formal education through voluntary service:

the European Voluntary Service (EVS) starts as a pro-

ject designed to last a couple of years, later continu-

ing as a programme.

The EU is also strongly present

in CIMO operations

The new EU programme period strengthens the

role of CIMO as a national agency. CIMO is in

charge of the Erasmus and Arion programmes in-

cluded in Socrates as well as some of the Lingua ac-

tivities. CIMO is also given responsibility for the

mobility activities of Tempus and the Leonardo da

Vinci programme. In addition, the responsibilities

outside the education sector increase as CIMO be-

comes the national agency for the EVS voluntary

service. The programme is given a Finnish name:

Nuorten eurooppalainen vapaaehtoispalvelu Neuvo.

Finland joins the European network of the Na-

tional Resource Centres for Guidance (NRCG)

that supports educational and vocational guidance

practitioners in education and employment sectors.

CIMO is appointed the National Resource Centre

for information, advice and guidance with the 15

largest employment offices nationwide as its part-

ners.

EU membership also affects the nationally fund-

ed operations of CIMO. For instance, free move-

ment enables the geographical focus points of train-

ing programmes to shift outside Europe, and the

role of mediating training placements is replaced

with supporting the training, coordination, commu-

nication, education and co-operation with the edu-

cational institutions. The integration skills of offi-

cials are developed with CIMO’s own training and

study programme.

CIMO 1991–2016 13

The European Voluntary Service (EVS) celebrates its 20th

anniversary in 2016. Finnish operators from the Åland Is-

lands to Inari as well as young people from brave, visually

impaired youths to active environmentalists have taken

part in the service. The incoming volunteers have met

people from the musicians of the punk band Pertti Kuri-

kan Nimipäivät to President Tarja Halonen.

It is hard not to fall in love with the EVS programme

when you look into it a little closer. What else is suitable

for anyone between the ages of 17 and 30 regardless of

education, language skills, gender, or anything else for

that matter? What else opens pathways to guided and

interesting voluntary work abroad without personal ex-

penses? What other programme puts young people with

fewer opportunities first?

Finland may lose to a number of countries in terms

of numbers of EVS volunteers, but we make up for it

with top quality. We are extremely successful in welcom-

ing young people with fewer opportunities. EVS has also

strengthened its image as a tool for youth guarantee. For

instance, the workshops in the cities of Lahti and Lieto and

the Hyvinkään-Riihimäen seudun ammattikoulutussäätiö

(HRAKS) offer EVS activities for the young people taking

part in the workshops. The results gained from EVS peri-

ods have been amazing. The young people return home

mentally more mature, with faith in themselves and their

future, having obtained a larger set of skills.

Many actors have been involved in the process

throughout the EVS journey. These include the munici-

pal youth services of Lappeenranta, Ranua and Turku, the

Youth Centre Villa Elba, Maailmanvaihto (ICYE Finland),

the youth exchange of Allianssi and the Finnish Branch of

Service Civil International (KTV).

How does an organisation benefit from voluntary ser-

vice? Heidi Jyrkkä studied the matter from the perspec-

tive of municipal youth work in her thesis1. The most val-

uable benefit is the opportunity for intercultural learning

where internationality is otherwise not a part of peoples’

everyday lives. In addition to the young person, a volun-

tary project benefits the work community and the local

residents: improving language skills and increasing inter-

est towards other cultures. A foreign volunteer promotes

tolerance, equality and anti-racism.

The shift in attitudes is most visible in communities

that have had several volunteers. Both young people and

adults have shed their prejudices. In retrospect, it is easy

to think that welcoming a volunteer would have helped

people to prepare for the rapid increase in the number of

asylum seekers.

The programme also benefits organisations building

an international network by sending EVS volunteers out

into the world. For a young person, voluntary service is a

natural step into the big world, but the organisation that

sent the young person can then welcome back a skilled,

motivated and innovative citizen of the world who can

act as a peer tutor, for instance, after his/her return.

1 Heidi Jyrkkä: EVS-vapaaehtoinen kotikansainvälisyyden edistäjänä: Kokemuksia yhdeksän kunnan nuorisotyöstä. (“An EVS volunteer as a promoter of internation-

alisation at home. Experiences of youth work in nine municipalities.”) Humak University of Applied Sciences. 2012.

Fall in love with the EVS programme!

CIMO 1991–201614

During the Finland’s EU membership, the goal has been

to ensure that young people receive information not only

on national education and employment but also on the

situation in the rest of Europe. This objective was at first

promoted by the National Resource Centre for Guidance,

which CIMO was appointed in 1996. The activities are

now called the Finnish Euroguidance Centre, which is

connected to a European network of over 30 countries.

The arena of guidance and counselling has changed

quite radically over the past couple of decades. Materials

are now online, the administration of employment and

economy has undergone several reformations, interna-

tionality is visible in curricula and also a part of the quali-

fications of guidance professionals. However, the Eurogu-

idance operations have retained their core functions from

the very beginning: training for guidance experts, dis-

tribution and production of information, and European

network co-operation.

The Euroguidance Centre is supported by a group of

experts representing operators in the guidance sector and

informing the centre of the needs and upcoming changes

of the field. It also provides a co-operation forum for its

members: coaches of guidance professionals, employees

of ministries, and guidance professionals working in the

administration of education, employment and economy

as well as the youth sector. The Euroguidance Centre has

carried out its tasks and encouraged its target groups and

stakeholders to network through internationalisation and

for the sake of internationalisation.

Steps on the European arena of guidance

Even the guidance professionals as a group have

changed. New people have entered the field, and the

experienced professionals have vigorously increased their

international skills with the help of instructor exchanges,

supplementary training and different events. The Aca-

demia exchanges funded by the EU brought new ideas,

policies, inspiration and the development of skills in the

field of guidance between 2000 and 2016 when hun-

dreds of guidance professionals travelled to and from

Finland.

