Internationalisation of Finnish Higher Education

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1 Across the Borders Internationalisation of Finnish Higher Education

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3 Across the Borders

4 Across the Borders Internationalisation of Finnish Higher Education Centre for International Mobility CIMO, 2009 Edited by Maija Airas-Hyödynmaa and Leena Balme / CIMO Foreword, Afterword and chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 12: translations by Maarit Ritvanen Chapter 6: translation by Kai Schirdewahn Layout: Satu Salmivalli Photos: Gettyimages, Satu Haavisto Printed by Libris, 1000 ISBN: (print) ISBN: (pdf) This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. Centre for International Mobility CIMO

5 On Internationalisation of Higher Education in Norway and Germany International Dimension in Norwegian Higher Education in the 21 st century Gunn Mangerud Current Challenges of Internationalisation and the Impact of Erasmus: The German Example 58 Siegbert Wuttig 64 Contents Strategies of Internationalisation Competition for Talent Intensifies Yrjö Sotamaa Internationalisation of Universities of Applied Sciences in Finland 76 Tapio Varmola International Networking as a Strategy 84 Foreword Paavo Pelkonen and Liisa Tahvanainen 90 Ulla Ekberg About the Centre for International Mobility CIMO The Finnish Education System The Internationalisation of Higher Education from the National Agency s Point of View Students ViewS on Internationalisation Challenges of the Erasmus Programme to Students Janna Koivisto Studying in Finland: a Foreign Degree Student s view 100 Erasmus Exchanges, International Degree Students and Teaching in Foreign Languages: Pradipta Halder 108 the Internationalisation of Finnish Higher Education Irma Garam and Juha Ketolainen Exporting (the Best of) Erasmus: from Archangelsk to Cape Town Maija Airas-Hyödynmaa The Question of Language in the Internationalisation of Higher Education The Future of Internationalisation Once Upon a Time There Was Erasmus: a Reality-Based Time Travel to the History of Our Future Kimmo Kuortti 118 Finnish Language and Culture for Foreign Students Anne Siltala English-Taught Programmes in Finnish Higher Education Institutions: Developments and New Challenges Riitta Pyykkö Afterword Ulla Ekberg Authors

6 Ulla Ekberg Director of CIMO Foreword Discussion about the international dimension in higher education has been lively in Finland recently. There has been a great demand for reports and surveys on participation of Finnish higher education institutions in international programmes from outside Finland, too. Apart from short summaries, however, the reports have usually only been available in the Finnish language. In 2007, the Centre for International Mobility CIMO published a collection of articles to celebrate the 20 th anniversary of the Erasmus programme. The book examined the impact of the programme from many different points of view. The book gave rise to an idea to examine the international dimension of higher education from a wider perspective, taking an international audience into account. At the time of writing the articles in this collection, there was a big and historical reform of higher education being prepared in Finland. The economic autonomy of higher education institutions was to be increased and institutions were combined to form bigger units. At the same time, a new international strategy for higher education was drafted. Preparation for the new strategy and the strategy itself will be discussed in more detail in the Afterword. In the first article of the book, Juha Ketolainen and Irma Garam from CIMO give a comprehensive description of the development of internationalisation from the point of view of a national agency. They draw conclusions from the most important achievements and challenges based on statistics. International mobility is still a key indicator of international dimension and it plays an important role in the new strategy, too. The Finnish language belongs to the small Finno-Ugric language group, spoken only by about 6 million people. The language question was becoming a problem for Finnish higher education institutions, particularly with regard to exchange students, and they decided to start developing English-taught courses. On the other hand, it was regarded important that international students in Finland should have the chance to learn at least the basics of the Finnish language. Anne Siltala from CIMO writes about the teaching of Finnish language to international exchange students and Riitta Pyykkö from the University of Turku about the development of English-taught courses in Finnish higher education and the challenges they are facing. CIMO works in close cooperation with similar organisations in other countries. We asked the director of our Norwegian sister organisation, Gunn Mangerud, to contribute to the book. Norway is not a member of the European Union but participates in the EU education and training programmes. Interestingly, Norway 8 Across the Borders Across the Borders 9

7 has set slightly different priorities for international cooperation of higher education than other Nordic countries. Germany is Finland s biggest partner in many education programmes both when it comes to mobility and project cooperation. The Head of Department for EU Programmes and the Bologna Process from DAAD, Siegbert Wuttig, presents topical challenges Germany is facing in the international higher education sector. The Erasmus programme has given rise to a number of good practices for international higher education cooperation. Where possible, we have adapted these good practices in development of new national cooperation programmes. Maija Airas-Hyödynmaa from CIMO describes how the examples of Erasmus were used in planning of the cooperation programme with North-West Russia (FIRST) and the development cooperation programme North-South-South. It has been important for the development of internationalisation that higher education institutions and their management, in particular, are committed to the task. Two experienced rectors Yrjö Sotamaa from the Finnish University of Art and Design and Tapio Varmola from Seinäjoki University of applied sciences describe how the international dimension can help to enhance the profile of an institution. Professors Paavo Pelkonen and Liisa Tahvanainen from the University of Joensuu have used networking as a strategic tool for internationalisation. The Finnish student associations have a strong position in education policy: they are heard in all major issues. CIMO also cooperates closely with student associations. Janna Koivisto who has been a representative of the student association of Finnish universities of applied sciences presents the challenges and opportunities of international cooperation from the point of view of students. Pradipta Halder from India gives a different student view, describing the life of a foreign degree student in Finland. Higher education has played a big role in development of the regions in which they are located and that of the whole of Finland, and we believe this will be the case in the future, too. The first Finnish university was established in Helsinki during the Swedish rule in It was one of a network of universities established around the same time together with universities of Uppsala and Tartu. In the beginning of the 1900s, the newly independent Finland was keen to learn from other European countries, particularly Germany. After the Second World War, Finland focused in building a network of universities to cover the whole country, and in the beginning of 1990s a corresponding network of universities of applied sciences was established. We realised very early on that knowledge and skills are essential in the globalised world. The motivation for much of the ongoing reforms is to increase the international competitiveness of Finland. Students have been keen to take advantage of the opportunities available to establish their own international networks. With support from their institutions, they are contributing to making Finland part of the common European education area, and that of the wider world. Finland has chosen a policy of encouraging higher education institutions to extend international activities at all levels: internationalisation has been supported and success has been rewarded. We hope that this book will give you a good picture of the process of internationalisation in Finnish higher education, presenting causes and consequences, challenges and opportunities. Finally, the head of the international office in the University of Oulu, Kimmo Kuortti, bravely predicts how the international dimension in higher education might look in twenty years. Kimmo Kuortti is a member of CIMO s expert group on international dimension in higher education. 10 Across the Borders Across the Borders 11

8 There are total of 104 people working in CIMO in the Helsinki office. In addition, twenty professors who teach Finnish in various foreign universities are employed by CIMO. About the Centre for International Mobility CIMO CIMO operates three different websites. Information about the organisation itself and all study, exchange and trainee programmes can be found on cimo.fi as well as information on youth programmes and EU s Culture programme. Maailmalle.net is dedicated to guiding young people to find their way to study or work abroad. Studyinfinland.fi is aimed at foreigners wanting to study in Finland. In 2008, over two million people visited these websites. Centre for International Mobility CIMO is a government agency whose CIMO S Organisation main mission is to enhance the internationalisation of education and training, youth and culture in Finland. CIMO administers various scholarship and exchange programmes, offers international trainee placements, advances Finnish studies abroad and markets Finnish higher education worldwide. CIMO is responsible for implementing nearly all EU education, training, culture and youth programmes at national level. In 2008, a total of 25,068 people either came to Finland or went abroad through various mobility programmes CIMO administers. In addition, CIMO advances teaching of Finnish language and culture in Ministry of Education cimo / advisory council ukan / advisory council Director deputy director communications and information services Communications and marketing Information, guidance and research universities abroad and arranges summer courses in Finnish language and culture for international students. department 1 department 2 Administration The organisation is also active in research on the internationalisation of higher education. CIMO produces various brochures, reports and papers every year General and adult education Vocational education Higher education cooperation Traineeships and Development Personnel Office services and provides an information service on studying and working abroad and studying in Finland. CIMO s client base covers a wide range of educational institutions, enterprises, authorities in charge of education, employment and youth and non-governmental organisations as well as individuals interested in studying or and training Youth and culture post-graduate studies Finnish language and culture Halls of residence ICT Finance working abroad. 12 Across the Borders Across the Borders 13

9 The Finnish Education System DOCTORAL DEGREES -licentiate degrees NOTE: Finnish polytechnics are also called universities of applied sciences which is the term that is used throughout this book. MASTER S DEGREES BACHELOR S DEGREES Universities POLYTECHNIC MASTER S DEGREES Work experience 3 years POLYTECHNIC BACHELOR S DEGREES Polytechnics Work experience Specialist vocational qualifications Population in Finland ( ): 5,300,484 Finnish nationalities: 97,5 % Mother tongue Finnish 91.2 %, mother tongue Swedish 5.5 %, mother tongue Sami 0.03 % and other 3.3 % Educational institutions, students and qualifications by sector of education in 2007 MATRICULATION EXAMINATION General upper secondary schools VOCATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS Vocational institutions and apprenticeship training Further vocational qualifications Comprehensive school education Pupils/ Students 570,689 Qualifications, degrees 65,783 1 Educational institutions 3,263 Upper secondary general education 126,085 33, Additional basic education Work experience Vocational education University of applied sciences education University education 126, , ,304 32,106 20,927 22, BASIC EDUCATION (comprehensive schools) 7 16-year-olds Pre-primary education, 6-year-olds 1 Figure from Figure from Across the Borders Across the Borders 15

10 The Internationalisation of Higher Education from the National Agency s Point of View 16 Across the Borders Across the Borders 17

11 Irma Garam Research Manager, CIMO Juha Ketolainen Assistant Director, CIMO Erasmus Exchanges, International Degree Students and Teaching in Foreign Languages: the Internationalisation of Finnish Higher Education Introduction Internationalisation became one of the priority areas of higher education in Finland towards the end of 1980s. The period was characterised by the collapse of real socialism, the process of change in Eastern Europe, and the integration of the Western Europe. The integration process was seen as an opportunity and a challenge in Finland: we wanted to secure our international position and competitiveness and to strengthen our links with the Western ideology and cultural heritage Finland was accepted in the Erasmus programme together with the other EFTA countries in the academic year 1992/93. Participation in all the other European Union higher education programmes became possible when Finland joined the EU in The easiest way to participate in the Erasmus cooperation was to join existing sectoral ICP networks (Inter-University Cooperation Programmes): The networks provided a ready model for cooperation, including student exchanges, teacher exchanges, development of curricula and intensive courses. To increase international mobility and cooperation meant that higher education institutions and central administration had to have the necessary resources and services. The Centre for International Mobility CIMO was established under the Ministry of Education in June Administration of various grant and exchange programmes was brought together at CIMO from ministries responsible for education, labour, trade and industry. Universities opened new vacancies for staff responsible for international affairs. Administration of international affairs was centralised in specific international offices at universities. From the very beginning, units responsible for international affairs formed networks, which facilitated the increasing participation in the Erasmus and other programmes. This network cooperation resulted in a seminar on administration of international affairs. It is the main event on international education cooperation in Finland, organised by higher education institutions and CIMO and with hundreds of participants every year. The Finnish Ministry of Education put out an action plan to develop the internationalisation of higher education in The subject was examined in various working groups of the ministry: the focus of the proposals was on increasing international mobility. The Finnish higher education institutions were given access to the Erasmus programme at a time when they still did not have experience on wide-scale student exchanges. The Ministry of Education had funded some pilot exchange projects between Finnish and British, German and French universities. There were some exchanges taking place through bilateral agreements and some individual grant programmes. Furthermore, the Nordic Nordplus programme had provided exchange opportunities since Development of Erasmus mobility in Finland outgoing incoming 18 Across the Borders Across the Borders 19

12 ,0 19,3 18,1 19,2 20,9 22,5 23,2 22,8 seemed to offer an opportunity. It was also easy for higher education institutions to get involved in the ready-made programme, the practices of which had already been fine-tuned for a couple of years in other countries. Higher education institutions were keen to look for partnerships in Erasmus networks. There was 15 clearly a demand for the programme among Finnish students and higher educa- % 11,0 11,6 11,2 12,1 11,4 12,1 11,7 Universities of applied sciences Universities tion institutions. 10 8,8 The national award policy used in Erasmus and the Finnish student aid system 5 also supported mass mobility. The goal of the Erasmus award policy has been to give a smaller grant to as many as possible rather than a considerable sum to few Outgoing student mobility from Finland in relation to the number of newly enrolled students The Finnish student aid system made it possible, because it allowed Finnish students to take their Finnish student grant and their government-guaranteed student loan abroad. Erasmus started off the internationalisation process of higher education institutions The Erasmus programme is often described as a success story. By this people usually refer to the popularity of student exchanges within the programme. The popularity of Erasmus exchanges and their growth have been tremendous in Finland, too. The number of outgoing students has more than quadrupled in 15 years and the number of incoming students is 39 times higher! The programme has become a significant aid to acquiring international study experience. Presently, about 4,000 Finnish students go abroad through the programme, representing almost 10% of higher education students that begin their studies every year. In European comparison, the number of Finnish students who participate in international mobility is above average. The number of outgoing students from Finland grew particularly rapidly in the first years of the programme. People were openly excited about the new opportunities provided by it. Students had various reasons for going abroad: some were interested in pursuing an international career, some in learning about a new culture, others in improving their language skills. Some wanted to see how they can manage in a different environment, some wanted to expand their study opportunities, and others were looking for adventure. For all, an exchange period abroad The mobility of students has not been balanced across the board, however. There is a clear difference between universities and universities of applied sciences: whereas almost every four of new university entrants participate in an international exchange during their studies through Erasmus or some other arrangement the corresponding figure is only one in eight in universities of applied sciences. The main reason for this may be the fact that university students have traditionally been very free to plan the length and contents of their studies according to their wishes. This has made it easier to go abroad and to include foreign components in their qualification. The length of studies in universities of applied sciences is more restricted and follows a set timetable. There is also a clear gender difference in participation: more women participate in exchange programmes. It is also problematic that there is less mobility in the fields of technology and natural sciences than in other sectors. Although students and higher education institutions have taken ownership of the programme, the process has on the other hand been characterised by a top-tobottom approach. At national level, higher education institutions have been encouraged, even pressured, to develop international mobility. Development of international mobility has been monitored in the annual performance negotiations between the Ministry of Education and higher education institutions. They decide, for example, the funding of higher education institutions for the next academic year. Active international cooperation and mobility is one criteria, based 20 Across the Borders Across the Borders 21

