International Week brought together colleagues from around the world
TUAS International Week brought together guests from all around the world as a record number of people arrived in Turku, some from European partner institutions and others from faraway countries. The TUAS International Week was arranged by Turku University of Applied Sciences on Turku and Salo campuses on 9–13 April 2018.
Text: Johanna Stenroos-Vuorio
Photos: Sanni Koskimies-Chiba and Makoto Chiba
The international week was primarily targeted at the teachers and staff members working in research, development and innovation activities (RDI) at the partner institutions of TUAS. The week offered an excellent opportunity for networking, creating new contacts and planning future cooperation.
Joey Weber from the University of Bolton recommends the international week to all higher education operators around the world. According to him, the week was full of extremely useful cross-cultural knowledge exchange and learning from each other.
“The international week at TUAS was an incredible experience both personally and professionally. Because of such an eclectic mix of professionals, there was a vibrant and exciting atmosphere throughout the week”, says Weber. “I would highly recommend TUAS international week for lecturers and professionals engaged in international and cultural knowledge transfer.”
The international weeks, also called Sharing Excellence Weeks at TUAS, have been organized annually for years. This time, TUAS Sharing Excellence Week was attended by, among others, approximately twenty colleagues from Manchester Metropolitan University, Hogeschool Utrecht and Polytechnic University Valencia, which are our partners in the CARPE network (Consortium of Applied Research and Professional Education).
“Some of the guests participated in our international week already for the second or third time”, Head of International Affairs Anu Härkönen from TUAS mentioned.
“The international recognition and visibility of TUAS has increased, which shows in the higher number of visiting teachers and increased student mobility, continues International Relations Coordinator Taina Nordgren.
During the week, the visitors gave expert lectures and got to know the activities of TUAS research groups, the learning environments at TUAS and businesses in the Turku region.
“The encounters facilitated by this week will certainly produce fresh ideas for increasing international collaboration through new education related and RDI projects”, says International Relations Coordinator Päivi Oliva.
International weeks support international cooperation
International weeks offer the possibility to take the cooperation with other institutions of higher education one step further. During an international week, arranged in multiprofessional collaboration, teachers have the chance to meet professionals of their own field. At the same time, teachers and students get the opportunity for internationalization at home.
Among the guests, there are always several new faces who are interested in getting to know Turku University of Applied Sciences and who wish to not only learn about us and from us but also share their own expertise with other international week participants.
This time, Austria was represented by Robert Strohmaier from FH Joanneum. He was impressed by the opportunity to get to know studying through projects, to interview students and to see and hear on the spot how we do things at TUAS.
According to Strohmaier, the multidisciplinary university of applied sciences of FH Joanneum is currently planning to launch corresponding types of studies and new kind of learning environments, which is why it was beneficial and interesting to see and hear real experiences.
Another visitor during the Sharing Excellence Week at TUAS was Commander Willian Woityra from the United States Coast Guard, who met a number of TUAS people and at the end of his visit held an inspiring lecture to Marine Engineering students and teachers.
“We have high expectations for the future cooperation with Commander Woityra”, says Senior Lecturer David Yoken from TUAS.
Heard from our visitors:
“The International Week at TUAS was a great experience: inspiring discussions, valuable insights into innovative teaching concepts and methods and networking with colleagues from Finland and all over Europe.”
“We had such a good time, made so many good connections and appointments for cooperation in the future, had such a good experience with colleagues and students internationally. It is of utmost importance that this good work in connecting students and lecturers is continued.”
"I would like to express our appreciation to all the staff at Turku University of Applied Sciences for the excellent services provided during the TUAS International Week 2018. I have indeed made many new contacts which hopefully will generate new insights for our university in the future. It surely exceeded my expectations. Keep up the good work!"