The status of internationality in guidance expertise

has also changed. Internationalisation and the resulting

skills are now considered an important part of working

life skills, which is why professionals of guidance and

counselling are expected to have experience on the sub-

ject. Guidance professionals often ponder how well they

should familiarise themselves with international issues for

being able to provide professional guidance. Fortunately,

more and more professionals find this a pleasant chal-

lenge and an element that enriches their work.

The strength of the Euroguidance operations has

been the close co-operation with guidance operators as

well as actively listening to those working in guidance

and counselling. The services have been developed to-

gether with guidance professionals and according to their

needs. The reformations of the basics of curricula car-

ried out on different levels of education and the focus on

larger entities provide opportunities for further develop-

ment work in internationality and international guidance.

15

about 5,650 students go on exchange from Finnish

higher education institutions, and nearly 3,500 ex-

change students arrive in Finland from other coun-

tries. There are now a little under 3,200 internation-

al degree students.

CIMO starts to publish the Campus customer

magazine on internationalisation in different sec-

tors. The organisation’s first online service, www.

cimo.fi, is launched in 1996 and the Discover Fin-

land tool for marketing Finland as a place of study

is opened three years later. People are thirsty for in-

formation, and 1996 is the peak year of distributing

publications: during the year, 407,000 publications

are distributed to CIMO’s target groups in Finland

and abroad. For two consecutive years, the distribu-

tion numbers have risen a staggering 75% from the

previous year’s figures.

CIMO 1991–2016

International higher education students’ exchange periods in Finland

2000

2010

2015

1998

3,476

4,805

8,990

10,474

Trade with the East has always been impor-

tant to Finland, but after the collapse of the So-

viet Union, it has radically slowed down, leaving

Finland seeking new forms of co-operation with

Russia. Commissioned by the Ministry of Educa-

tion, CIMO tests the waters for higher education

co-operation between the countries. The first Finn-

ish-Russian Winter School is held in 1995 with the

purpose of establishing connections with gifted stu-

dents and universities. A little later, higher education

co-operation seminars are launched to enable Finns

and Russians to assemble every couple of years.

The field of CIMO’s operations grows even

more diverse when the responsibility for the pro-

motion of teaching Finnish language and culture

in foreign universities is moved from the Ministry

of Education to CIMO in 1998. Along with this re-

sponsibility, CIMO is able to tap into a network of

Finnish studies in 89 universities in 26 countries all

over the world. EU membership has resulted in in-

creased interest towards the language and culture of

Finland, which has led to more universities offering

Finnish studies.

The same year, statistics concerning interna-

tional mobility in universities are collected for the

first time, and universities of applied sciences are

added to the statistics one year later. At this point,

16 CIMO 1991–2016

1991–1992

2010–2011

Finns undertaking a degree abroad*

* Students receiving study grants from Kela.

Most of the students study in a foreign

higher education institution.

2000–2001

5,4575,161

3,168

17CIMO 1991–2016

3. Internationality becomes commonplace (2000–2009)

1 ja 2 Mitä mieltä suomalainen? EVAn asennetutkimuksien kertomaa vuosilta 1984–2003.

(“What do Finns think? Results of EVA Attitude Survey 1984–2003.”)

2010–2011

2014–2015

7,561

THE NEW millennium draws Finland even further

into the whirlwind of European co-operation. The

Nordic countries start following the Schengen regu-

lations and the eastern border of Finland becomes

a part of the external border of the Schengen Area.

The Finnish mark is replaced with euro, the com-

mon currency of Europe. In 2004, the European

Union grows even larger, gaining ten new Mem-

ber States in the Baltic Countries, Central and East-

ern Europe, as well as welcoming Malta and Cyprus

and, three years later, Bulgaria and Romania. Fin-

land has its second EU Presidency in 2006.

On 11 September 2001, the world is devastated

by the terrorist attacks in the United States. Their af-

tershocks even impact the foreign policy of Finland,

our international decisions, and our attitude towards

the future. The values and feelings of Finns suffer

a severe blow as the world is suddenly not as safe

as before.1 A few years later, another jarring event

takes place as the tsunami resulting from an earth-

quake in the Indian Ocean kills more than 200,000

people. Among those 200,000 are 179 Finns, which

somehow brings the distant catastrophe very close

to home.

Tarja Halonen becomes the first female presi-

dent of Finland, and Matti Vanhanen steps in as the

Prime Minister after the short premiership of An-

neli Jäätteenmäki.

Finns firmly believe that Finland’s success is

based on high-quality, equal education.2 The repu-

tation of Finland as a country of quality education

takes root around the world as the country is ranked

number one in the OECD PISA results for three

times in a row during the first decade of the 2000s.

Success sometimes comes in forms you would not

expect – to everyone’s astonishment, Finland wins

the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 with Hard Rock

Hallelujah by Lordi.

The story of Nokia, however, begins its decline.

The company’s business profit, numbers of employ-

ees in Finland, stock exchange rates and the sales

of basic phones take a downward turn. This is the

Finnish prelude to the recession that weighs heavily

on global economy at the end of the decade.

The millennium starts with an EU summit in

Lisbon, stating the development of EU into the most

competitive and dynamic information economy in

the world as its objective. A couple of years later, the

18 CIMO 1991–2016

International students see Finland

as a good, safe country to live in;

a place where the society and

studying environment function well.

• International Student Barometer (see page 27)

”Ministers of Education of the Union’s member and

candidate countries as well as the representatives

of labour market organisations assemble in Copen-

hagen to discuss the future of vocational education

and training. The Copenhagen Process is launched to

improve the quality and attractiveness of vocational

education and training and to increase the mobility

of vocational students and graduates. A key task of

the co-operation is to produce tools for comparing

qualifications and improving quality. A more exten-

sive objective for the process is a Europe-wide la-

bour market.