13 on which a higher education institution could be awarded additional, so-called performance-based funding. The establishment of universities of applied sciences was a significant development in Finland. From the very beginning, vocational higher education institutions took part in the Erasmus programme. There were more than 200 of them and most had very little international activities. These colleges were combined to form temporary universities of applied sciences, which were to be evaluated and accredited by the Ministry of Education at a later stage. International cooperation was one of the criteria, based on which temporary universities of applied sciences were granted a permanent status. Mobility of teachers as a requirement for student mobility The willingness of teaching staff to take part in international activities has facilitated student mobility, too. Internationally active teachers spread their enthusiasm to students and establish links that enable student mobility. In European comparison, Finland is particularly active in the mobility of teachers through the Erasmus programme. According to a report by the European Commission, almost 6% of the teaching staff of Finnish higher education institutions have participated in an exchange, which is clearly above the European average. During the 2000s, the number of outgoing teachers has increased by 40% and that of incoming by 30%. Despite success in European comparison, the international mobility of teachers has been more problematic than that of students in Finland and is regarded as insufficient. The Ministry of Education s new international strategy of higher education institutions highlights the importance of teachers and other staff members in creation of an international higher education community. Lack of time and money are obstacles to teacher mobility. A survey on teacher mobility also brought to light the fact that Finnish teachers regard conferences and project meetings as more useful forms of international cooperation than teaching visits. This is problematic from the point of view of the Erasmus programme, where a teacher exchange must include a period of teaching in the host university. The turn of the millennium and a decrease in outgoing students At the turn of the millennium, the number of outgoing Erasmus students stabilised. Less than half of outgoing Finnish students now benefit from the Erasmus programme. The significance of other programmes has increased: other important channels include own exchange agreements of higher education institutions, so-called free movers who have found their own host university, the Nordic Nordplus programme, a variety of work placement programmes, the North-South- South programme with developing countries, and the FIRST programme with Russia. Although the number of outgoing Erasmus students has not grown at the same pace as in the 1990s, Finland is still one of the most active countries in the Erasmus programme when it comes to student exchanges. Outgoing students Incoming students % 65% % 72% Share of Erasmus mobility of total student mobility A lot of thought has been given as to why there is less interest in exchanges. Several reasons have been suggested, such as: In a good economic situation, students have many opportunities in their own country during their studies, such as attractive work placement opportunities and jobs to go to. The new degree structure has increased the pressure to graduate quicker. As a result of the Bologna process, a part of mobility now takes place between qualifications students go and do their Master s studies abroad, which means that they do not take up an exchange period. Finnish students English skills are increasingly better, but they know less other languages. This development starts already at the secondary education. Finnish students tend to be relatively old compared to their European peers and the opportunities offered do not suit them: for example, a long exchange period may be impossible to a student with a family. Economic or other personal issues may be reasons. 22 Across the Borders Across the Borders 23

14 Studies lack long-term planning: an international period may appear a disconnected part of studies. There are problems in recognition of studies completed abroad in the home university. There is usually not enough information available about exchange opportunities. There is not enough information available about the course provision of host universities. We have already reached a relatively high level of mobility. It is worth asking how many students we can expect to be internationally mobile in the first place. A new attractive option has been introduced to the Erasmus programme: Erasmus work placements. We might expect that while the volume of traditional student exchanges will stabilise or even reduce, the work placements will present new opportunities. During the first year of Erasmus work placements, in the academic year , almost 700 Finnish higher education students took part in this strand of the programme. So, almost 20% of all Erasmus students chose to spend their Erasmus period on a work placement, and we believe that this number will grow in the next few years. The number of incoming Erasmus students is increasing rapidly When Finland joined the Erasmus programme, only a few could anticipate the number of incoming students. In 1989, a working group of the Ministry of Education set ambitious targets for student mobility and made a statement regarded as a given at the time: It is realistic to assume that there will always be more Finnish students going abroad than incoming students to Finland. The number of incoming students has risen year by year and now clearly exceeds that of the outgoing ones. Unlike the number of outgoing students, there are no signs that the number of incoming students would be decreasing or even coming to halt: Finland has been an undisputable success in attracting European exchange students. Who would have believed at the beginning of the 1990s, in light of our history, that there would be more incoming students to Finland from Germany, for example, than there are Finnish students going there? Erasmus has been a significant tool for internationalisation of Finnish higher education. The programme started as a means of providing international experiences for Finnish students, but now is, above all, a way of bringing international students to Finland. 72% of all international exchange students already come to Finland through the Erasmus programme; the share of Erasmus in comparison to other channels has been on the increase. The infrastructure to welcome exchange students in Finland has been good. It has been easier to arrange accommodation than in many other countries, although nowadays some towns are starting to experience a shortage of accommodation. The infrastructure of universities has been praised by international students: equipment and facilities work well, libraries are of high standard and technology modern. We have also received positive feedback about student and social services and support systems. According to surveys, foreign students are attracted to Finland because it is regarded as advanced but also exotic. Students influence each others decisions: those who have had a good experience of studying in Finland have told about their experiences to other students who were making their minds up of where to go on their exchange period. Finland has benefited from the international development trends. The expansion of the EU and the entry of the Central and Eastern European and the Baltic countries to the Erasmus programme increased the potential number of incoming students. Many Finnish higher education institutions already had traditionally links with the higher education institutions in these countries and the Finnish government had grant and exchange agreements with them. Finland is a potential host country for students who wish to study in English, because there is a good supply of English-taught courses available. Finland has become an interesting option for those who would have liked to go to Britain but were unable to because British higher education institutions have closed their doors to exchange students, concentrating on education as business and fee-paying degree students, like the rest of the Anglo-Saxon world. 24 Across the Borders Across the Borders 25

15 Shift of emphasis moves to degree students % ,5 4,0 3,5 3,0 2,5 2,0 1,5 1,0 0, The number of international degree students 2,4 2,3 2,5 2, ,9 2,7 2,7 2,5 2,5 2, The share of international degree students in international comparison ,1 2,8 3,6 3, , ,3 In total Universities of applied sciences Universities Universities of applied sciences Universities OECD countries % Australia 20,9 Austria 15,5 Belgium 12,1 Canada 14,6 Czech Republic 6,3 Denmark 8,4 Finland 2,9 France 11,2 Germany 11,4 Greece 2,5 Hungary 3,3 Iceland 4,5 Ireland Italy 2,4 Japan 3,2 Korea 0,7 Luxembourg 42,2 Mexico Netherlands 6,1 New Zealand 28,5 Norway 6,7 Poland 0,5 Portugal 4,6 Slovak Republic 0,9 Spain 2,9 Sweden 9,8 Switzerland 19,2 Turkey 0,8 United Kingdom 17,9 United States OECD average 9,6 EU 19 average 8,9 International students in higher education in OECD countries (OECD 2008: Education at a Glance) 26 Across the Borders Across the Borders 27

16 In 2001, the Finnish Ministry of Education published its first international strategy for Finnish higher education. For the first time, recruitment of international degree students was mentioned as part of higher education institutions international activities alongside exchange students. A target was set that by 2010 there would be a community of 10,000 15,000 international degree students in Finland and that at least 15% of PhD students were to be from abroad. As exchange studies had become an established part of the international activities of higher education institutions, discussions started to focus on areas where we were only in the beginning: recruitment of international researchers and students, success in international competition for excellence and later, export of Finnish education know-how. The need to secure Finland s competitiveness by expanding our skills base and to improve the quality of higher education by exposing it to international comparison were given as the justification for increasing recruitment of international students. Nowadays, many higher education institutions list recruitment of international degree students and development of high-standard English-taught study programmes as important strategic goals. To achieve these goals, almost all higher education institutions offer English-taught degree programmes. Higher education institutions have established various regional and sectoral networks to market their programmes internationally and to recruit international students. The responsibility of CIMO has been to promote the whole of Finland as a study destination. Application process has been made easier by including English-taught programmes in an electronic application system both in universities of applied sciences and universities. Universities of applied sciences have also collaborated in organising entrance examinations in China and some other Asian countries together. These efforts seem to have started to bear fruit. The number of international degree students has risen both in universities of applied sciences and universities all through the 2000s. A significant number of international degree students in universities, that is, one-third, are post-graduate students. Despite the increase in absolute numbers, the relative share of international students remained stable for a long time, because at the same time as the number of international students was growing, the total number of students increased, too. It is only in the past couple of years that the relative share of international students has started to grow, accounting for 4.2% of all students in universities of applied sciences and 3.3% in universities. Internationally, the Finnish higher education system is still very national and the student community very Finnish. The 4 percent share of international students is less than half of the OECD average. There are many reasons for this. Firstly, the statistics show the number of foreign nationals in higher education, and not people who have moved abroad to study. The difference is significant in the sense that these statistics regard those people who have already lived in the country in question for a long time as foreign (or international) students, too. Because immigration to Finland has been lower than in many other European countries, we have less people with foreign background entering the higher education system from within. On the other hand, recruitment of international students and operating in the international education market is still a relatively new thing in Finland, although a lot has already been done in this area, too. This is also a much more controversial issue in Finland than the cooperation model provided by Erasmus. It has been easy for higher education institutions to adopt the logic of the Erasmus programme, which is based on networks and cooperation and clear, shared rules. In contrast, there are many traditional factors in the Finnish higher education system which are not easily compatible with international competition. These include free education and a strong emphasis on equal education opportunities for all. Since higher education has been regarded as a citizens right and there has been enough Finnish people seeking higher education, institutions have not had a need to compete for students, to enhance their profile and to sell their education as a product. Education in foreign languages Recruitment of both exchange and international degree students has meant that we have had to develop courses and study programmes taught in foreign languages. Development of these courses started from the needs of exchange students. Initially, individual courses or short study programmes were created for incoming exchange students. As the focus increasingly moved towards recruitment of international degree students, more resources were correspondingly directed to development of complete degree programmes taught in foreign languages. 28 Across the Borders Across the Borders 29

17 Year Tot ba MA d Degree Degrees taught in foreign languages in Finnish higher education institutions English. Critics have asked if the strong emphasis on English will stifle knowledge in other languages. There has also been a lot of concern about integration into the Finnish society of those international students who study English-taught programmes. From the very beginning, the creation of English-taught programmes has been partly motivated by the need to recruit skilled professionals in Finland. Knowledge of local languages is needed in the labour market, however. Many degree programmes include only little if any studies in the Finnish language and there are hardly any other processes in place that would help students integrate into the Finnish world of work. There are almost 300 English-taught degree programmes available in Finland. According to a European study conducted by the Academic Cooperation Association ACA, only the Netherlands has more English-taught programmes in relation to the size of the education system of the country. Universities of applied sciences mainly offer Bachelor s degree programmes and universities focus on Master s programmes. Most provision is in the business and technological sectors, a common trend across Europe. The focus of Finnish higher education institutions is more on business qualifications compared to other European countries; in contrast, we have clearly less English-taught programmes in social sciences than other countries. From the very beginning of the Erasmus programme, provision of courses in foreign languages raised questions in Finland. Initially, it was unclear whether higher education institutions could teach in any other than the official language used in the country and whether higher education institutions providing tuition in other languages could be accepted in the Erasmus ICT networks. The principle at the time was that teaching should be provided in the language of the country. Nowadays, it is regarded pretty self-evident that there has to be training provision for international students in other languages than Finnish or Swedish only. It is also typical that many Finnish students attend these courses, too, together with international students. Another important goal of these programmes has been to offer Finnish students opportunities for international experiences at home by giving them a chance to study in a foreign language in a multicultural student group. There are still questions and concerns relating to provision of courses in foreign languages. In practice, the provision in foreign languages means provision in According to the feedback collected from international students, they regard the standard of education in English-taught programmes as mostly good, but there is still room for improvement. Some respondents have commented on the teachers or other students weak level of English or the insufficient availability of English-taught courses. The international support services are often directed more to the needs of exchange than degree students. There is a need to focus more on quality than in increasing the number of English-taught courses. One tool to this end is audits of foreign language degree programmes, which the Finnish Higher Education Evaluation Council has now carried out twice. In its new international strategy for Finnish higher education, the Ministry of Education proposes widerreaching assessment of international programmes and related support services. How does the future of international mobility look? The Finnish higher education sector and its operating environment is in turmoil. The number of institutions is decreasing and new forms and structures of cooperation are being created as the sector is going through structural change. New legislation will change the legal and economic position of universities. The steering and funding system of higher education institutions is being reformed. A new international strategy for higher education aims at improving the higher education institutions conditions for international work. It is now possible to provide made-to-order training and, as a pilot project, to collect tuition fees from non- European students studying in international Master s programmes. The majority of these reforms come into force in 2010 at the latest. 30 Across the Borders Across the Borders 31

18 The increased freedom of higher education institutions allows them to create a more individual profile for themselves. Different institutions may now have more diverse priorities, sectors and partner countries. Different institutions may decide on very different ways of international cooperation: some may focus more on export of education, some on partnerships, some on cooperation with business and industry, and others on forms of international dimension at home. The new international strategy for higher education emphasises more strategic planning in international activities: all study programmes should include an international component that can be realised in some other way than a traditional exchange period. We can expect a number of new ways of including the international dimension in studies. What does this mean for the role of the national agency such as CIMO? Will the services be increasingly tailor-made according to cooperation partners? Do all higher education institutions need the national agency to the same extent? In any case, there will continue to be a need for national programmes and measures to help realise projects that are important from a national point of view: in this way higher education institutions cooperate and compete for funding at the same time. It is an indication of the importance of the programmes that higher education institutions have been willing to invest their own funds in the international activities, too. The same applies to multinational, mainly European and Nordic programmes: Erasmus and others are still important means of cooperation. The new international strategy also focuses on flexible recruitment of talented students and researchers. One of the biggest trends of international education in Finland and elsewhere at the moment seems to be to attract promising post-graduate students and excellent teachers through various programmes. Alumni activities will also have a more prominent role in the future. The climate change may have surprising effects on mobility. We may have a new generation who is not willing to travel across the world by plane for ideological reasons. The cost of mobility may also increase significantly. We may see a renaissance of mobility and cooperation between neighbouring countries; for Finland this would mean more cooperation with the other Nordic and the Baltic countries. Mobility to and from Russia is already becoming more and more important, as business and other cooperation with Russia is increasing. It is unfortunate that the mobility of Finnish students is restricted by their increasingly limited language skills. Students know English better and better but their knowledge of other languages is worse. This development starts already at school. People can study in English in many countries and this option can often be justified, but you can get much more out of your host country and its culture when you know its language. Does the dominance of English lead to a more international but at the same time to a more uniform way of thinking? As the growth of outgoing students has come to a halt, we must also consider what a realistic level of mobility is in the end. Can we still increase the numbers? Although we have examples of higher education institutions that aim to make all their students internationally mobile, it is impossible to assume that all students in a country would take advantage of the mobility opportunities available. By offering good options we can still raise the numbers, however: quantity and quality do not exclude each other in this case. Mobility from and to Finland has so far been clearly Europe-centred. People often say that Europe is no longer interesting and that students look for more distant and exotic places to include in their CVs. This is certainly true to some extent; however, it does not seem that there will be any dramatic changes in the target countries in the next few years. 32 Across the Borders Across the Borders 33

