"We are Europe” tour visited Haaga-Helia with the Minister of Science and Culture

The theme of the discussions concentrated on the future of  European Education and Research.

The tour is part of the EU wide Conference of the Future initiative and the aim is to raise discussion about European education and research as builders of the future. The event was hosted by Atte Jääskeläinen, Director General of the Department for Higher Education and Science Policy in the Ministry of Education and Culture

The event was opened by Rector and CEO of Haaga-Helia, Teemu Kokko, who in his speech emphasized the importance of internationality in Higher Education Institutions. Haaga-Helia is one of the concrete examples in making internationalization reality in HEIs.

- We can't make it without international talent. In Haaga-Helia we have more than 1200 international students, staff and exchange students and we apply internationalization in all of our actions, said Teemu Kokko.

Career in Research – a​​ tempting option for young people?

Professor Kaius Tuori from University of Helsinki, Centre for European Studies, brought up the current state of research in Europe.

-We should get more young people interested in research as a career option both in Finland and in Europe. The career path for researchers should be a tempting and realistic option for ambitious young researchers. We should get rid of temporary contracts.

Currently, finding a permanent position in research, is only a distant dream for many (young) researchers. The solution for making researcher career paths tempting is finding permanent positions for them.   

Professor Katrina Nordström from Aalto University, currently involved in Unite! European University alliance emphasized also developing the career paths for young researchers.

- We should not forget the importance of digital learning solutions and their development in Higher Education Institutions even after the pandemic. This is very important even though some people may think that we should all go back to traditional methods as the pandemic subsides.

Minister of Culture and Science, Antti Kurvinen opened up the current and future position of education policy both in Finland and in EU. The themes include life-long-learning and educational cooperation. Also digitalisation is one of the key words for the future of European education.  

- As Minister of Science, it is my duty to defend science. There is no science without researchers, said Minister Kurvinen to the audience.