Practical co-operation is developed by renewing

programmes. At the beginning of 2000, YFE and

EVS are combined into the EU Youth Programme.

Seven years later, Socrates and Leonardo da Vinci

are adopted under the same Lifelong Learning Pro-

gramme (LLP) and the Youth Programme is re-

named Youth in Action. The new Erasmus Mundus

increases the attractiveness of European higher ed-

ucation and promotes the networking of higher ed-

ucation institutions in Europe and on other conti-

nents by supporting shared Master’s programmes

and global mobility.

Finnish higher education institutions interest in-

ternational students more and more. At the begin-

ning of the 2000s, the number of Erasmus students

arriving in Finland already exceeds the number of

students leaving: there are now more than 3,500

students arriving and a little under 3,300 students

leaving. The number of foreigners studying for a

degree in Finnish higher education institutions ex-

ceeds 10,000. Comparison and transfer of credits

in Europe becomes easier in the mid-2000s, when

Finnish higher education institutions start to use the

European ECTS points created in the Bologna Pro-

cess.

The Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture

raises internationality as one of the key areas of fo-

cus in the development plan of education and re-

search (KESU) for 2007–2012 and defines objec-

tives regarding higher education institutions in the

internationalisation strategy for 2009–2015. One

of the objectives is that by the end of the strategy

period, some 20,000 international degree students

would be studying in Finnish higher education in-

stitutions.

CIMO operations expand to all levels

of education as well as to cultural

and civic activities

CIMO has new responsibilities in the form of EU

programmes; in 2000, CIMO becomes the national

contact point for the Culture 2000 programme and,

CIMO 1991–2016 19

International training is one of the cornerstones on which

CIMO was built. Its story began in 1952 when a trainee

exchange agency was established in what was then the

Finnish Ministry of Transport and Public Works.

In CIMO, traineeship programmes were developed to

apply to students and recent graduates and to be more

relevant to the studied field. Finland’s EU membership

further transformed the profile of training as free move-

ment reduced the need for authoritative services: Work

permits were no longer needed in Europe, and it was also

easier to seek placements personally.

In addition to mediating placements, CIMO started to

distribute information on available possibilities and sup-

port the traineeship of Finnish students with scholarships.

Its selection extended to the programmes of EU bodies,

UN organisations and other international organisations.

Later, traineeship was launched in Finnish organisations

operating abroad, such as Finnish embassies and insti-

tutes of arts and culture, FINPRO offices and lectureships

of Finnish language and culture in universities abroad.

The principle of reciprocity was important in the

traineeship programmes, which is why CIMO also medi-

ated placements for foreigners arriving in Finland. In the

mid-1990s, placements were acquired with the Young

Professionals campaign. Foreign trainees were marketed

to businesses as an easy way to internationalise and build

contacts with the talents of the future. As Finland was

in recession, it was important to remind employers that

each trainee hired in Finland also opened the same op-

portunity for a Finnish student abroad.

Entering the 21st century, the geographical focus

point of traineeship of CIMO shifted outside of Europe

and the operational emphasis was placed on the coor-

dination and support of training. New opportunities

opened in Russia and also in Latin America and Asia. In

Europe, training became even easier when it was inte-

grated into the EU Erasmus programme in 2007.

Some old policies were given up; for instance, the tra-

ditional IAESTE programme of the technical field became

the responsibility of the local committee of Tampere. Me-

diating placements for foreigners had reduced and was

now practically over. The Suomea Suomessa (“Finnish in

Finland”) programme is still used to support the training

of international university students of Finnish in Finland.

Essential aspects of international training include not

only the practical application of theoretical information

but also the deepening and expanding of professional

language skills. Ultimately, the goal of training is to in-

crease competitiveness; exporting Finnish know-how to the

countries of co-operation and importing foreign expertise

to Finland. An investigation is about to be launched on

the more extensive impacts of training. Currently, CIMO

traineeship programmes cover about 300 trainees per year.

The employment administration has acted as CIMO’s

partner regarding training, especially in the first years.

Co-operation with higher education institutions has also

been important.

Finding a career path through international training

20 CIMO 1991–2016

From letters to Facebook – steps in CIMO’s customer counselling

Over the years, CIMO has guided thousands of young

Finns looking for information on opportunities of interna-

tionalisation. At the beginning of the 1990s, people were

still talking about the basic issues: what the difference

between degree and exchange studies is and who can

apply for international training.

In the first operating years of CIMO, the service con-

cept started to take form. First, an enquiries telephone

service was opened, and soon, CIMO answered enquir-

ies received by mail. The selection was further expanded

with an information desk. CIMO also produced printed

materials: The Miten maailmalle opiskelemaan? (“How to

study abroad?”) book contained practical guidance on

higher education studies abroad.

The mid-1990s were a time of reformation. An auto-

matic telephone service provided prerecorded basic infor-

mation round the clock and for several callers simultane-

ously. The cimoinfo e-mail address and the cimo.fi were

the first steps towards digital customer service.

Some short-lived technology was also tested: Togeth-

er with the Economic Information Office and the Finn-

ish Ministry of Employment, CIMO produced the Tuhat

ja yksi tutkintoa (“A thousand and one degrees”) multi-

media on studying and training opportunities in different

countries.

CIMO also started to publish country-specific infor-

mation in the Perustieto (“Basic information”) manuals

produced in co-operation with the Ministry of Employ-

ment. One of the first manuals was Opiskelemaan Iso-

Britanniaan (“Study in Great Britain”), as back then, Finns

already saw Britain as the most interesting place to study.