19 Maija Airas-Hyödynmaa Head of Higher Education Cooperation Unit, CIMO in 2008 higher education institutions requested a total of 1.8 million euros for cooperation. At the moment 22 networks with participants from nearly all Finnish higher education institutions and 45 higher education institutions from the North-West Russia are being funded through the programme. Exporting (the best of) Erasmus: from Archangelsk to Cape Town The Erasmus programme took the Finnish higher education sector by storm, so much so that most university reformers can only dream of achieving anything similar. After higher education departments across Finland had mastered the basic principles of the programme and it had become very popular, we started to think how its principles could be applied to other contexts. The idea to apply a similar model to higher education cooperation with Russia was conceived at the Centre for International Mobility CIMO towards the end of the 1990s. At the same time, Sweden launched the Linnaeus-Palme programme to support higher education cooperation with developing countries, funded by the country s development authority SIDA. CIMO started to lobby for a similar programme in Finland based on the principles of Erasmus. The decision to fund a development programme based on the Erasmus model was made after a lengthy preparation period in The eagerly anticipated North-South programme was initially funded through the development funds of the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs as a three-year pilot until the end of On the basis of the positive results and experiences, it was decided to extend the programme in a new form for the period of with the name North-South-South Higher Education Institution Network Programme. The North-South-South programme supports higher education networks between Finland and Sub-Saharan African countries, Peru, Nicaragua, Egypt, Nepal and Vietnam. Grants are awarded for reciprocal student and teacher exchanges and now also for joint intensive courses and networking activities. Demand clearly surpasses the funding available (1.3 million euros in 2008). At the moment, 33 higher education networks with 30 Finnish and 68 partner higher education institutions from a total of 21 countries are in operation. The most popular partner countries are South Africa, Tanzania, Kenya and Zambia. The enthusiastic reception of these programmes in the higher education sector proves how good practices, cooperation models and tools used in Erasmus can successfully be transferred to other contexts, for example, when it comes to preparation of exchange periods and recognition of study periods abroad. Network cooperation enables light programme administration CIMO launched the Finnish-Russian Student Exchange programme, FIRST, with funding from the Finnish Ministry of Education in It has since become an integral tool of cooperation with Russia for Finnish higher education institutions. In the beginning, the programme mainly supported mobility of Russian students to Finland, but more substantial grants were later awarded to Finnish students, too. Teacher exchanges have also become an important part of the programme. Joint intensive courses are the newest form of operation. The level of funding, 280,000 euros per year, is low in relation to demand. For example, The Erasmus model for higher education cooperation is based on networks of individual departments. Cooperation should be mutually beneficial. The responsibility for implementation of student and teacher exchanges is shared and the expertise for, for example, selection of students remains within the departments. Reciprocal cooperation relies on the willingness of both parties to invest their own resources, too: there is no separate funding for coordination and administration of the activities, nor for selection, preparation and counselling of outgoing students. The actual programme funding is earmarked for direct mobility costs 34 Across the Borders Across the Borders 35

20 only. In the FIRST and North-South-South networks the funding is channelled through the Finnish coordinating higher education institution; the programmes are funded from the Finnish state budget after all. Light administration is characteristic of the programmes. The whole budget for the FIRST programme goes directly to higher education institutions and CIMO provides approximately 0.2 person years to administration of the programme. In all programmes, the light central administration is possible only because of the reliable and knowledgeable international affairs staff in the Finnish higher education institutions and on well-functioning networks, which are important criteria for selection, particularly in the North-South-South programme. Towards closer cooperation: joint intensive courses There has been a lot of interest in increasing cooperation with Russia for a long time when it comes to teaching and development of degree programmes. New opportunities for closer cooperation opened up when Russia joined in the Bologna process. Even though exchanges in the FIRST programme have become more balanced, thanks to, for example, increasing the grant amount awarded to Finnish students, it is still difficult to attract Finns to go and study in Russia. For this reason, it was decided to introduce intensive courses to the FIRST programme, a model used in the Erasmus programme. The aim of the intensive courses held in Russia is on one hand to encourage Finnish students to go and study in Russia and on the other to support development of joint study programmes and even joint degrees. Towards the end of the three-year pilot phase of the North-South programme, a discussion arose about how the impact of the programme in the higher education institutions of the South and the mutual cooperation among them could be increased. At the same time, we did not want to forget the idea of mutuality, an important principle that distinguishes the programme from more traditional forms of development cooperation. Introduction of intensive courses to the development cooperation was one response to these needs. Intensive courses of usually one to two weeks are held in the partner countries in the South and participants come from higher education institutions in Finland and in the South. Recognition of studies completed abroad had also been a challenge in the North-South programme and it was thought that intensive courses could contribute to developing cooperation in this respect, too. It is still too early to draw any far-reaching conclusions from experiences of borrowing this more recent Erasmus element to the FIRST and North-South-South programmes. We can judge from the interest shown in the intensive courses that this model tested in European cooperation will fit well in another context, too. We can already see from the experiences in the North-South-South programme that intensive courses held in partner countries enable dissemination of results of the cooperation regionally. There are also indications that organisation of intensive courses supports forging of closer institutional links and, for example, creation of joint curricula. Challenges in cooperation It is clear that education cooperation with North-West Russia or Sub-Saharan Africa cannot follow exactly the same principles as Erasmus cooperation in the European higher education area. Differences in education systems and degree structures make recognition of studies completed in another country more difficult and institutions may sometimes need to compromise the strict adherence to the principle of reciprocity. We have tried to pay special attention to this, particularly in the North-South-South programme, which includes measures aimed at facilitating mutual understanding between partners. Grants are available to teaching and administrative staff for preparatory and administrative visits. Furthermore, network meetings are supported. Student exchanges between Finland and developing countries and, to some extent, Russian higher education institutions are still mainly tailor-made and despite similarities in the principles of the programmes we are still a long way from the mass mobility of Erasmus. The lack of funding available is a significant but not the only reason for this. 36 Across the Borders Across the Borders 37

21 Weaknesses in or even a total lack of institutional support structures for international cooperation and particularly for student exchanges in the partner higher education institutions make cooperation demanding. In addition, various obstacles to mobility, such as visa, insurance and permit requirements, can cause difficulties. Student exchanges both in the FIRST and the North-South-South programme are affected by the lack of programmes taught in foreign languages in Russia and non-english speaking developing countries. In addition to the lack of suitable study programmes and the lack of Russian skills of Finnish students, prejudices of Finnish students and teachers make them less willing to go to Russia. Students interest in the developing countries remains high, though. Social and political instability and security issues, however, can make cooperation with some developing countries more difficult. The future of the programmes Russian students to Finland. The high profile of the programme in the higher education sector in the North-West Russia has helped Finnish higher education sector raise its profile in Russia more than individual higher education institution projects. We need joint investment in higher education cooperation with Russia and we anticipate that the demand for the FIRST programme remains high in the future. We need to consider, however, why bilateral cooperation with the increasingly wealthy Russia should be funded by Finland alone. The North South South programme faces conflicting demands from cooperation and the education market When forecasting the future of the North-South-South programme from the point of view of the partner countries we can relatively safely assume that the demand to support development of high-quality higher education remains. A highquality and well-functional higher education system is essential for the economic and social development of any developing country. Despite their limited budgets, the ambitious aim of both the FIRST and the North-South-South programmes has been to achieve as wide as possible geographical and sectoral coverage. The selection of the networks to be supported is strictly based on quality of the project applications, and this is perhaps the biggest difference to the Erasmus model. Because of the lack of funding available higher education institutions and networks have been encouraged to join forces, and regional and sectoral cooperation has been supported. The critical question in higher education cooperation with developing countries is the management of brain drain. It is problematic in respect of the aims of the North-South-South programme if students who come to Finland on an exchange then continue to complete their whole degree here and enter the Finnish labour market. We have then succeeded in supporting the academic career of individual students but the impact on the development of higher education and human resources in their home countries may remain small. The changing operating environment and differentiation of the higher education sector raise questions on how well the present programme concept will work in the future. The fixed-term funding of the programmes makes strategic, longterm planning difficult. The funding rules also naturally steer the programmes and the contents of cooperation. What happens after the programme funding will be discontinued? It has not been easy to identify other possible funding sources. The financial input of Russia in the FIRST programme Finland is one of the countries that promote immigration of workers and our interest in recruiting skilled workers from abroad is growing. The right of movement of people in search of better living conditions should not be restricted. For this reason, international education cooperation has to balance between individual, institutional and national aims. We are expected to find answers to how, for example, a talented student or researcher from abroad who ends up staying in Finland can keep in contact with the Academia in their home country and contribute to local development there. The growing middle-class in Russia is ready to invest in high-quality education, and the FIRST programme has become a significant tool in recruiting talented 38 Across the Borders Across the Borders 39

22 The Question of Language in the Internationalisation of Higher Education 40 Across the Borders Across the Borders 41

23 Anne Siltala Programme Manager for the Erasmus Programme, CIMO At the height of this development, we have not always remembered that in addition to courses taught in foreign languages, we should also offer foreign students training in Finnish and Swedish the official languages in Finland. In this article, I examine the goals set to the teaching of the Finnish language (and to some extent that of Swedish), practical challenges to this and exchange students experiences of studying Finnish. Goals of teaching of Finnish and Swedish The international priorities of Finnish higher education institutions set in the Finnish development plan for education and research ( ) include mobility of students, teachers and researchers. It concludes that Finland is an attractive destination country for international students and our goal is to further increase the number of incoming exchange and degree students. With the help of diverse support measures, we also want to ensure the commitment of foreign students and researchers to Finland. The challenge is to ensure that they acquire sufficient Finnish and Swedish skills to enable them to find employment in Finland (The Finnish development plan for education and research 2007). Finnish Language and Culture for Foreign Students Finnish higher education institutions have developed courses and modules taught in foreign languages in order to promote student exchanges and the international dimension of higher education. The fact that there are now more incoming students than outgoing ones indicates that the courses available are diverse and attractive. There were more exchange students coming to Finland than going out for the first time in 2007: 8,400 students arrived and 8,200 went out (Korkala 2008). In the same year, a total of 11,300 international students were studying a full degree in Finland. The development plan states that higher education institutions are responsible for ensuring that foreign students achieve a sufficient level of competence in the Finnish and Swedish languages and culture. The language training has to be relevant to their studies and employment. The development plan also pays special attention to the sufficient provision of Finnish and Swedish languages and culture with respect to immigration and multiculturalism (The Finnish development plan for education and research 2007). Higher education institutions need to think of ways of achieving these goals in 2009 when they prepare their language strategies to cover all their activities. The international strategy of higher education institutions (2009) concludes that not enough attention has been paid to the teaching of Finnish and Swedish languages and culture to foreign students and staff. Higher education institutions are encouraged to increase and direct teaching of Finnish and Swedish languages and culture so that it better meets the needs of immigrant and foreign-language students, teachers and researchers. Challenges to development of teaching of Finnish as a second language The majority of foreign exchange and degree students do not speak a word of Finnish when they come to Finland. They study in English and they can manage most of their day-to-day affairs in English. The surrounding society, however, functions in the Finnish and Swedish languages and without at least an elementary knowledge of either language, the contact of students with Finnish society remains superficial. This trend is further enforced by the observation that foreign students mainly tend to mix with each other. Studying Finnish or Swedish would provide them with an opportunity to start learning to understand the Finnish cul- 42 Across the Borders Across the Borders 43

24 ture and way of life. It would also help them interact with Finnish people, which would make their stay in Finland more meaningful. According to the survey by the Centre for International Mobility CIMO (Garam 2001), a clear majority of exchange students attend basic and further courses in the Finnish language in addition to their other studies. Many of them would like to continue their studies to a more advanced level. Studying Finnish language and culture interests students abroad, too at the moment training is offered in over 100 universities in 30 different countries. The training is supported by the Council for Finnish Studies at Universities Abroad (UKAN), the secretariat of which is based at CIMO. UKAN supports the teaching of Finnish language by sending out about 30 visiting professors and lecturers of Finnish language and culture abroad every year and by providing teaching centres with teaching material. For students studying Finnish abroad, UKAN offers online courses and courses on Finnish language and culture in Finland. All Finnish higher education institutions either have a language centre that offers training in Finnish as a second language, or the courses are offered using other arrangements. According to a survey carried out in 2004, the provision of Finnish language courses does not meet the demand and all higher education institutions had room for improvement in the provision of Finnish language learning opportunities. There are different reasons for the lack of resources: small number of students, small number of courses, and difficulties in fitting language studies in the curriculum (Garam 2004). The degree structures can also become an obstacle. Foreign degree students in universities increasingly enrol on two-year Master s programmes that can be so intense that they do not allow time for studies in Finnish or Swedish. In universities of applied sciences, students mostly complete a degree programme of 3.5 years. The period of study is longer but the often dispersed teaching locations do not necessarily offer appropriate courses to ensure that students achieve sufficient language skills needed at work. courses, and also ensure that the timetables and degree requirements allow time for language studies. When it comes to training provision, it is not enough to increase places: the different needs of students need to be addressed and we need a more diverse selection of courses at different levels, focusing on different elements of the languages. For exchange students, it is enough to ensure a sufficient provision of basic and intermediate courses for those interested. Degree students should have the opportunity to continue to an advanced level. Because we encourage those who complete their degree in Finland to stay here to work, teaching should also facilitate integration into the Finnish society (Garam 2004). In order to develop the teaching of the Finnish language, it should be integrated into the higher education institutions international and forthcoming language strategies. To increase the provision and to make best use of existing resources, higher education institutions should look into arranging courses together, such as intensive courses at term breaks. Other types of training and new technologies should be used, for example, guided independent learning and online teaching materials (Garam 2004). Training should take advantage of opportunities provided by the everyday surroundings, for example, by encouraging students to observe and learn through signs and advertisements in a city landscape. Finnish language and Erasmus students Language training courses in the less widely spoken and taught European languages have been offered in the European Union s Erasmus programme already from The common goal of these Erasmus Intensive Language Courses EILC is to increase exchanges to the countries where these languages are spoken and to teach students about their culture and way of life to help them integrate better. Intensive language courses are organised in 23 countries. They are held before the start of the term and last from 3 to 6 weeks, including at least 60 hours of contact teaching. They offer students a chance to learn about the country and its language before they start their actual course. After the language course, students go on to study in different towns. Learning of Finnish language cannot rely on the own motivation of students only. Higher education institutions must consciously enable foreign students to study Finnish. This means that they need to offer a sufficiently diverse selection of 2,200 students have participated in intensive Finnish language courses since The provision of and demand for the courses has increased remarkably over the years: almost 500 applications are received every year for the 350 places 44 Across the Borders Across the Borders 45

25 available. The duration of the courses in Finland is one month and they are held in August. The universities of Helsinki, Joensuu, Jyväskylä, Lapland, Oulu, Tampere, Turku and Vaasa have organised courses. From 2006, the Swedish-language university Åbo Akademi has offered one or two Swedish courses every year. A third of applicants to the Erasmus Intensive Language courses in Finland are Germans; other keen Finnish learners include Austrians, French, Spanish, Italians and Hungarians. In its Action Plan on Language Learning and Linguistic Diversity (2004), the European Commission set a target that 10% of all incoming Erasmus students should have an opportunity to attend an intensive course in their host country. In Finland, less than 5% of incoming Erasmus students have attended the course. To meet the target, Finland should offer over 600 places, that is, double the amount of places available at the moment. Almost all Erasmus students in Finland study in English, and it is unrealistic to expect that in just a few weeks students could even begin to reach the level of language competence needed to enable them to study in Finnish. The learning objective of the Erasmus Intensive Language Courses is to enable communication in everyday situations and understanding of short written and spoken messages. The courses offered by different universities have been different in their objectives, scope and contents to some extent. However, they have all aimed at giving students a solid basis from which to continue their Finnish studies and they have not contended with providing them with survival skills only. Experiences from EILC In 2005, Finland organised Erasmus Intensive Language Courses for the 10th time. CIMO decided to examine the motivation of course participants to study Finnish and to assess if the objectives set for the courses were achieved and if course participants continued their Finnish studies after the courses. Two questionnaires were sent out to participants in the survey. Almost all participants (250) returned the questionnaire sent out towards the end of the EILC. About a third of the participants (86), submitted the questionnaire sent out at the end of their exchange period. (Härö ja Noponen 2007) The most common reasons of exchange students to study Finnish were preparation for the Erasmus exchange period, interest in the Finnish language and culture, and a wish to manage in everyday situations in Finnish. One in five said the most important reason was an interest in the Finnish language and culture, which is particularly delightful with regard to the fact that 86% of respondents said they only studied in English during their exchange period. Were the objectives of the courses achieved? About a half of the participants were happy with the amount of information they had received about local culture and way of life, whereas a third particularly when it comes to students who stayed in Finland for a full academic year would have hoped for more information. Students were not able to make much contact with Finns during the courses. One reason for this was probably the fact that Finnish students were still on summer holidays when the courses took place in August. Just over a third of participants agreed completely or to some extent that they achieved a language competence to enable them to manage with everyday situations in the Finnish language. About 50% of participants said that they had learned to understand short spoken or written messages. 78% of the respondents who submitted the second questionnaire had continued their Finnish studies. The number is high with respect to the fact that a clear majority believed that they could have managed in their host town with only English. The most common reason for giving up the Finnish studies was the amount of work on their chosen course, that is, there was no time for language studies, or the host institution did not offer courses at a suitable level. Another aim of the second survey was to find out what kind of links students had made in Finland during their exchange period. Two thirds believed that they would use the Finnish language in the future: 50% planned to return to Finland on a holiday, almost 50% planned to keep in touch with Finnish friends and every third were planning to return to Finland either to work or to study. Furthermore, one in four thought they were going to continue studying Finnish in their home country. 46 Across the Borders Across the Borders 47