At the turn of the millennium, the Internet started to

supersede the other channels. The true transformation

came in the form of Maailmalle.net. This online service

presenting opportunities for internationalisation soon be-

came the heart of counselling directed to young people

and professionals working with them. It was later sup-

plemented with the Maatieto.net service, which contains

country-specific information on studying abroad.

The winds of change swept through once again in

the 2010s. Social media, videos and online information

events started to take their place alongside traditional

services. Some services – such as the customer service

desk – were given up.

A customer survey conducted in 2015 indicated that

there is still a need for counselling regarding interna-

tionalisation opportunities. Internationality has become

commonplace and as a result, the questions of young

people have become more unique and the counselling

work has become more guidance-oriented. Now, people

are interested in, for instance, the quality of education

and employment opportunities, but, on the other hand,

people may still ask detailed questions about the selec-

tion processes. Sometimes, young people also seek help

through conversation in order to make more sense out of

their vague plans.

21CIMO 1991–2016

Vocational students’ mobility periods in Finland*

* 2006 statistics by the National Board

of Education, later CIMO.

2006

2010 2015

2,059

2,749 2,623

in 2007, for the Europe for Citizens programme. The

programmes encourage European co-operation and

translation projects in the culture sector as well as

projects promoting active citizenship. Responsibili-

ties are also increasing in the field of education pro-

grammes, as CIMO is now the national agency for

the entire Socrates programme and will soon take

responsibility for the entire Leonardo da Vinci pro-

gramme. CIMO is also responsible for the Erasmus

Mundus programme and the Europe in School –

School in Europe activities aimed at teaching school-

children about the EU.

Expanding responsibilities also mean expanding

target groups for CIMO. The operations now reach

all levels of education, from early childhood educa-

tion to adult education, not to mention that work

is also carried out with the youth and culture sec-

tor, local and regional administration, and the entire

civic society.

The new generation of the Nordplus pro-

grammes is launched at the beginning of 2004. The

administration of the programmes is renewed to

have each Nordic country in charge of a sub-pro-

gramme. CIMO is tasked with the most extensive

programme, i.e. the higher education Nordplus;

it is also in charge of informing Finns of any pro-

grammes in the other sectors.

Interest towards the Nordic regions of the plan-

et is extensive and global. At the beginning of the

millennium, the north2north programme is launched

to focus on Nordic questions and support student

mobility in the Nordic countries, Russia and North

America. The programme is intended for the higher

education institutions in the University of the Arc-

tic network, and CIMO acts as its national agency.

The nationally funded programmes of CIMO

increasingly focus outside the EU. In 2000, the

Finnish–Russian Student and Teacher Exchange Pro-

gramme FIRST is launched to support co-operation

between Finnish and North-West Russian high-

er education institutions. Four years later, the pilot

stage for the North–South–South Higher Education

Institution Network Programme is started; the pro-

CIMO 1991–2016

Vocational students’ mobility periods in abroad*

22

* 2006 statistics by the National Board

of Education, later CIMO.

20102015

20064,492

5,4916,225

gramme supports co-operation between higher edu-

cation institutions as well as student and teacher ex-

change between Finland and developing countries.

CIMO also promotes the co-operation of Finnish

higher education institutions with China by opening

an office in Shanghai.

The online service reformation carried out at

the beginning of the decade revolutionises CIMO’s

guidance work; as of 2003, the information direct-

ed to young people on internationalisation options

is offered through the Maailmalle.net online service.

CIMO refines its role as an operator of stud-

ies, analyses and evaluations. These consist of three

main areas: compiling statistics, evaluating pro-

grammes, and separate studies that produce infor-

mation to support the planning and development of

international co-operation. For instance, in 2003, a

comprehensive analysis project is completed with

the focus on degree studies. The viewpoints of the

project are Finns studying in foreign higher educa-

tion institutions and foreigners studying in Finland

who are examined from the perspectives of higher

education institution policies and the integration of

students. In the middle of the decade, the relevance

of studying abroad for working life is analysed. The

responsibility for compiling statistics is also expand-

ed as 2008 marks the year when CIMO starts to in-

clude vocational education and training in its data

on international mobility.

The future of CIMO is under discussion at the

end of the decade. Timo Lankinen investigates the

reform of the National Board of Education and sug-

gests in his report that the National Board of Educa-

tion and CIMO be unified; later, transferring CIMO

outside the Helsinki Metropolitan Area as a part of

the regionalisation project of the government is dis-

cussed. These ideas are buried and the act and de-

cree regarding CIMO are updated in 2008.

23CIMO 1991–2016

EU programmes have had a substantial influence on the

internationalisation of vocational education and training

in Finland. The greatest national-level achievement of the

Leonardo da Vinci and Erasmus+ programmes has been

the creation of structures, networks and contacts needed

in international operations in educational institutions.

Without them, the operations funded by the EU would

not have been possible.

However, the development of internationalisation is

not only thanks to the programmes but also to those who

have worked in the programmes to enable the interna-

tionalisation of vocational education and training.

The trajectory from a few hundred vocational stu-

dents who spent a period of time abroad in 1995 to the

6,000 students who do so today is enormous. 2006–

2011 saw the most rapid growth, as the mobility num-

bers increased by up to 50%. Today, nearly 13% of the

number of new students go abroad every year.

The national atmosphere has been favourable to-

wards the internationalisation of vocational education

and training over the years: positive attitudes towards

the EU, a strong drive towards development, and eager-

ness to test one’s limits in the international arena both as

individuals and organisations has been extensive.

Internationalisation has also been supported by other

national level functions such as the government grant

distributed by the National Board of Education, the im-

Internationalisation of vocational education and training spurred on by EU programmes

plementation of the Copenhagen Process, the adoption

of the ECVET credit transfer system, and the World Skills

competitions. Other scholarship schemes such as Nord-

plus have also played their part in promoting internation-

alisation.