26 The future of EILC Sources The Erasmus Intensive Language Courses are one way of increasing exchange students opportunities to study Finnish and Swedish. Provision of similar intensive courses can be an option to increase the provision of courses in the future. Since the courses are held outside the term time, clashing timetables do not prevent students from attending the courses and higher education institutions could arrange these in cooperation. The EILC scheme can contribute to filling the gap, but there is also a lack of resources when it comes to courses available during the term time: do the participants to the EILC have an opportunity to continue their studies at an appropriate level? It is a shame if the good start is squandered only because of a lack of suitable further courses. EILC are only available to a small part of Erasmus students, but its significance for individual students should not be underestimated. It can help them connect with Finland as a country and be a spur to start studying Finnish and Swedish. As the global competition for skilled workers intensifies, it is not to be underestimated that as a result of the courses there are about 300 new students every year who wish to keep in touch with Finland, to continue studying Finnish or Swedish, or plan to return to Finland for a work experience or for further education. Garam, Irma (2001): My Finland. Selvitys ulkomaisten vaihto-opiskelijoiden kokemuksista suomalaisissa korkeakouluissa. (My Finland. Survey of experiences of international students in Finnish higher education institutions. An English summary is available.) CIMO Publications 5/2001. Garam Irma (ed.) (2004): Ulkomaalaisille vaihto- ja tutkinto-opiskelijoille annettava suomen kielen opetus ja sen kehittämistarpeet. (Teaching of Finnish to international exchange and degree students and its development needs. In Finnish only.) CIMO Publications 1/2004. Heinämäki Piia & Ketolainen Juha (1996): Sokrates ja suomen kieli: Erasmus-opiskelijoiden kokemuksia kielivalmennuksesta kesällä (Socrates and the Finnish language: Erasmus students experiences of their language preparation in the summer of In Finnish only.) CIMO EuroReport 1/1997. Härö Maria & Noponen Ilona (2007): Mä en ole koskaan opiskellut kieltä maassa, missä sitä puhutaan. Selvitys EILC-kurssilaisten suomen kielen oppimisesta lukukaudella (I ve never studied a language in a country where it is spoken. A survey on Finnish language learning of participants on Erasmus Intensive Learning Courses An English summary is available). CIMO Publications 1/2007. Promoting language learning and linguistic diversity: an action plan European Communities, Korkala Siru (2008): Kansainvälinen liikkuvuus yliopistoissa ja ammattikorkeakouluissa (International Student Mobility in Finnish Higher education An English summary is available.) CIMO Publications 1/2008. Korkeakoulujen kansainvälistymisstrategia Opetusministeriö (Strategy for the internationalisation of Finnish higher education institutions. Finnish Ministry of Education. English summary forthcoming in spring 2009.) Koulutus ja tutkimus vuosina Kehittämissuunnitelma. Opetusministeriö (Education and research, development plan. Finnish Ministry of Education. An English summary is available.) 48 Across the Borders Across the Borders 49

27 Riitta Pyykkö Professor of Russian language and culture, University of Turku English-Taught Programmes in Finnish Higher Education Institutions: Developments and New Challenges The Bologna Process and education in foreign languages International degree programmes became possible in Finnish universities along with the Bologna Process, because the new university legislation from 2004 allowed the use of other languages than just Finnish and Swedish as the language of tuition in degree programmes. English-taught degree programmes have been available in universities of applied sciences already for over ten years. The threecycle structure of degrees has also had an impact on the increase in national and international Master s programmes. The traditional Finnish degree system in which all students aim for both the Bachelor s and Master s degrees has not encouraged mobility between the two cycles. More effort was also invested in examining the attractiveness of education (see e.g. Advanced and unusual 2003). In Finland, wider discussion about the international dimension in education started towards the end of the 1980s. At the same time, the Finnish Ministry of Education set the first quantitative targets for student exchanges. Finland joined the European integration process and started preparing for the big exchange programmes that became accessible along with it. In 1991, the Centre for International Mobility CIMO was established. One of the responsibilities of CIMO was to market Finland s education abroad. In 1995, Finland joined the European Union. During the 1990s, a network of universities of applied sciences was also established. Its goal from the outset was to bring international dimension to education and training. Consequently, a specific support programme was created, the aim of which was to develop course provision taught in foreign languages and to establish international links. Universities, too, received extra funding for this purpose in the beginning of the 1990s, which, however, was discontinued in International work was seen as an integral part of universities normal activities and at the same time one of their performance targets. At the moment, all Finnish higher education institutions teach a variety of courses in English. International study programmes in Finland are normally offered either in English or in Swedish when aimed at Nordic students. Courses in Finnish language and culture offered to international students are an exception to this rule. English is at present regarded as the obvious main choice when choosing the language of tuition, although on the other hand people are concerned about decreasing the choice of languages. Higher education institutions have to pay attention to language choices in all areas in tuition, research as well as in support services when they formulate their language strategies to cover all their operations during 2009 (Koulutus ja tutkimus 2007). It has become increasingly apparent that there is a need for more integration training into the Finnish society and in Finnish language and culture. The higher education development plan for states that international students should achieve a sufficient knowledge of Finnish and Swedish languages and culture during their studies to enable them to study and work in Finland (Koulutus ja tutkimus 2007). It is likely that the Bologna Process has encouraged development of study programmes taught in English. National criteria set for the new Masters programmes are an important part of the quality control of the English-taught programmes. The criteria set for joint degree programmes is particularly demanding (Planning and development of joint degrees 2007, see also Guidelines for Quality Provision 2005). Those who have experience on setting up joint degree programmes (e.g. Hyppönen 2007) stress the importance of careful planning. It is essential for a programme to be based on the strengths of the participating higher educa- 50 Across the Borders Across the Borders 51

28 tion institutions and on long-standing cooperation. This ensures that the partner higher education institutions commit seriously to implementing the programme. It is important to acknowledge national traditions and the national context, but it is equally important to agree on common quality criteria and methods of quality assurance. Achievements and goals for the future Competition between institutions that offer programmes taught in English has become harder. In order to succeed in the international competition, it is important that higher education institutions invest in their real strengths. Higher education institutions should concentrate on programmes in sectors that they have special expertise on, that there is no previous provision for and for which there is real demand on. Foreign-language programmes should increase cooperation between higher education institutions at home and abroad. Joint foreign-language programmes also make it possible for several higher education institutions to offer a whole degree in cooperation when an individual institution does not have sufficient English-language provision of high quality. The mobility of students has increased, although the growth has come to a halt (see Education at a Glance 2008); the number of teacher exchanges, however, is not even close to the desired level. Both attitudes and circumstances provide reasons for this. Provision of excellent learning opportunities exchange of pedagogic experience and good teaching practices could be one incentive to increase teacher exchanges. International recruitment of teachers is still too rare; a lot also remains to be done in integration of international teachers into the Finnish higher education community. The future language strategies of individual higher education institutions will help this situation to some extent. When programmes taught in foreign languages were evaluated in 1999, the focus was on the language of tuition and its significance (Tella, Räsänen & Vähäpassi 1999). In the follow-up evaluation of 2005, these issues were no longer examined to the same extent (Lahtonen & Pyykkö 2005). This does not mean that there is no room for improvement in the English language skills of teachers. All higher education institutions offer teachers courses like Teaching in English, but participation has been voluntary so far. The development plan for education (Koulutus ja tutkimus 2007) expects higher education institutions to pay special attention to the language skills of those who teach in a foreign language. Quality plays an increasingly important role in marketing of international education. Different assessment tools can be used to measure quality, but it can also be done by improving transparency of qualifications using descriptions of learning outcomes and qualification frameworks (see Korkeakoulututkintojen viitekehys 2005). Possible introduction of tuition fees sheds a completely different light on the quality of education and its marketing. Discussion on the quality assurance of international activities had already started in Finland in the middle of the 1990s. The discussion was led both by CIMO and the Finnish Higher Education Evaluation Council established in How to measure quality is an integral part of the international dimension of Finnish education. As a result of the Bologna Process and the follow-up meeting held in Berlin in 2003 the quality assurance of Finnish higher education has become more systematic. It is important to preserve the principle of enhancement-led evaluation that is respected nationally and the autonomy of the higher education institutions, but at the same time the quality of education and higher education institutions need to acquire international credibility. The auditing model for the higher education quality assurance systems adopted in Finland (Audits of Quality Assurance Systems 2007) has proved successful, but at the same time very demanding. The model follows the principles of European Standards and Guidelines approved in the follow-up meeting of Bergen in 2005 (Standards and Guidelines 2007). We can ask, however, if the quality assurance systems developed in higher education institutions in the past few years always cover Englishtaught programmes, too. Concluding words Ideas about the international dimension in higher education have taken a new direction in the 2000s: we have realised the need to compete for talented students and skilled workers and the Finnish society has become more multicultural. It has become increasingly important to focus on the quality of education, and the various quality assessments, accreditations, certifications and audits are important tools for this. The ranking systems are here to stay, too, even though nobody 52 Across the Borders Across the Borders 53

29 seems to admit liking them. The quality of the competences achieved through education can be made visible by transparent descriptions of learning outcomes and the use of different frameworks. Higher education and its competitiveness are increasingly seen as part of the general economic competitiveness of the society. When higher education institutions focused on exchange students in the 1990s, now they are more interested in international degree students. We also hope that as many as possible of them stay in Finland to work after completing their studies. All these issues will be addressed in the new internationalisation strategy of higher education. Sources Advanced and unusual. Finland as seen by international students and trainees (2003). CIMO, Occasional paper 1/2003. Audits of Quality Assurance Systems of Finnish Higher Education Institutions. Audit Manual for (2007). Publications of the Finnish Higher Education Evaluation Council. 10:2007. Education at Glance (2008). OECD: Guidelines for Quality Provision in Cross-border Higher Education (2005). OECD. Hyppönen, Tarja (2007): The ABC of Joint Degrees Some Statements and Personal Reflections. The Bologna Process on the Ground. Experiences of Nordic-Baltic-Russian Cooperation in Higher Education. Lund: Lunds Universitet. Pp Korkeakoulujen ulkomaisten tutkinto-opiskelijoiden maksutyöryhmän muistio (2005). Opetusministeriö. Koulutus- ja tiedepolitiikan osasto. (Memorandum of the working group on tuition fees of international degree students. Finnish Ministry of Education. English summary is available.) Korkeakoulututkintojen viitekehys. Kuvaus suomalaisista korkeakoulututkinnoista (2005). Opetusministeriön työryhmämuistioita ja selvityksiä 4:2005. (Memorandum of the qualifications framework for Finnish higher education. Finnish Ministry of Education. English summary is available.) Koulutus ja tutkimus vuosina Kehittämissuunnitelma. Opetusministeriö (Education and research, development plan. Finnish Ministry of Education. English summary is available.) Lahtonen S. & Pyykkö R. (2005): Korkeakoulujen vieraskielisen opetuksen arvioinnin seuranta. Korkeakoulujen arviointineuvoston verkkojulkaisuja 6:2005. (Monitoring of foreign-language tuition in higher education institutions. Publications of the Finnish Higher Education Evaluation Council. English summary is available.) Planning and development of joint degrees (2007). National Board of Education: Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area (2007). ENQA, Helsinki. Tella S., Räsänen A. & Vähäpassi A. (1999): From Tool to Empowering Mediator. Teaching Through a Foreign Language. Publications of Higher Education Evaluation Council 5:1999, Helsinki: Edita. 54 Across the Borders Across the Borders 55

30 On Internationalisation of Higher Education in Norway and Germany 56 Across the Borders Across the Borders 57

31 Gunn Mangerud Director of Norwegian Centre for International Cooperation in Higher Education (SIU) increased participation in international programmes and initiatives, improved reciprocity in the mobility towards special regions, the development of Englishtaught programmes, and the development of increased numbers and better bilateral institutional agreements. International Dimension in Norwegian Higher Education in the 21st century Higher education is changing. Globalisation has had an obvious impact on the education sector, too, requiring it to change and adapt. This is also the case in Norway. A white paper on reforming the Norwegian higher education (HE), Do your duty Demand your rights was presented to the Norwegian parliament in One of the main issues was increasing the rights of students both in terms of the quality of education and the financing of studies. Internationalisation was also emphasised as a means to secure Norwegian institutions a position at the forefront of academic cooperation and student exchanges. The paper set a goal to higher education institutions to offer all students a study abroad component as part of their Norwegian degree. As a follow-up, the so-called Quality Reform was implemented in Norwegian higher education in The main goal of the reform can be summarised in the following three points: better quality in education and research; reduction in the number of student drop-outs; and increased international cooperation. The main tools for achieving the international targets listed by the government were So what are the results of the reform? In this paper, I will only refer to the international dimension of the reform. It has introduced a new degree structure, a grading system and a quality assurance system in line with the Bologna Process. The reform also led to the establishment of a national quality assurance agency, NOKUT, and a centre for international cooperation, the Norwegian Centre for International Cooperation in Higher Education (SIU). SIU operates under the auspices of the Ministry, but has a board of directors that ensures a direct link to the higher education sector. SIU was given the tasks of programme administration, promoting Norwegian higher education and research abroad, provision of information, competence building in the higher education sector and provision of counselling and advisory services for the Norwegian government, in particular to the Ministry of Education and Research. In other words, the reform resulted in establishment of national bodies with a focus on international dimension, but it also made individual institutions focus and improve on their international activities in order to adapt to what most seem to believe was inevitable. The first evaluation of the reform came out in 2006 and concluded that when it comes to the international dimension, the reform had not fulfilled its goals. The main criticism was concerned with a lack of connection between student mobility and research, a lack of institutional ownership and strategy and a lack of internationalisation at home. It seemed that in their efforts to increase mobility and English-taught programmes, universities/higher education institutions had overlooked linking the tools for internationalisation to the institution s strategic direction and priorities. The ensuing debate has been interesting and SIU is now witnessing a beginning of strategic development in the higher education sector, including stronger links between research and education and clearer institutional ownership. Recognition of the importance of internationalisation at home is also slowly growing. 58 Across the Borders Across the Borders 59