CIMO has surveyed the status of internationalisation

in vocational education and training twice, in 2008 and

2016. The results from the earlier studies indicated that

the internationalisation opportunities of students and

teachers varied around the country and that international

operations were not always planned strategically.

CIMO has supported strategic work with, for in-

stance, popular manuals and training events. The more

recent study from 2016 proved that the strategic plan-

ning of international operations has clearly improved.

Many education and training organisers have an interna-

tionality strategy as well as an international action plan

which transforms the abstract objectives into practical

action.

However, there are still some challenges; for instance,

the equality of internationalisation opportunities is still

very much an ongoing project. Even though one in eight

students spends a period of time abroad, mobility should

be an active option in all fields, and teachers should also

have more mobility. Internationalisation should be more

connected to the development of the organisation and

the curricula.

24 CIMO 1991–2016

International degree students in Finnish higher education institutions

2010

15,707

20058,955

2000

6,372

19911,899

25CIMO 1991–2016

4. A genuinely broadminded Finland? (2010–2016)

1 EVA Attitude and Value Survey 2016, chapter: He ovat ihan niin kuin me (“They are just like us”) 2 EVA Attitude and Value Survey 2016, chapter: Tuhansien murheiden unioni (“A union of a thousand woes”)

2015

20,353

THE WORLD is restless. The revolution in Tunisia

marks the start of the so-called Arab Spring in 2011,

and unrest quickly spreads in the countries of North

Africa and Middle East. In Syria, the situation esca-

lates into a civil war. Europe has its own turmoil: the

disorder in Eastern Ukraine culminates in an armed

conflict between the government of Ukraine and the

rebels supported by Russia.

In the middle of the decade, the refugee situation

in the world is worse than ever before since the Sec-

ond World War, and hundreds of thousands of peo-

ple fleeing the conflicts seek refuge in Europe. The

number of asylum seekers hoping to come to Fin-

land also grows unpredictably.

The Finnish discourse begins to change, and the

concept of hate speech is introduced. Criticism to-

wards immigration and concern over growing glo-

balisation increases. Some begin to find a return to

national economy and politics the best solution, es-

pecially the groups whose status in the labour mar-

ket has changed the most in the turmoil of globali-

sation and the turning point of working life; people

with a lower level of education, the unemployed,

and blue collar employees. The same group is more

critical towards immigration than other population

groups.1

On the other hand, the crisis inspires people to

help. Clothes are collected for asylum seekers, and

the number of people signing up as volunteers for

the Finnish Red Cross, for instance, increases ten-

fold.

The Finnish attitude towards EU membership

is still quite positive, and Finns consider themselves

more European than ever; for the first time during

Finland’s EU membership, one in two Finns consid-

ers themselves not only Finnish but also more and

more clearly European.2

Finland is now taking huge leaps towards a more

equal society; for instance, the Tahdon2013 citizens’

initiative, started out as a Youth in Action youth ini-

tiative, is approved by the Finnish parliament, which

will result in same-sex marriage being legalised in

Finland.

Sauli Niinistö begins his presidency. The pre-

miership changes several times: Mari Kiviniemi is

followed by Jyrki Katainen and Alexander Stubb. As

26 CIMO 1991–2016

”Finland receives the best financial

benefit from international students

if they stay in the country after

graduation and find work.

• Report on the economic impact of international higher

education students (VATT, see page 32)

of 2015, the Prime Minister is Juha Sipilä. The eco-

nomic situation is tense: the people are afflicted with

co-operation negotiations, cutbacks and savings. In

2013, Nokia sells its mobile phone operations to Mi-

crosoft.

The European Union begins the second decade

of the 21st century with new strategies. Europe 2020

is a strategy for growth and employment launched

as a countermeasure to the financial crisis in Eu-

rope. Simultaneously, the EU Youth Strategy is pub-

lished to align co-operation in youth policy. In 2013,

the EU is once again expanded with a new Member

State, Croatia.

The new programme period brings forth chang-

es. Erasmus+ unifies the previous EU education and

youth programmes and continues their key opera-

tions. The programme now also includes sports.

The appropriations for the new programme grow

by 40% from the previous programme period. The

field of culture also faces changes, as the previous

Culture and Media programmes are merged into

Creative Europe.

Finland talks about education export: in 2010,

the Finnish Government approves a strategy to

bring Finland to the world’s top ranks of economies

based on education and the quality of educational

systems and to increase the share of education in the

total export of Finland.

The Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture

renews its education and research development plan

for 2011–2016 and sets goals for increasing the mo-

bility of general and vocational education and train-

ing, among other things.

Finland’s popularity as a place of study con-

tinues to grow. The strategic goal of 20,000 inter-

national degree students is exceeded in 2014. The

same year, nearly 10,000 higher education students

and 2,500 vocational students arrive in Finland for

a mobility period. The number of Finns studying

abroad is also larger than before; more than 7,000

Finnish degree students are carrying out their stud-

ies in foreign higher education institutions, and

more than 10,000 higher education students and

nearly 6,500 vocational students go on a mobility

period every year.

CIMO’s operations portray themes

of global responsibility and

the impact of internationalisation

CIMO also rewies its operations: in 2010, an ex-

tensive strategy process is launched to create direc-

tions and objectives for the operations. A genuinely

International student mobility plays a key role in global

migration: about 4.5 million higher education students

study abroad. The number has quadrupled since the

1980s and keeps growing. The heaviest flow of students

runs from Asia to the OECD countries.1

Finland is also a part of the flow: the number of inter-

national degree students in our higher education institu-

tions has grown tenfold since the beginning of the 1990s

and is now over 20,000. International students are espe-

cially found in the technical and commercial fields, and

most of them arrive from European and Asian countries.