32 What tools and measures are available for Norwegian higher education institutions to enhance their international dimension? One of the most important resources for Norwegian students is the Norwegian State Educational Loan Fund (Lånekassen). The objective of the support from Lånekassen is to ensure equal opportunities for all students, including those who want to study abroad. All students can therefore take their student loans and grants with them to any country in the world as long as the higher education institution they attend is officially recognised by relevant authorities. This makes studying abroad an individual choice for each student, whether he or she takes a full degree or wants to go on an exchange. This is one of the reasons why Norway, relatively speaking, has a high percentage of degree students abroad. Norway also participates in the Erasmus Mundus programme, and as of spring 2007, 11 Norwegian institutions participate in it. The institutions are involved in 14 of the 103 joint Erasmus Mundus Master s Programmes that have been established, a high number considering that Norway only has 2% of the total European student population. Nordic cooperation is important in all policy areas, including education. The Nordic higher education programme Nordplus, which has played an important role in the Nordic countries, celebrated its 20th anniversary last year (2008). Along with the launch of a new generation of Nordic programmes in 2007, there is more focus on the effects of educational cooperation. This underlines the political ambition to build a strong knowledge and innovation area in the Nordic region. Since there are no tuition fees in Norway, not even for foreign students, a scheme has been established to cover a part of tuition fees charged abroad. The general scheme covers fees up to NOK 102,000 ( 13,000). Students may apply for grants of up to NOK 154,000 ( 20,000) to enrol at higher education institutions charging higher fees. This grant is available only for studies at certain institutions of very high quality, which are on a list that SIU revises approximately every two years. Under the EEA agreement, Norway participates fully in all EU programmes and activities within the fields of research and education. In the higher education sector, the Lifelong Learning Programme (LLP) is seen as an important tool for Norwegian higher education institutions, and participation in the various EU education programmes is very active. Since 1992, about 16,000 Norwegian students have participated in exchanges through the Erasmus programme. Norway has, however, experienced a decrease in outgoing student mobility from 2005/06, both in relation to mobility programmes and bilateral agreements. This includes both full degree and exchange students. The reasons for this are complex, and no studies have so far been carried out to find out more about students rationale for staying at home. Regarding incoming students, twice as many Erasmus students choose Norway today (2,575) compared to With support from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, SIU runs bilateral programmes with Russia, the Western Balkans, South Caucasus and Central Asia. In the case of Russia and the Western Balkans, SIU administers these programmes in cooperation with the Norwegian Research Council, emphasising the link between research and education. The interest among Norwegian institutions is high. Russia is an important neighbour and cooperation is particularly significant to our northern regions. Norway s strong focus on the northernmost regions is also reflected in the higher education sector, and a scholarship scheme for students from Canada, the US and Russia was launched for High North cooperation in SIU has emphasised the synergy between various measures available to strengthen collaboration in the circumpolar region through, for example, by organising seminars focusing on higher education institutions particular role in this region. Development cooperation has a long tradition in the Norwegian academia and its importance is also underlined in the quality reform. During the last few years, a gradual move to a stronger focus on recipients, founded on a principle of equal partnership has led to structural changes in the programmes. Financed by Norad, SIU runs programmes, such as NUFU, NOMA and the Cultural Education Program. These programmes have developed from classic scholarship 60 Across the Borders Across the Borders 61

33 programmes bringing students to Norway to partnership programmes, the main aim of which is to build sustainable capacity in the South. Both research and education collaboration are important pillars in these programmes. Norway focuses on selected countries in East Africa and Asia and strong links are built between Norwegian institutions and their partners. This cooperation is important to the Norwegian partners, too, introducing new ideas and comparative aspects. The upcoming white paper on international dimension in education, expected to be presented in February 2009, will address these issues and will hopefully also present directions for the future. Norwegian higher education has to be ready to meet the demands and challenges globalisation brings, both regarding the higher education sector itself but also to solve the global challenges we are facing. In cooperation with the South, synergies with other programmes, such as the Quota scheme, are essential. This scheme is the only extensive scholarship programme for foreign students in Norway and is financed by the Ministry of Education and Research. The scheme allows 1,100 foreign students enrolled at Norwegian institutions to receive the same financial support as Norwegian students. If they return to their home country after completing their studies, the total amount is converted into a stipend. Otherwise, they need to pay back parts, following a pay-back scheme as if they were a Norwegian student. The purpose of this mechanism is to prevent brain drain and to secure capacity building in the home countries of the students. There are also other smaller programmes in addition to the ones described above. A new higher education partnership programme with North America (Canada and the US) was established in The partnership programme was one of the main initiatives to increase higher education collaboration with North America as part of the new Norwegian strategy. It was warmly welcome, complementing funding related to the strategy for research and technology. The programme funds institutional partnerships, including joint and double degrees, summer schools, common course modules and mobility, with an emphasis on reciprocity. Quality and sustainability of the collaboration are the sole criteria for funding. By linking student mobility to academic cooperation through institutional partnerships, we believe we have found a formula that is suited to meet the future needs for the international dimension of higher education. However, it is also important to stress the necessity to retain a wide range of different tools that the institutions themselves can apply in order to fulfil their international strategies. 62 Across the Borders Across the Borders 63

34 Siegbert Wuttig Director of the National Agency for Erasmus, Erasmus Mundus, Tempus etc., Germany The programmes focusing on the international dimension of higher education aimed at contributing to develop Europe into a globally competitive economic area. The Memorandum on Higher Education in the European Community from 1991 emphasises these political aims. Current Challenges of Internationalisation and the Impact of Erasmus: The German Example In Germany, the universities (after the Fall of the Wall also from the newlyformed German states) participated actively in the EC programmes and used the opportunity to build up new institutional partnerships and to increase student and scholar exchanges in Europe. Nowadays, Germany is the leading European country in the numbers of both outgoing students and scholars. The German education policy has changed, too. In answer to the Memorandum on Higher Education in the European Community, the German Federal Ministry for Education and Science (now Ministry for Education and Research) called for a stronger internationalisation of our educational institutions and a stronger internationalisation of educational opportunities. Looking back The European universitates of the middle ages were already from their foundation internationally oriented and characterised by a high intellectual and geographic mobility of their scholars. By the 16th century universities were on the whole structured in the same way and, mainly due to the commonly used language Latin as lingua franca, provided near ideal conditions for studying and teaching at different universities in different countries. However, due to the increasing number of nation-state universities and the diversification of national university systems between the 16th and 19th centuries, the mobility of scholars and students in Europe decreased considerably. For obvious historical reasons, this was also true for the first half of the 20th century. From the mid-1970s and even more intensely in the second half of the 1980s, the European Community (EC) tried to reverse this trend and attempted to encourage the cooperation of universities in Europe and to support the inner-european mobility of students and scholars through introducing a variety of programmes (e.g. Erasmus). By the mid 1990s, the concern expressed by the Ministry proved to be valid the public discussion made it clear that Germany was less and less attractive as a study and research destination for skilled students and young researchers from abroad. In the aftermath, Federal and Länder Authorities strengthened their attempts to reinforce the international competitiveness of the German higher education sector. The introduction of support programmes aiming at the internationalisation of educational structures in higher education paved the way. Through these programmes, coordinated by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), the development of international study programmes with Master s and Bachelor s degrees (sometimes with double degrees) gained support in Germany already before the first statement concerning the Bologna process was made. In addition, the application of the European Credit Transfer System ECTS was promoted as a tool to improve the recognition of study periods completed abroad. A Concerted Action for Marketing and the so called GATE consortium were launched to help promote Germany as educational and scientific destination and to improve the recruitment of skilled students and young researchers from abroad. 64 Across the Borders Across the Borders 65

35 Current European and national policy agendas with reference to higher education dimension of higher education institutions (e.g. mobility, European higher education cooperation, recognition of studies completed abroad). Between 1987 and 1998, the Erasmus programme in particular turned out to be a driving force for the internationalisation of European higher education. Step by step, the scope of the programme expanded from the initial 12 EC Member Countries to the current 31 participating countries. Due to the statement of 29 European Ministers of Education in 1999, the intergovernmental Bologna process became the most important frame of reference for the internationalisation of higher education institutions in Europe. One year before, Germany and three other countries had already signed the so-called Sorbonne declaration which paved the way for the Bologna process. Through introducing its Lifelong Learning Programme LLP ( ), the European Union linked its internal political goals to other political agendas in Europe more closely than ever before. The higher education sub-programme Erasmus of the LLP programme explicitly follows the goals of the Bologna and Lisbon processes and provides about 3.1 billion Euros to these ends by Financial support will be given towards the mobility of students and teachers and other staff members of higher education institutions in Europe, the development of joint curricula, the modernisation of the higher education sector as well as to the cooperation between higher education institutions and business and industry. In the meantime, comprehensive reforms in the higher education sector have been implemented in 46 European countries with the aim of building an attractive and competitive European Higher Education Area by It would offer, among other things, borderless mobility, a three-cycle system with comparable degrees (Bachelor, Master, Doctorate), use and further development of transparent instruments for recognition (ECTS, Diploma supplement) of studies completed abroad and improved quality assurance. The Bologna reforms have generated profound changes in the higher education sector in Germany, too, despite occasionally vehement discussions. I will focus on these changes in the following chapter. At the Lisbon summit of the year 2000, in the light of increasing economic and scientific globalisation, the heads of governments and states in the EU formulated strategic goals which in their essence are very close to the goals of the Bologna process. The European Union should be developed to become the most competitive and dynamic knowledge based economic area in the world. This aim should be reached by raising the Research&Development state budgets to 3% of the GDP, for example. Germany has adopted this goal now, too (recently repeated at the Education Summit 2008). The agenda of the heads of governments and states was specified by introducing a detailed programme at the meeting of the EU Ministers of Education in March Measures and aims that are presented in this programme under the title Opening of general and vocational educational systems to the world, in particular, are closely linked to the international Furthermore, since 2001 the European Union has intensified its cooperation with third countries and attempted to increase the attractiveness of Europe in the world. In this context, the European excellence programme Erasmus Mundus was introduced, the aim of which is to facilitate outstanding master programmes and to recruit highly skilled master s degree students and scientists from all over the world. The German higher education institutions have recognised this programme as an excellent tool to increase international dimension and competitiveness. They participate in nearly half of the European Mundus study programmes. The internationalisation agendas have been adapted and reformed in Germany. In February 2008, the federal cabinet agreed on the Federal government s strategy for internationalising science and research proposed by the Ministry of Education and Research. The Department of Foreign Affairs developed new concepts for a Foreign Policy of Science. Furthermore, the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) presented its third action programme Quality through Internationalisation for the years 2008 to The programme set, for example, mobility targets (outgoing: in total 100,000 German students; incoming: 300,000 international students). Moreover, the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) aims at increasing the international dimension in higher education institutions through supporting study programmes leading to a double or a joint degree, through continuing 66 Across the Borders Across the Borders 67

36 implementation of the Bologna process, and through improving the professionalism of higher education institutions in the field of international cooperation. Finally, the marketing of higher education institutions will be expanded. The Bologna reforms in Germany After a slow start the Bologna reform took off in Germany. The introduction of internationally recognised Bachelor s and Master s programmes turned out to be particularly successful. In the winter semester of 2008/2009, more than 9,000 study programmes will lead to a BA or a MA degree. This is 75% of the entire course offer in Germany. Nearly two thirds of the newly enrolled students begin their studies in these study programmes. The German Fachhochschulen (universities of applied science, polytechnics) are particularly active. More than 94% of all study programmes end up with a BA or a MA degree. As for the duration of the study programmes, the following model dominates in Germany: 3 years of Bachelor s and 2 years of Master s studies. Many Fachhochschulen (universities of applied sciences) introduced Bachelor s programmes that last 3.5 years and Master s programmes that last 1.5 years. Currently, it is still necessary to adapt programmes, especially in subjects with a degree recognised through the state or the church (e.g. teacher education, law, medicine, theology). As shown by a survey of the Hochschulrektorenkonferenz (German Rectors Conference) the number of study programmes with a double or a joint degree is still low. No more than 2% of all study programmes grant such a degree (HRK 2008). It is expected that the number of such study programmes will significantly rise in the coming years, however, facilitated by the Bologna process, and supported by the programmes of the DAAD, the German-French University, and the EU. In the course of the Bologna reform, the accreditation of study programmes was introduced to ensure the quality of courses that conform to the Bologna process. In Germany, recently an institutional accreditation system was enabled. At the end of October 2008, about 44% of study programmes following the Bologna model were evaluated and accredited. As part of the accreditation process, higher education institutions also have to verify they use the ECTS system. The impact of the Bologna process on international mobility of students has caused controversy in Germany. German higher education institutions believe that the Bologna process might have a negative impact on international mobility. This suspicion is not without grounds. A current DAAD survey conducted with German higher education institutions shows that within the new study programmes students stay abroad from 4 to 6 months, which is shorter compared to the traditional study programmes (DAAD 2008). Furthermore, mobility within Bachelor s programmes is slightly declining (at least for the time being), but increasing within Master s programmes. This might turn out to be an unfortunate development, assuming that for many students the Bachelor s degree will be the one and only degree. Consequently, higher education institutions will face the challenge of creating mobility-friendly conditions at Bachelor s level (e.g. by integrating mobility windows into the curricula). Finally, there seems to be a trend towards a bridge mobility (between Bachelor and Master) and towards a vertical mobility (BA at home MA abroad). The latter trend is in line with the general concept of the European higher education area, but some universities are concerned about losing their own young researchers. The Impact of Erasmus on Higher Education in Germany Over the last twenty years, Erasmus has generated broad interest in and commitment to international cooperation with European universities among German higher education institutions, and has, in particular, turned into a permanent driving force in the exchange of students. The national evaluation of the Socrates II programme in 2007 showed that as a result of the broad penetration of the national university sector by Erasmus, higher education institutions can no longer afford not to take part in Erasmus. About 300 higher education institutions (around half of them universities of applied sciences), which account for 98 percent of German students, are now taking part in Erasmus. Almost 265,000 students (most of them women) from Germany have spent on average seven months of their studies in another European country. 68 Across the Borders Across the Borders 69