Also the English-language selection of courses has

increased in higher education institutions. Finland is now

one of the top countries in Europe offering teaching in

English. At the beginning of the 1990s, there were 60

degree programmes, whereas now there are over 400.

From the start CIMO has supported the internation-

alisation and student recruitment of higher education

institutions with international marketing communica-

tions. The publications such as Study in Finland and Finn-

ish knowhow at your service built an image of the Finnish

educational system and the expertise of the universities.

Information was also distributed in international events

of educational experts, seminars, and student expos.

The themes of marketing communications changed

over time from distributing basic information to system-

atic profiling, whereupon arguments in favour of Finland

were received from CIMO’s studies concerning Finland as

a place of study and from the basic messages drafted in

CIMO 1991–2016 27

Study in Finland! Finland as a destination country

1 Education at a Glance 2014. OECD Indicators, OECD Publishing

co-operation with higher education institutions.

At the end of the 1990s, the Discover Finland web

site was launched and now goes by the name Study in

Finland. In the 2000s, the emphasis of marketing com-

munications started to increasingly shift to the Internet.

Students interested in Finland have also used the

counselling services of CIMO; over the years, CIMO has

responded to thousands of questions regarding study-

ing in Finnish higher education institutions. The Study

in Finland web site, reaching close to 1,300,000 visitors

per year, is an important counselling tool. Facebook has

become an active counselling channel: Study in Finland

already has 250,000 likes.

The satisfaction of international students has now

been measured twice with the International Student Baro-

meter survey, and Finland has done well in the interna-

tional benchmarking. Almost 90% of foreigners study-

ing here are happy with their higher education institution

and with Finland as a place of study.

The tuition fees introduced for students arriving from

outside the EU and the EEA countries are going to change

the situation. Finland is forced to compete for students

with other countries offering teaching in English, and the

number of students is predicted to drop at least tempo-

rarily. Finland is now looking for a new direction to build

its image as a country through positioning research, high-

er education institutions are revising their strategies, and

new co-operation schemes are being created. Marketing

communications need to be snappier than ever.

28 CIMO 1991–2016

global-minded Finland is selected as the dream of

CIMO, and the outcome of the value discussion is

that CIMO wishes to be a brave, enriching and fair

partner. At the same time, the government’s obliga-

tions regarding savings start to weigh on everyday

life at CIMO.

In 2013, CIMO starts to collect mobility statis-

tics on general education. During the school year

2012–2013, the comprehensive and upper second-

ary schools included in the first statistics welcome

nearly 4,700 international pupils and students. The

number of students going on periods abroad from

Finland is more than twice the amount of incoming

students, exceeding 11,000.

CIMO is given the responsibility over provid-

ing information about the new Sport section of the

Erasmus+ programme. It broadens target groups to

comprise the organisations active in the sports sec-

tor. The Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture

also appoints CIMO as the national contact point of

the 2016 European Week of Sport. CIMO becomes

the Finnish coordinator of the Creative Europe pro-

gramme. The responsibility for providing infor-

mation about in the programme is shared with the

Finnish Film Foundation; the foundation continues

as the contact point of the Media sub-programme

and CIMO as the contact point of the Culture sub-

programme. In addition, CIMO becomes the Finn-

ish support service organisation for the EPALE fo-

rum intended for professionals in adult education.

Programmes supporting higher education co-

operation with developing countries are built up. In

2010, the HEI ICI programme (Higher Education

Institutions Institutional Cooperation Instrument) is

launched to support co-operation projects enhanc-

ing the administrative, study field-specific, method-

ological and pedagogic abilities of higher education

institutions in developing countries. Later, the HEI

ICI and the North–South–South programmes are

reviewed, and a decision is made to unify them into

a new programme with an emphasis on strengthen-

ing abilities. In 2014, the Eritrea programme is start-

ed with the same principle.

Attempts are also made to relieve the situa-

tion of refugees, as higher education institutions

in Finland and other parts of Europe wish to offer

study opportunities to those who have fled unrest

in their home countries. CIMO supports these at-

tempts with, for instance, an initiative to help stu-

dents arriving from crisis areas. At the beginning

of 2016, CIMO becomes a partner in the Scholar

Rescue Fund programme offering researchers perse-

cuted in their home countries the chance to contin-

ue their work in a safe environment. The Erasmus+

and Creative Europe programmes also launch a spe-

cial call for proposals to support projects promoting

the integration of immigrants and the prevention of

their marginalisation. The support of asylum seek-

ers, refugees and immigrants becomes a programme

priority.

Higher education co-operation opens new op-

portunities for activity with the so-called BRIC

29CIMO 1991–2016

Throughout the years, EU programmes for culture have

supported the translation of European literature. CIMO

has already promoted funding opportunities for Finnish

publishers during three programme periods. In 2000–

2015, more than 200 translated works were published in

Finland with the support of the Culture 2000, Culture, or

Creative Europe programmes.

At the same time, the translation of more than 100

Finnish works into about twenty languages has also re-

ceived EU-funding. Speakers of Norwegian have had the

most opportunities to enjoy Finnish literature translated

with support from the EU (18 works), but many works

have also been translated into Hungarian, Lithuanian and

Slovene. The largest European languages, such as English

or German, do not show up on the list. Sofi Oksanen has

been the most popular of our authors, with works trans-

lated into ten languages. Classics such as Mika Waltari

are still being translated, too.

Only a small share of translations of Finnish litera-

ture receive support from the EU. According to Finnish

Literature Exchange FILI, about 300–400 Finnish works of

literature are published abroad annually, translated into

about 40 languages1. Sofi Oksanen and Mika Waltari

hold the top ranks in FILI statistics right after the Kalevala:

Oksanen has been translated into 37 languages, while

Finnish literature makes its way to the world

Waltari has been translated into 36. The most common

language of translation in 2015 was English, with 30

translated works of literature. The main role of Finland

at the Frankfurt Book Fair can be seen as a spike in the

2014 statistics for German; a staggering 111 translations.

Training translators is an important part of literary

export. Basic education work is carried out in foreign

universities where Finnish is taught as a major, minor, or

elective subject. Today, there are 90 such universities in

nearly 30 countries in Europe, North America and Asia.

CIMO supports the teaching of Finnish language by,

for instance, sending visiting lecturers and trainees to the

universities. The students are offered language and cul-

ture courses in Finland, scholarships for Finnish universi-

ties, and training grants for Finnish jobs.

Next to teaching, research and journalism, translation

is one of the most common professions for graduated

foreign students of Finnish language. CIMO supports

students aiming to become translators with a vocational

prep course organised once every two years in co-oper-

ation with FILI. Eight courses have been organised so far

for more than 100 soon-to-be-graduates. The course on

translation has really sparked the careers of many current

translators.

1 Fiction and nonfiction

CIMO 1991–201630

Gateways to the North

The common problem of Nordic co-operation also im-

pacts educational co-operation in the North: it is taken

for granted and paid no particular interest.

From the very beginning, the Nordic countries have

been present in the operations of CIMO. For instance,

directors of Nordic sister organisations have often assem-

bled to discuss strategically vital policies, learn from each

other, and launch joint projects. This is how the Living

and Learning – Exchange Studies Abroad follow-up pro-

ject began a few years back, comparing the experiences

of Finnish, Swedish and Norwegian exchange students.

The most traditional form of co-operation, however,

is probably the Nordic civil servant exchange scheme

funded by the Nordic Council of Ministers since the end

of 1970s. The programme was transferred from the Finn-

ish Ministry of Finance to the newly founded CIMO.

The Nordplus programmes Junior, Higher Education,

Adult Learning, Horizontal and Nordic Languages of the

Council of Ministers have played a key part in the educa-

tional co-operation. They have aimed to serve the needs

of educational institutions and other operators so that

Nordic activities would have added value in relation to

more extensive EU programmes.

Nordic higher education has received shared global

visibility with the help of the Nordic Master programme.

The programme administered by CIMO supports the

shared Master’s programmes of higher education insti-

tutions, an attractive option for students from all over

the world; after all, the Nordic countries have a positive

image on a global scale and are often featured quite high

in rankings measuring well-being and happiness.

A few years ago, Markku Linna was assigned by

CIMO to study the situation of Nordic co-operation in

schools and vocational institutions. Linna found that the

co-operation had been productive and had increased the

feeling of solidarity among the Nordic countries. As a

result of the survey, the Portti Pohjolaan (“Gateway to

the North”) portal was created to compile the previously

scattered information on funding and co-operation op-

portunities for institutions under one service.

CIMO also supports the co-operation of schools

through Pohjola-Norden. The support is complementary

to the project support of the Nordplus Junior programme,

offering a lighter alternative for small-scale activities

where pupils can experience the benefits of knowing

Swedish in practice.

Throughout the years, educational co-operation in

the Nordic countries has faced the same challenge: how

to get citizens of the neighbouring countries interested

in Finland. For instance, the flows of student exchange

are at an imbalance in all levels of education. Sweden,

the favourite destination of Finns of all ages, serves as

a particularly extreme example: the number of Finnish

comprehensive school, upper secondary school and high-

er education students going to Sweden is six times the

number of students arriving in Finland from Sweden. For

vocational students, the difference is more than tenfold.

31CIMO 1991–2016

countries. The Brazil co-operation of higher edu-

cation institutions gets a new kick from the Science

without Borders programme, which Finland joins in

2012. The programme offers exchange positions for

Brazilian students and researchers, and CIMO is in

charge of mobility in the programme in co-opera-

tion with the Academy of Finland. The same year

sees the launch of CIMO’s Asia programme whose

initial purpose is to support the co-operation pro-

jects of Finnish and Chinese higher education in-

stitutions. Later, the programme is expanded to in-

clude India.

Nordic co-operation continues with a new Nor-

dplus programme period. CIMO is given respon-

sibility over the Nordic Master programme of the

Nordic Council of Ministers, which supports shared

Master’s programmes of Nordic higher education

institutions.

CIMO develops its support for the teaching of

Finnish language and culture in foreign universities

according to the recommendations received from an

evaluation carried out at the beginning of the dec-

ade. The number of lecturers sent from Finland is

cut back and the funds saved are allocated to sum-

mer course activities, lecture visits supplementing

the curricula of the institutions, etc. In addition, the

principles and policies of financial support granted

to universities are specified.

CIMO especially studies the impacts of civ-

il servant exchange on the employer; the organisa-

tion benefits from the professional development,

new ideas and networks of a civil servant who has

spent time abroad. From the beginning of its op-

erations, CIMO has supported the internationalisa-

tion of public administration employees by funding

the short-time work of civil servants abroad in their

field of administration. About 20–25 Finns take part

in the civil servant exchange every year.

The sector of general education is preparing

programmes related to transatlantic co-operation. In

2010, the Young Ambassadors programme funded by

the United States embassy and CIMO is launched.

The programme enables Finnish upper secondary

school students to go on a summer exchange in the

United States and welcomes young people from

the United States to stay in Finland. Later, the pro-

gramme is continued under the name Future Lead-

ers. In the middle of the decade, the Transforming our

Schools programme is launched to support the edu-

cational co-operation between Finland and Canada

with the help of personnel and student exchange re-

lated to developing educational institutions.