37 The boost Erasmus has given to the international dimension and the ensued closer cooperation with universities in Europe have helped diversify mobility flows (e.g. exchanges with Scandinavia and Central and Eastern Europe have increased), and also the range of subject areas involved (not only languages and business administration) and has increased the participation of certain types of schools of higher learning (e.g. universities of applied science). Erasmus has also contributed to more thorough analysis of the international dimension at universities (including by virtue the so-called European Policy Statement), which has had an impact on administrative structures (e.g. the establishment or expansion of international offices) and on administrative procedures, as well as the professional development of staff working at the international offices. Outside higher education institutions Erasmus has stimulated debate over certain educational policy topics in Germany such as, the implementation of the Bologna reforms. As the above-mentioned national evaluation study shows, Erasmus has, above all, had a positive impact on the people who have received support through it. Erasmus benefits students particularly in their personal development and in their transition from academic life to the world of work. After completing their studies, larger numbers of these students are internationally mobile in their profession than their peers, and they frequently perform international tasks. Employers appreciate the level of competence among former Erasmus students, which is generally above average, and assign them international tasks more frequently. German lecturers report that their teaching activities through Erasmus have had a remarkably positive impact on their careers. They have enriched cooperation with host universities in other areas as well (such as research, for example). Some lecturers also benefit in terms of their own professional careers. In view of the short duration of the Erasmus teacher exchanges, it is rather surprising that in the evaluation study university deans were of the opinion that teacher mobility makes a significant contribution to internationalisation as well as the reputation of the university. Erasmus has had a lasting impact in Germany in the national grant awarding policy as well. It has, in particular, raised the question about the relationship between national and European grant schemes. The DAAD has never seen Erasmus as a bothersome competitor, but rather as a welcome complementary tool to foster international dimension and mobility. Erasmus assumes an important position in the national campaigns of the DAAD and the Federal Ministry of Education and Research to promote mobility abroad ( Go out and Go EAST ). Future challenges and tasks In Germany, the ongoing process of internationalisation of the higher education sector presents the following challenges and tasks. 1. As a political framework of internationalisation, the Bologna process has to be continued efficiently. Where necessary its implementation should proceed after 2010 (e.g. in specific subjects). 2. Higher education institutions have to develop and implement an institutional policy for internationalisation. Their mission statements should include commitments for internationalising studying, teaching and university administration. 3. In order to better meet the challenges of the global competition in education and research and to attract the brightest minds, higher education institutions will have to cooperate in clusters and networks in the future much more actively than in the past. 4. In worldwide comparison, Germany is the third most popular destination for international students, after the USA and the UK. This excellent position should be defended in the coming years by improving the framework conditions for study (e.g. linguistic preparation, mentoring), by further development of international study programmes (also in the English language) and by intensified marketing. Special efforts have to be made concerning Erasmus. As a host country, Germany only ranks on third position behind Spain and France in the programme. 5. The German federal government and DAAD suggest that the proportion of German students who complete at least one semester abroad should rise by 20% on a medium term. Appropriate subsidies should therefore be provided (also to avoid social exclusion). This ambitious goal can only be achieved if the higher education institutions create flexible study programmes with mobility windows especially at Bachelor s level. Finally, the recognition of studies completed abroad has to be improved significantly. 70 Across the Borders Across the Borders 71

38 6. In spite of the persisting banking and financial crisis, politics and economy have to provide financial resources for the internationalisation process of higher education institutions in order to succeed in global competition. The institutions themselves must also act in a more entrepreneurial way and try to secure more external funding. In this context, the development of an alumni culture might prove beneficial. Sources DAAD (2008): Auslandsmobilität von Studierenden in Bachelor- und Master-Studiengängen: Bonn. (International Mobility during Bachelor and Master Degree Studies.) HRK (2008): Statistische Daten zur Einführung von Bachelor- und Masterstudiengängen, Wintersemester 2008/2009: Bonn. (Statistics from Bachelor and Master Degree Studies.) 7. German higher education institutions are well represented within the Erasmus mobility programme. However, there is a definite need for improvement and for more engagement in structural support measures (e.g. developing joint study programmes), and also in other EU programmes (e.g. Erasmus Mundus, Atlantis). A more active participation in these programmes would not only increase the international dimension in higher education institutions, but would also help them secure additional external funding. 72 Across the Borders Across the Borders 73

39 Strategies of Internationalisation 74 Across the Borders Across the Borders 75

40 Yrjö Sotamaa Professor of Design Innovation, University of Art and Design, Helsinki The countries that focus their resources on skills and knowledge follow Professor Richard Florida s formula for success of areas: attract, develop, retain! According to Florida, talented people gravitate towards places with other talented people, with an inspiring and international atmosphere, and with a passion for searching for new things and for questioning established ideas (Florida 2002). Florida s formula applies to the best universities, too. Their professors tend to answer the question of why they are so excellent: We get the very best and brightest students and let them do what they want. Competition for Talent Intensifies It is possible for Finland to succeed in the competition for excellence. Success requires brave and determinate policies and, above all, focus on the first and third parts of Florida s formula: attract and retain. How can we attract talented people to Finland and, above all, how can we retain them here in order to benefit fully from their knowledge and ideas? Why should we become more international when we have done so well on our own? After all, Finland is leading in many international comparisons, always receiving top ratings? So, why should we? Attract, develop, retain! Almost 140 million students (UNESCO 2005) study for a degree in universities across the world and the number is increasing rapidly. The increase has been 40% in seven years. At the same time, it is estimated that the number of those students seeking for a study place outside their home country will triple by 2025, reaching a total of 7.2 million (Newsweek, August 18/25, 2008). The knowledge and skills market is growing and the great global challenges of the humankind aging population, environment, energy, poverty, social exclusion, nutrition are likely to accelerate the growth. There are three clear reasons to explain this: 1) the promise of a better life and an interesting career that higher education provides, 2) countries and regions reliance on knowledge, skills and innovation for their success, and 3) we need more investment in research, knowledge and skills to solve global problems. Knowledge and skills form the basis of sustainable well-being. Change in the geography of knowledge Along with the economic growth, the geography of the highest knowledge is changing rapidly. The oil-rich countries of the Near East and Singapore are building new attractive campuses together with the best international universities. China is investing aggressively in expanding its universities and is putting billions of euros into higher education. India is joining in this competition, too. The aim of these measures is to break the supremacy of the top American and European universities and to try and curb the brain-drain from Asia to the United States, Europe and Australia. Although it is certain that the change in the geography of knowledge will introduce new top universities in this decade to compete with Harvard, Oxford, Cambridge, Stanford, MIT, Princeton, Yale and others, it appears that the established ones will be able to keep their positions at the top. Many traditional top universities have already started extensive fund-raising campaigns to secure their positions. Many European countries, such as Finland, Denmark and Germany, have introduced comprehensive university reforms. Of non-european countries, Japan, for example, carried out a big university reform in The reforms aim at improving the position of the countries in the increasingly competitive market. 76 Across the Borders Across the Borders 77

41 Finland has not been on the receiving end of brain-drain or research investments to any great extent. Even our rankings have started to go down. Are the reforms bold enough to improve our chances of reaching the top or even of keeping the present position? University reform The historic reform of Finnish universities is well timed and the right answer to the knowledge competition. The aim of the on-going and profound change is to make Finnish universities more attractive to talented people from all over the world. In addition, universities of applied sciences are actively reforming their activities and joining their forces. Cooperation between Finnish universities and universities of applied sciences is important to improve the international competitiveness and attractiveness of Finnish higher education. In the Helsinki metropolitan area a project called HERA has been started to support the international dimension of universities. The anticipated, increased autonomy and increased economic resources of Finnish universities will enable them to reform, to raise the quality of tuition and research, and to increase their attractiveness. Will they be able to take advantage of these opportunities and make bold enough strategic decisions? Can they become international and benefit of the opportunities of international cooperation in the same way as Finnish business and industry have or our former President Martti Ahtisaari who has worked for world peace for decades? Opportunities offered by international cooperation International cooperation has paved the way for global success for many Finnish companies. They have worked extremely hard for this and taken advantage of the opportunities presented by the global market. By focusing their resources to carefully selected areas, they have been pioneers, facing hard international challenges and open competition. To succeed, they have skilfully benefited from the best available international talent, also when it comes to management. They have been able to get far, even to the international top. By adapting to changes and by being able to change constantly, they have been able to maintain their position. The purpose of higher education institutions is different from that of companies, but internationalisation presents them with equal opportunities. The main purpose of universities is to produce new knowledge and offer high-standard tuition based on this knowledge. According to international assessments, our research is of quite high quality but we have a lot of room for improvement when it comes to teaching. Teaching has not received the same attention as research. To resolve the situation and if we want to reach the top internationally in the research areas most important to us, we need similar strategic choices and as determinate international cooperation as in the business world. Inbreeding Using a medical term, one of the biggest problems in Finland and in Finnish universities is inbreeding. We all know what it means: our wells are in a danger to dry up. Less than 4% of students in Finnish universities come from abroad (2008). The figure in Sweden is 8.5% (2006) and Denmark aims at 10% by With its figure of just over 3%, Finland is at the bottom of the OECD statistics. The future does not look much more promising. The objectives of the international strategy for higher education by the Finnish Ministry of Education are much more modest than those of our Nordic neighbours. Finnish students lack of willingness to study for different qualifications in different universities or to complete at least a part of their studies abroad also contributes to the inbreeding of Finnish higher education. After the initial excitement aroused by the Erasmus and Nordplus exchange programmes, the interest of Finnish researchers and students to go abroad has subdued. It is nice and safe to study with the same professors and friends for years. This is not conducive to development of learning, skills and thinking, however. Another dimension of inbreeding relates to university staff and consequently management and international networking. There are too few international professors and other staff in our universities. Many professors were brought up by their own universities. The best universities would not allow this kind of inbreeding. 78 Across the Borders Across the Borders 79

42 Participation in the international education market A significant element of the university reform is to allow tuition fees: from the beginning of 2010, universities can start charging tuition fees for certain Master s programmes. At their discretion, universities are allowed to charge tuition fees from non-eu students. Universities and universities of applied sciences can already offer made-to-order training. cultures and networking that will help develop the whole of Finnish society. It means genuine international cooperation for higher education institutions. Finland will become better known as a pioneer in education and research. We will be able to strengthen our economic base and create valuable links between Finnish society and students. Our international alumni will be an invaluable resource. Aalto University leading the way The introduction of tuition fees has roused very strong prejudices and fears. People fear that they ruin the valuable educational equality and lead to lower standards and diminish the study opportunities of Finnish students. Some are afraid that the quality of free education drops if the best resources will be directed to developing fee-charging programmes. It has been said that only well-off people will be able to study; that ability to pay will become the basis of selection instead of talent; that in order to raise money qualifications are awarded regardless of quality; that well-off foreigners will take study places from the Finnish. People are also afraid that income from tuition fees will reduce the public funding of universities and universities of applied sciences, which has happened in some countries. Some also think that tuition fees will stop international students from coming to Finland. Universities and universities of applied sciences understand very well that their thinking and ways of operating will need to change dramatically. Neither have unrealistic expectations that export of education would be simple or that tuition fees would be an easy way to increase their resources. International education competition is hard and success requires hard work and determination. Aalto University is leading the way in the university reform and has tried to make the best use of the opportunities provided by the reform. Its goal has been to create a genuinely international and a new kind of university, merging the Helsinki University of Art and Design, Helsinki University of Technology and the Helsinki School of Economics. This can already be seen in decisions made: two out of the seven members of the university board come from top US universities, one is the CEO of the European Science Foundation and most have extensive international experience. The newly appointed President, Professor Tuula Teeri, is the Vice-President of the Swedish Royal Institute of Technology and an internationally renowned researcher. The transformation plan of the university has been made in collaboration with international experts, using over 30 first-class universities as the benchmark. Aalto University will establish a tenure track system following international models and the university will seek funding from leading international companies. The same international thinking will be imbedded into development of teaching, research, entrepreneurship and innovation. Higher education institutions see tuition fees and the related international dimension as an excellent way of raising the quality of teaching. Fee-paying students are demanding and to succeed we must fulfil their expectations. In addition to cooperation between universities and universities of applied sciences, organisation of training requires cooperation with domestic and international companies and training organisations. The law on university education provides the same opportunities for all universities. Now we need courage and ambition to take advantage of these opportunities to reform our universities. New kinds of learners and new ways of organising training present a positive and enriching pedagogic challenge. This leads into important knowledge of different 80 Across the Borders Across the Borders 81

43 Sources Korkeakoulujen kansainvälistymisstrategia Opetusministeriö (Strategy for the internationalisation of Finnish higher education institutions. Finnish Ministry of Education. English summary forthcoming in spring 2009.) The Race to Build the Next Harvard, special report. Newsweek August 28/August 25, Laitinen, Markus (ed.) (2008): Tilauskoulutuskäsikirja. Suomen yliopistojen rehtorien neuvosto ja Suomen ammattikoulujen rehtorien neuvosto. (A handbook on made-to-order training. Finnish Council of University Rectors and Rectors Conference of Finnish Universities of Applied Sciences. In Finnish only.) Banks, Melissa & Olsen, Alan & Pearce, David (2007): Global Student Mobility: An Australian Perspective Five Years On. Higher Education, Undervisnings Ministeriet, Denmark 2008, kap05/html Study in Sweden, Florida, Richard (2002): The Raise of the Creative Class. New York. Basic Books. Aarrevaara, Timo & Maruyama, Fumihiro (eds.) (2008): University Reform in Finland and Japan. Tampere. Tampere University Press. 82 Across the Borders Across the Borders 83

44 Tapio Varmola President of Seinäjoki University of Applied Sciences Universities of applied sciences have also been progressive in their provision of courses taught in foreign languages. Almost all of them offered English-taught Bachelor s degree programmes (exchange programmes) already at the turn of the millennium. The results of international student exchanges in universities of applied sciences are positive both with regard to outgoing and incoming students. Internationalisation of Universities of Applied Sciences in Finland The Erasmus programme has offered teachers opportunities to get to know their European colleagues. I believe that this has enriched the curricula of Finnish universities of applied sciences in many ways. Since the planning of curricula was de-centralised in Finland, the new universities of applied sciences had a big responsibility to ensure the quality of teaching. Through the Erasmus programme, they have had a chance to seek good practices directly from other higher education institutions in Europe and even further afield. Starting point Universities of applied sciences were established in Finland during the 1990s with the purpose of providing higher education to meet the needs of business and industry. By establishing a new form of higher education alongside universities, Finland was following the model of many other OECD countries. As a result of the process that took the best part of the decade 30 universities of applied sciences were born out of a network of about 200 different vocational institutes. The structure of higher education changed with these new institutions that arose alongside the traditional universities. There was often very little international activity in the vocational institutes that preceded the universities of applied sciences. The birth of the new form of higher education gave rise to increasing international cooperation in universities of applied sciences. Thanks to Finland joining the European Union, the universities of applied sciences were able to increase their international student and teacher exchanges rapidly. The exchange programmes have become commonplace in all Finnish universities of applied sciences. Bologna process Joining the Bologna process was a natural extension to the internationalisation process started in the 1990s in the Finnish universities of applied sciences. The Finnish universities were initially hesitant about the process, but the Rectors Conference of Finnish Universities of Applied Sciences ARENE supported it from the very beginning. The Finnish Ministry of Education has supported the wide participation of different types of universities of applied sciences in the Bologna process, the results of which can be seen, for example, in the Prague Communiqué of The Bologna process has harmonised the higher education degree structures in Europe. In Finland, the study programmes of universities of applied sciences like those of universities follow the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS). This has made it easier to compare degrees nationally and internationally. The Bologna process also created a national framework for developing Master-level degrees in universities of applied sciences at the beginning of 2000s when the decision on second cycle degrees in universities of applied sciences was 84 Across the Borders Across the Borders 85