The significance of international skills in work-

ing life is now at the focus of CIMO’s study, analysis

and evaluation operations. In 2013, the results of the

Hidden Competences survey conducted together with

Demos Helsinki are published. According to the re-

sults, many employers do not see international ex-

perience as an important recruiting criterion even

though they value the characteristics developed

through internationality as such. The survey seeks

to highlight persistence, productivity and curiosity

32

In the middle of the century, Finland is devel-

oping its vocational education and training system

in accordance with the European ECVET recom-

mendations. Finland is a pioneer in the implemen-

tation of the recommendation. The institutions are

helped to prepare for the change with, for instance,

the ECVET Expert action launched by the Euro-

pean Commission. CIMO is in charge of the op-

erations in Finland in co-operation with the Finnish

Ministry of Education and Culture and the National

Board of Education.

In 2014, the discussion on combining CIMO

and the National Board of Education is revisited.

The Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture ap-

points a team to investigate the subject, and one year

later, the decision is made to establish a new agen-

cy to continue the duties of CIMO and the Nation-

al Board of Education from the beginning of 2017.

At this point, CIMO has a staff of 119 people,

16 of whom are teachers of Finnish language

in foreign universities. Nearly 25,000 people

take part in programmes implemented

by CIMO every year.

CIMO 1991–2016

Participants in CIMO programmes and projects 1991

3,500

12,074

1997

alongside the traditional international skills, i.e. lan-

guage skills, tolerance, and cultural skills. The the-

matics of the survey are extensively present in the

operations of CIMO. It is, for instance, used as a ba-

sis to produce tools that help students and student

counsellors to identify international skills. The Hid-

den Competences survey even attracted wide inter-

est abroad.

At the same time, the equality of internationali-

sation opportunities is studied in co-operation with

the University of Jyväskylä, and the Global Minded-

ness survey developed with the University of Oulu

is opened to measure the attitudes of higher educa-

tion students towards interactive situations between

cultures and encountering disparity. In the middle

of the decade, the financial impacts of internation-

al higher education students in Finland are looked

into. The costs and benefits created by internation-

al students in Finland are examined in co-operation

with the VATT Institute for Economic Research.

CIMO also takes part in the Research-based anal-

ysis on Youth in Action (RAY) research co-operation

coordinated by the University of Innsbruck, moni-

toring the effects of the EU youth programmes on

the young people and youth workers who take part

in it as well as the organisations involved in the pro-

jects.

33CIMO 1991–2016

2003

18,678

200923,722

2015

24,844

34 CIMO 1991–2016

At the threshold of the future:

THE CHANGE GOES ON. The Finland of the future

is even more open and international – a country even

richer in terms of languages and culture. Finns are more

open and international. A new type of open and posi-

tive attitude towards people and the surrounding world

makes Finland unique.

Finland is a top-ranking country in education, expertise,

and modern learning. The educational competence of

Finland is highly valued. The internationality of educa-

tion and research has increased, and universities as well

as universities of applied sciences are internationally

strong, competitive operators. We are open-minded

and innovative. Finland is an attractive country to study

and work in, and our unique reputation brings stu-

dents, researchers, teachers, and developers of learning

into the country. This makes Finland an even stronger

country when it comes to high competence. Finland

also interests commercial operators, and some educa-

tional institutions are already owned by a foreign party.

Our functional processes of student selection, enter-

ing the country, and initiation of studies as well as our

support forms are a substantial asset in attracting in-

ternational talent. We also wish to encourage the peo-

ple who have studied and worked in Finland to stay.

We will have enhanced co-operation both inside the

administrative sector of the Finnish Ministry of Educa-

tion and Culture and between different administrative

sectors. Together, we have decided on national-level

actions to improve our position in the competition for

international talent.

The obstacles of education export have been demol-

ished. The tuition fees for students arriving from out-

side the EU and EEA areas have improved the opportu-

nities of institutions and higher education institutions

to work abroad. Both co-operation and education ex-

port are based on strategic partnerships. Presence in

the target countries has been an important factor in

building co-operation and education export.

Open Finland 2025

CIMO 1991–2016 35

Internationalisation at home is commonplace. The

share of Finnish citizens born elsewhere and living here

has increased and will increase even further due to peo-

ple arriving in the country to study or work, but also

to seek refuge. A large number of people speak a lan-

guage other than Finnish or Swedish as their first lan-

guage, and they are offered language courses to help

them integrate into society and to make them a part of

it. The opportunities to study Finnish and Swedish have

improved and diversified. Language requirements are

no longer an unnecessary obstacle in the progress of

studying or finding work.

Finland bears its global responsibility by offering refuge

to those who need it and producing new information to

solve diverse global issues. Schools and higher educa-

tion institutions reflect the diversity of the population

and achieve equality and parity in their operations.

Finland is a part of the European community of values.

We actively influence the European and global operat-

ing environment. The presidencies of Finland in the Eu-

ropean Union and the Bologna Process in 2020 offer a

chance to influence policies and programmes support-

ing internationalisation.

CIMO has been an important operator in making

Finnish society more international. It has been a well-

known and appreciated organisation both in Finland

and abroad. The new agency to manage the duties of

CIMO and the National Board of Education will con-

tinue on the same journey – as an organisation that is

even stronger; an active promoter of internationalisa-

tion and an international key player.

Anita Lehikoinen

Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education and Culture

1991–2016

Centre for International Mobility CIMO

www.cimo.fi

maailmalle.net – for young Finnish people interested in internationality

studyinfinland.fi – for students and experts interested in Finland as a country of higher education

Editor Tiina Lehmusvaara, graphic design Satu Salmivalli, photographs Pekka Ailio

Libris, 10/2016/700, ISBN 978-951-805-703-4 (printed), ISBN 978-951-805-704-1 (pdf)