45 made. The international framework has helped to clarify the parity of the twocycle degree system in universities and universities of applied sciences. The new higher education legislation that enters into force in 2009 will further clarify the structure, making it possible for those who have completed their Master s degree in a university of applied sciences to enter Doctorate studies in universities. The Bologna process has also played a significant role in the development of quality assurance in higher education. The Finnish Higher Education Evaluation Council has been evaluating the activities of both universities and universities of applied sciences from the middle of the 1990s. The Bologna process has focused on questions related to the quality of higher education since The elements of this process include ECTS assessments (site visits, ECTS Label, Diploma Supplement Label), which progressive universities of applied sciences are aiming for. The Finnish education authorities have decided to audit the quality assurance systems of every Finnish higher education institution by About half the of universities of applied sciences have now been audited. To develop partnerships during 2010s, higher education institutions could include comparisons of quality in their projects. The Bologna process has offered universities of applied sciences a chance to network with similar institutions. The BaLaMa (Bachelor Labour Market) network of nine countries is a good example of this. Living in a global world The operating environment of higher education institutions has become increasingly global. The EU has quickly become a home market area in Finland and at the same time export has increasingly become the driver of Finland s economy. The operating environment of Finnish industry is global; the importance of Asia has grown alongside that of the USA, and Russia has regained the position it had in the beginning of the 1990s. But Finnish businesses operate in other continents, too, like the forest machinery industry in the Latin American market. The international dimension of higher education institutions in Finland has widened but they have perhaps not been quite able to keep up with the rapid changes in the operating environment of business and industry. All university of applied sciences degrees face the challenge to train students to work in an increasingly international environment. The change in the operating environment, for example, of traditional agriculture has been rapid: the sector that used to operate in the home market now needs to deal with producers of goods, the value of which is decided in the world market. The significance of the international operating environment manifests itself in different ways in the contents of different degree programmes. This poses many challenges to the development of higher education institutions. Increasing the number of international students and improving the international skills of staff are key goals for most universities of applied sciences. Creating an even more international higher education community is a common challenge to Finnish higher education institutions. Many universities of applied sciences have made a good start in this process. From tuition to research Tuition and research are the basic activities of higher education institutions. Research and development (R&D) is a relatively new form of operation for universities of applied sciences in Finland. The new universities of applied sciences act from 2003 forms the basis for R&D in Finnish universities of applied sciences. According to the international evaluation of the OECD (2006), applied research (mode II type) is typical of R&D of universities of applied sciences. Thanks to their links to business and industry, universities of applied sciences are in a good position to test innovations, for example, in living lab environments. Professionally oriented education calls for similarly oriented research. International networks play an important role in this and good partners are vital. Strengthening of international links in R&D is the main challenge for universities of applied sciences in the 2010s. Universities of applied sciences should be able to join the processes being developed in the networks of the European Research Area. 86 Across the Borders Across the Borders 87

46 Each university of applied sciences needs to find their own role in international cooperation in relation to their operating environment. Universities of applied sciences have a leading role in internationalisation in many regions in Finland where there is no strong traditional university, such as in Seinäjoki in Southern Ostrobothnia. In university towns, universities of applied sciences can strengthen the international dimension in the wider region, such as the Metropolitan Helsinki, Tampere region and Turku region). The universities of applied sciences contribute to the strengthening of competencies in Finland in an increasingly international operating environment. Diversifying and strengthening of the international activities of universities of applied sciences also require a change in leadership. Universities of applied sciences need to rate international skills and competencies high in their recruitment. Also the service culture of universities of applied sciences needs to be developed to support international activities both in tuition and research. 88 Across the Borders Across the Borders 89

47 Paavo Pelkonen Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Forest Sciences, University of Joensuu Liisa Tahvanainen Director of the Cross-Border University (CBU) The European integration networks challenge the Shanghai list In addition to succeeding in global ranking lists, we have to take care of the position of the Finnish academia in the European Union higher education area, which increasingly makes up our higher education home market. The EU has interesting plans for developing the European higher education and small countries and even small education sectors can consequently achieve an important role globally with a relatively small input (Clark 1998, Bologna Process 2007). International Networking as a Strategy The principal response of the Finnish society to the increasingly heavy global competition among universities has been to combine resources. By targeting resources geographically and sectorally, Finland hopes to position its universities closer to the top of international ranking lists, such as the Shanghai list. The goal is clear and easy to measure. Finland is undoubtedly wealthy enough to be able to raise the ranking of more than one of its universities by targeting resources according to the required criteria. The fact that other countries follow the same strategy makes achieving the goal more difficult. Many of them have more resources, too. Hopefully a better position on the Shanghai list will also result in an increase in creativity and innovation in universities, important for the development of our society. All the top hundred universities on the list, such as the University of Helsinki, are well-known and esteemed academic institutions with long histories. The top of the list is hardly surprising at least to a little more senior academics. It remains to be seen how much resources will be required to improve the ranking of Finnish universities. Hopefully the investors have patience to wait. Even in the hands of best reformers, there are structural factors that will hamper efficient development and reformation of the top sectors in universities. There may also be surprisingly sudden changes in the desirable top sectors as we have witnessed in the past ten years. The strategy of the European Union relies on networks. Lacking the remit in education and research, the union skilfully targets resources on sectors it regards important. Despite the heavy administration involved in many forms of cooperation, universities of all countries have actively sought funding for development and partnerships. Training and research commissioned by the European Union improve the chances for global operation. The background work that the European Commission or the European Parliament have done for networks is not negligible on the global academic market (Welcome to Erasmus Mundus 2007). A network is an inexpensive way for participants to get into the vanguard of international cooperation. With a relatively small investment you can get access to the EU s common resources and, above all, to the European channels of influence. Even if the remit of the EU in education and research should remain small in the future, it is almost certain that it will keep investing resources to achieving its common strategic goals, because academic education is an important tool for European integration. The euros invested in education and research by the Finnish Ministry of Education or the European Union are equally valuable. If the Finnish really believe in the competitiveness of their education and research in Europe, it is to the advantage of the Finnish tax-payer that as much EU resources as possible come into Finnish research centres and universities. The EU networks are quite flexible. Participation in a widely respected international network does not require big investments in the infrastructure. Participation in a network allows universities to consider which areas are the most important for them to invest in with regard to their overall future strategy. With their own investments, universities can then strengthen the position reached in a network in a global context as commissioned by the European Union (Bologna Process 2007). 90 Across the Borders Across the Borders 91

48 The competitiveness of the European Union relies on education, and the ever deepening integration will have an impact on its education structures and provision. According to current legislation, the European Union should improve the quality of education by encouraging cooperation between the Member States by supporting and complementing their own initiatives. The union fully respects the remit of the Member States when it comes to contents and systems of education and cultural and linguistic diversity. The remit of the European Union does not allow it to take measures that have a direct impact on national education policies. However, it must promote the European dimension in education, mobility of students and teachers, recognition of qualifications and study programmes, education cooperation and development of distance learning (Treates 2007). Despite the lack of authority, the developers of a more integrated European education have not been idle in Brussels. The departments responsible for development of education have come up with efficient tools to steer development to make up for the lack of political instruments. The lack of authority is counterbalanced by a cooperative initiative, that is, the Bologna process started in The meeting of the education ministers of four countries in Paris in 1998 led to the Bologna Declaration approved and signed by almost all European countries, including those outside of the European Union (Bologna Process 2007). The ministers committed to promote (1) higher education in Europe and (2) European higher education globally. The inspiration of those responsible for the European education integration to appeal to the ambitions of the Academia and to their drive for success has led to more rapid changes than could ever have been anticipated. Apparently all European countries have adopted at least to some extent the two-cycle degree system. It consists of a Bachelor s degree and a Master s degree, which are understood and comparable across Europe and make up clearly separate entities. A European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) has been introduced to encourage mobility of students. The networks need to have a shared understanding of quality The development of a European quality assurance system for education has advanced rapidly and considerable progress has already been made in many countries to introduce national solutions. It seems clear that the Bologna Process will roll out a European quality assurance system, common to all universities in its main parts. The principle of the new system is that an independent body without links to the funding bodies of the education system will assess and accredit study programmes and education providers. The Finnish Higher Education Evaluation Council, funded by the Finnish Ministry of Education, does not meet the criteria of independence and neutrality in its current form. Although it is certain that the development of a uniform quality assurance system will again raise opposition, even passionate one, the universities will in a few years time be keen to use internationally accredited certificates instead of selfproclaimed excellence to market their education. It was agreed in the London meeting of the Bologna Process in spring 2007 to establish a European Quality Assurance Register for higher education in Brussels (Bologna Process 2007). The second goal of the Bologna Process global promotion of the European higher education system kicked off in 2004 with the establishment of the Erasmus Mundus programme. The aim of the programme is to develop European higher education, to make the European education area more attractive and to promote intercultural dialogue. The programme supports Master s Programmes provided by EU higher education networks, which consist of studies in at least two European universities. Students are recruited from all over the world. A network can have partner universities outside the EU, which give students and teachers of the network universities opportunities to work in other countries (Welcome to Erasmus Mundus 2007). The European Commission has published preliminary plans for the next phase of the Erasmus Mundus programme starting in 2009, almost doubling the budget. In addition to the Master Programmes, the programme will offer doctorate studies organised jointly by the higher education networks, businesses and research centres (Advance information about the new Erasmus Mundus programme 2007). The model for higher education networks and partnerships came out of the European integration process. It allows the higher education systems of the Member States to interact with each other, which results in completely new activities 92 Across the Borders Across the Borders 93

49 and structures. The new partnerships offer small Member States, in particular, real opportunities to contribute to the international development of different education sectors. An example of benefits of networks in the forestry sector Although a small sector, forestry has been active in European education cooperation since the end of the 1980s when the European SILVA Network was established. The network started planning a common study programme involving several universities already in the beginning of the 1990s. The planning phase took six years and in 2002 a one-year Master s Programme was started in cooperation of six universities in the SILVA Network. At the start of the Erasmus Mundus programme, the network already had years of experience of planning study programmes and almost two years of implementing them. The two-year degree programme (MSc in European Forestry) coordinated by the Faculty of Forestry of the University of Joensuu was accepted in the first application round of the Erasmus Mundus along with 14 other programmes that started in The other universities in the consortium are SLU from Sweden, Wageningen University from the Netherlands, the University of Freiburg from Germany, BOKU from Austria and the University of Lleida from Spain. Overall, the forestry sector has been very successful in the Erasmus Mundus programme. The Commission has approved including the programmes started in 2007 a total of 80 Erasmus Mundus Master Programmes, three of which from the forestry sector (Welcome to Erasmus Mundus 2007). The close cooperation in developing education carried out in the SILVA Network since 1987 has undoubtedly played a role in the success of the forestry sector. The number of applicants to the Forestry Master Programme of the University of Joensuu is now almost three times higher compared to domestic Masters programmes. The 25 students selected for the programme every year study together for the first year. They start in Garpenberg in Sweden at the end of August and at the beginning of October move on to different universities to complete a 10- week problem-oriented applied study period. At the beginning of January the students arrive in Joensuu to participate in an intensive course that goes on until mid-april. This is followed by European field studies in forestry during which the group tours Spain, France, Germany and the Netherlands for a period of six weeks. The first year ends with a two-week course on forestry in mountain regions in Austria. (MSc European Forestry 2007.) The aim of the programme is to establish a cooperative international group of experts that continue working together after their graduation. During the second year, students attend English-taught courses in the different universities of the consortium and complete a thesis. The Bologna Process and the Erasmus Mundus programme have inspired many universities to create their own international English-taught programmes in forestry. The German universities have been particularly active, changing their language policy almost completely during the past few years. From the Central and Eastern European countries, the Czech Republic is the most advanced in developing programmes. In the Nordic countries, Denmark, Sweden and the University of Helsinki in Finland have started their own international programmes. The new Cross-Border University (CBU), a result of Finnish-Russian cooperation, has a forestry programme the Finnish partners of which are the Universities of Helsinki and Joensuu and the Lappeenranta University of Technology. The future challenges of expanding networks The successful forestry networks together with increasingly close cooperation with business and industry in the design of European research and technology policies help the sector adapt to rapid social changes. It is necessary that the most important stakeholders participate in formulation of the European Union strategies. The European forestry sector has been going through an image change since the end of the 1980s and it is still going on. On the other hand, in many European countries, particularly in the Eastern part of Central Europe, forestry training is still closely linked to the development of national forestry policies (Pelkonen and Schuck 2005) and the inevitable big changes in the future will lead into extensive training reform. Transition phases can clearly benefit from networks and strategic partnerships. Changes in the forestry sector, its outlooks and networking needs were examined in detail in the action plan of the European Technology Platform (European Forest-Based Sector Technology Platform 2007). The initiative brings together all 94 Across the Borders Across the Borders 95

50 stakeholders working towards sustainable development whether in economics of forestry, production of forest-based materials and products, production of bioenergy or provision of services. Forest biomass and energy companies, eco-tourism service providers, forest owners, ecosystem service providers, environmental and non-governmental groups and many other actors are working together to develop the forestry sector. According to the action plan, the forestry sector should be a key contributor to sustainable development in Europe by It is a key player in the new European economy based on biomass and client-orientation and plays a unique role in the management of the climate change. The European Union is addressing the global challenges of forestry and many other education sectors by introducing new global education networks in the next phase of its programmes (Advance information about the new Erasmus Mundus programme 2007). Finnish universities need to be one of the first to join these networks. Networks and partnerships enable us to achieve significant results with relatively small investments. We propose the following conclusions: 1. Tougher competition in the increasingly global education market, the changes required by the Bologna Process and the requirement for a critical mass emphasise the importance of networks and partnerships in higher education. 2. The small higher education sectors in Europe, such as forestry in particular, need close cooperation with other sectors. 3. Becoming European also means taking responsibility for global challenges. 4. Networks help higher education institutions to get to the core of global information. 5. Networks help higher education institutions react to changes flexibly and quickly. 6. Even small actors have their place in a global network. Sources Bologna Process (2007). EurActiv Network. Read on Clark, Burton (1998): Creating Entrepreneurial Universities. Organizational Pathways of Transformation. Surrey: Pergamon/Biddles ltd. Ennakkotietoa uudesta Erasmus Mundus -ohjelmakaudesta (Advance information about the new Erasmus Mundus programme in Finnish) (2007). CIMO. Read on European Forest-Based Sector Technology Platform (FTP) (2007). The Forest-Based Sector Technology Platform s secretariat. Read on MSc European Forestry (2007). The University of Joensuu, the Faculty of Forest Sciences. Read on Pelkonen, Paavo & Schuck, Annette (2005): Higher forestry education in the 21st century. Silva Publications 3, Silva Network (2007). University of Freiburg. Read on Treates (2007). European Union. Read on Welcome to Erasmus Mundus (2007). European Union, Education and Training. Read on Across the Borders Across the Borders 97

51 Students Views on Internationalisation 98 Across the Borders Across the Borders 99

52 Janna Koivisto Former Secretary for International Affairs in the Union of Finnish Students in Universities of Applied Sciences Seldom has any initiative of the European Union been so unreservedly welcome as the Erasmus programme. The programme made it easy for students to go abroad on an exchange, because it provided the contacts and there was little bureaucracy. The Erasmus students have almost without exception been happy with their exchange period (e.g. Boomans 2007, 43). The original good idea has been further developed during the 20-year existence of the programme. The Finnish higher education institutions have worked hard to develop systems both for incoming and outgoing students. Student associations have been particularly pleased about how the support services for students have improved and that the recognition of studies completed during the exchange has become easier. There are still challenges, however. In this article, I will present students and student associations views on those challenges and about participation of students in the decision-making in general. Challenge 1: Making the exchange period academically relevant Apart from academic competencies, students develop many other important skills during their Erasmus exchanges. They regard personal development, learning about a foreign country, improvement of language skills and new perspectives as the most important achievements (Garam 2001, 40). These are all important and should not be underestimated. Still, one of the biggest challenges for the Erasmus programme is to make it a relevant part of students degrees. In many cases, students remember their exchange period as a combination of travel, having fun and making new friends, with little effort put into studying itself. Erasmus studies are often a disconnected and unjustified international experience and are at risk of getting a reputation as academic tourism (Garam 2005, 50). Challenges of the Erasmus Programme to Students In order to make Erasmus exchanges academically relevant, we must make sure that information about courses available in the host higher education institution is available well in advance of an exchange, that the courses completed are recorded as learning outcomes and that the studies are recognised without difficulty. A European electronic database of courses available in different higher education institutions would be the best solution and would encourage more students to go on an exchange on academic grounds. You could, for example, search which universities in Europe provide courses in a certain specialist field. A common cause of discontent among Erasmus exchange students was a lack of information received from their home institution (Krupnik & Krzaklewska 2006, 48). They had sometimes received even less information than other exchange students (Boomans 2007, 47). The situation in Finland is above the average and the Finnish students were the second most happy among European students with the information received before their exchange. Exchange students in Finland were the most happy of all countries with information they had received from their Finnish host institution (Krupnik & Krzaklewska 2006, 41 42). The course information from higher education institutions is often no longer valid once students arrive in their host institution. The learning agreement signed by the student before the exchange might not be valid either. Home institutions should be flexible about these kinds of changes that are beyond students control. In the Trends V report (2007) by the European University Association (EUA) many higher education institutions called for an electronic tool to make the processing of learning agreements easier. There are still problems with recognition and organisation of studies. According to a survey by the Erasmus Student Network (ESN), only a half of students on the exchange were able to have all the studies they had completed recognised (Boomans 2007, 48). It is unfortunate that there are still lecturers who cannot 100 Across the Borders Across the Borders 101

53 accept that their course could be replaced by a course done during an exchange abroad. Lecturers should be flexible, because it is often particularly for the sake of being able to study different things than in their home institution that students choose to go on an Erasmus exchange. Difficulties in recognition of studies have actually led to a decrease in international exchanges in higher education institutions of some countries. According to the Trends V report, the decrease in studies abroad in certain higher education institutions is not a result of the new twocycle degree structure but of the new nature of some programmes. The number of compulsory modules may have been increased or it has been made compulsory to complete the final thesis at the home institution, leaving students no time for studying abroad. (Trends V 2007, 44) The results of the ESN survey have fortunately led to a project called PRIME, supported by the European Commission. The purpose of the project is to get a detailed picture of the recognition of studies in Europe, which will hopefully lead to improvements. Problems with the recognition of studies completed abroad may also be due to the fact that the credit transfer system is not used properly (Trends V 2007, 41). Two basic elements of the credit transfer system in particular student workload and learning outcomes are not properly understood. Each course or module should be recorded in course descriptions as learning outcomes. These would make it easy to identify the competences an exchange period develops. Recognition of studies should be based on these learning outcomes. Close cooperation between partner schools also makes recognition of studies easier. Many institutions have now started to concentrate on improving the quality of their relationships instead of increasing the number of partners. Common modules or even whole joint degrees create a good base for cooperation as do teacher exchanges. Challenge 2: Career benefits of Erasmus exchanges What are the benefits of Erasmus exchanges to students careers? According to the European Parliament, employers regard the Erasmus programme highly and Erasmus students are better paid and have more stable employment contracts than their peers on average. These results are based on a European study carried out in 2006, which mainly looked at the views of Erasmus students themselves on the matter (Bracht etc. 2006). A Finnish study by Irma Garam looks at the issue from the point of view of employers and paints a rather different picture of the benefits of studying abroad (Garam 2005). According to Garam, the employers attitudes towards international experience are very mixed. Although an international experience might be an advantage in securing a position requiring an international orientation, some employers are not at all interested in it and regard education and work experience acquired in Finland more highly. Even when employers take the international experience into account, they might regard the applicant as over-educated, as not having the right orientation for the job in question, or even as somebody who does not know what they want from life. (Garam 2005, 56 58) We can also question if it makes sense to go on an exchange for just a few months. To what extent is it possible to achieve the competences set out for an exchange in only three months? Students should stay abroad long enough, at least six months, to learn the local language and way of life. The idea that mobility numbers need to be increased seems to be prevalent in European education policy at the moment, regardless of how high the numbers already are. The benefits of mobility are regarded as so self-evident that it is not seen necessary to justify the target numbers. The benefits of any international experience should not be regarded as given and an international exchange should not be a compulsory part of every degree. However, each degree and subject should include an international component during which students can get international experience either at home or abroad. Finnish students need multicultural skills and you can learn them in Finland by, for example, studying cultures and customs of immigrants living in Finland. All Finnish degree programmes should have some courses given in English. Apart from enabling Finnish students to develop their language skills, these courses would provide more interesting alternatives for incoming Erasmus students and take some pressure off the foreign language study programmes. Challenge 3: Local student associations and integration of Erasmus students Learning about a new culture is regarded as one of the best results of an Erasmus exchange. Learning about a culture requires that you get to know local people. Integration in the host culture remains one of the biggest challenges for Erasmus. Exchange students still make few friends among local students in all participating countries (Krupnik & Krzaklewska 2006, 48). In Finland, the student asso- 102 Across the Borders Across the Borders 103

54 ciations of universities of applied sciences and universities and other local student associations, such as the Erasmus Student Network, play a big role in the integration of Erasmus students into the local student community and the host town. The student associations have actively sought different ways of introducing Finland and Finnish people to Erasmus students who only stay in the country from a few months to a year. Lack of resources poses problems in practice. This is particularly true for student associations in universities of applied sciences. The responsibility for the well-being of exchange students often lies on the shoulders of one member of the student board or only a small group of students. It is important for higher education institutions to recognise the work local students do, such as arranging free-time activities, and to support the student associations in their work. In many institutions, the tutoring is carried out in cooperation between the international office and the student association. One good example of cooperation is jointly employing a person responsible for integration of international students. Students should be included in all planning of international activities in higher education institutions. There are too many universities of applied sciences in Finland where students are not represented in the bodies planning international activities and student associations have not been included in formulating the international strategies of institutions (Hiltunen 2008, 9). Student associations and European education policy The European Union does not officially have decision-power over the education policies of the Member States. Despite this, the European Union s education programmes, such as Erasmus and the European-wide Bologna process, have had a big impact on European education systems. These common programmes and processes have provided new ways of influence for the European Students Union (ESU, previously known as ESIB). A former student information office has become an important player in European education policy. ESU is one of the official partner organisations in the Bologna process and participates in many of its working groups. ESU has its own Bologna Process Committee whose members have a wide knowledge on European education policy. ESU has collected information about the progress of the Bologna process from its member organisations in different countries and in preparation for the last few Ministerial Summits produced a publication called Bologna with Student Eyes. The report can be regarded as a more reliable account of the Bologna process than the reports of the Member States that only tend to rhapsodise about how well things have progressed in their own countries. ESU has often taken a stand on mobility of students and consequently on the Erasmus programme. Its influence is evident on the official communications of the Ministerial Summits on the Bologna process. For example, in the summit of 2005 in Bergen, the education ministers committed to making the transfer of student loans and grants easier and to facilitate the residence and work permit processes. These promises will, however, not necessarily translate into practice because the changes needed require funding from sources the education ministers are not responsible for. ESU has for long called for a so-called European mobility fund to facilitate the mobility of students from the poorest European countries. However, it does not seem likely that the EU Member States would show such solidarity as to start funding mobility of students from other countries than their own despite the fact that the European Union seems to have a lot of money to support mobility of talented students from outside of Europe through the Erasmus Mundus programme. The grant awarded to these students is many times higher than the Erasmus grant. The biggest concern for both ESU and national student associations is the accessibility of Erasmus. Due to economic or administrative reasons, all students in all countries do not have equal opportunities to go and study abroad. The problem is not big in Finland, where outgoing students receive their Finnish student grant and the Erasmus grant. Finnish students often experience that their standard of living in their host country is higher than that of the local students (Krupnik & Krzaklewska 2006, 38). In many other countries Erasmus exchanges is the privilege of rich people, and it has been noted that the majority of Erasmus students come from higher socio-economic backgrounds than the student population on average in the countries in question. The economic situation is the biggest issue Erasmus students are unhappy with (Krupnik & Krzaklewska 2006, 48). Students role in national decision-making In Finland, student associations have a say in the decision-making both when it comes to the Erasmus programme and national education policy in general. 104 Across the Borders Across the Borders 105

55 The situation is better than in most other European countries; in some the influence of students has even been reduced during the Bologna process despite goals to the contrary (ESIB 2007, 23). The national student associations in Finland SAMOK and SYL are members of the Erasmus and Lifelong Learning Programme working groups of the Centre for International Mobility CIMO, the National Agency for the Erasmus programme in Finland, and the Bologna Promoters groups operating under the Finnish Ministry of Education. There is no actual designated national body monitoring the progress of the Bologna process, but the role has been covered by the section (EU30) of the Ministry of Education that deals with EU education policy. The cooperation between the student associations and CIMO has been productive and beneficial to both parties. They have organised joint seminars and training events and had unofficial meetings. At CIMO, students do not need to justify why international experience is important and why it should be supported. By supporting the Erasmus Student Network and its Finnish representative, CIMO has also enabled students to influence the contents of the Erasmus programme. Students find it challenging to influence the development of the Erasmus programme. A good student representative must know the issue thoroughly and be able to identify problems that even the experts working on the programme fulltime have not spotted. In meetings it may be difficult for student representatives to say anything constructive about budget items of millions of euros or new administrative practices of the Lifelong Learning Programme. Instead of detailed technical expertise, the strength of the student associations is based on the wide membership and the feedback they collect from them, knowledge of the reality of student life and of what works and what does not. Student associations also have direct links to sister organisations in other countries and they can get answers to topical questions quickly. Students will have to have the courage to ask if they don t understand something in the meetings. The question is seldom stupid; often nobody else had understood either. Students find it easy to operate with issues relating to Erasmus because there are few conflicts of interest between students and decision-makers. It is considerably more difficult to get the students point across in more difficult international issues, such as possible student fees for international degree students, made-toorder training or the Erasmus Mundus programme. In many cases, however, students in Finland have been able to present their views to the most senior civil servants and decision-makers without difficulty and unnecessary hierarchy. The student associations of other countries envy the open dialogue between Finnish student associations and decision-makers. On the other hand, our independence is questioned because the majority of the funding of the student associations comes from the Ministry of Education. Students in Finland, however, can express their feelings if they disagree. The fact that the Erasmus programme has not given cause for demonstrations indicates that the programme works well in Finland and students are happy with it. Sources Bologna Analysis: Bologna with Student Eyes. (2007): National Unions of Students in Europe. ESIB. Boomans, Veerle etc. (2007): Generation Mobility. Results of Erasmus Student Network Survey Bracht, Oliver etc. (2006): The Professional Value of ERASMUS Mobility. International Centre for Higher Education Research (INCHER-Kassel) University of Kassel. Kassel. Crosier, D., Purser, L. & Smidt, H. (2007): Trends V Report: Universities shaping the European Higher Education Area. European University Association. Garam, Irma (2001): My Finland. Selvitys ulkomaisten vaihto-opiskelijoiden kokemuksista suomalaisissa korkeakouluissa. (My Finland. Survey of experiences of international students in Finnish higher education institutions An English summary is available.) Centre for International Mobility CIMO. Garam, Irma (2005): Opiskelijoiden kansainvälinen liikkuvuus ja työelämä. Työnantajien näkemyksiä ulkomailla opiskelun ja harjoittelun merkityksestä (International mobility of students and the world of work. Employers views on significance of studying and working abroad. In Finnish only.). Cimo Occasional Paper 1/2005. Hiltunen, Piri (2008): Opiskelijakunta ja ammattikorkeakoulujen kansainvälisyys. Opinnäytetyö. Humanistinen ammattikorkeakoulu. (Students and international dimension in universities of applied sciences. Diploma work. HUMAK University of Applied Sciences. In Finnish only.) Krupnik, S. & Krzaklewska, E. (2006): Exchange Students Rights: Results of Erasmus Student Network Survey Across the Borders Across the Borders 107

56 Pradipta Halder PhD student of the Faculty of Forest Sciences, University of Joensuu and flexible but also demanding. One can easily expect to meet a large number of international students in almost every Finnish university. I think these days the universities are very concerned about the quality of education and they are taking many steps to ensure the delivery of this quality. Collaboration between the Finnish universities and universities in other countries (particularly in Asia) has increased in the recent years. Studying and living in Finland Studying in Finland: a Foreign Degree Student s View Introduction Before my arrival in Finland, I received the most relevant information about studies in Finland and particularly in Joensuu through the MSc EF Secretariat at the University of Joensuu. I also did my own research on the Internet. I read up on the life in Finland and how a foreigner should adjust to it. At the beginning I took a basic Finnish language course at the university and learned some survival words in Finnish. I had not much cultural knowledge about Finland prior to my arrival so it was learning by experience once I came here. I am still a keen learner of the Finnish culture. I came to Europe as a student of the Erasmus Mundus MSc European Forestry (MSc EF) Programme ( ). The programme is coordinated by the University of Joensuu with participation of five other universities from Sweden, Austria, Spain, Germany and the Netherlands. I did my master thesis in the second year (2007) at the University of Joensuu. During that time I explored the PhD opportunities at the University of Joensuu and work prospects in Finland in general. This indeed encouraged me to stay in Finland for my further studies. I got a PhD position at the Faculty of Forest Sciences under the supervision of Professor Paavo Pelkonen and also started to work as one of the Project Coordinators of the MSc European Forestry Programme from My PhD research topic is related to study the perceptions of students, teachers and parents of bio-energy in a number of EU and non-eu countries. Finland is an advanced country in the bioenergy related research and the quality of research is outstanding and it is acclaimed by the international scientific community. The welcoming programme at the University of Joensuu was well organised and provided a great deal of information on all the aspects of studying at the university. It lasted a couple of days and also provided opportunities to meet other international students. Teachers and other staff are very cooperative: they listen to your problems and try to come up with solutions. Professors are quite open with their students, both in the class and outside the class. It is very easy to approach them and there is no bureaucracy. I found this openness and approachable attitude among the professors more common in Finland than in any other European university that I studied in. There is, of course, professional hierarchy in the Finnish universities but it is not a barrier in the academic affairs and it does not foster bureaucracy. Level of teaching in general is of high standard but there is a need for more professors rather than PhD students to teach master level students. In my opinion, studying in Finland as a degree student has been a great experience. It offers a mix of Western European, Scandinavian and Nordic way of life in all academic, social and cultural aspects. Student life in Finland is very relaxed Paperwork does not take much time in Finland and it is very systematic. In my opinion, bureaucracy is at its minimum level. This is a strong point in the Finnish education system that may be attractive to future international students. The 108 Across the Borders Across the Borders 109

57 state of equipment in the class-rooms, computer labs and libraries is excellent in general. However, there is a need for more standard office equipment, such as fax machines, copiers and printers with English instructions. The Finnish style of studying is relaxed and it does not give students many sleepless nights. Students have plenty of time to enjoy themselves as well as study. Open book exams are now part of the Finnish education system although they are not practiced in many other European countries that I have studied in. Challenges of the Finnish education system Finnish education system in general is very flexible but at the same time it puts strong emphasis on the quality control. Being a non-english speaking country there is, of course, some limitations in the choice of (optional) courses that are taught in English. However, these days all the universities are trying to deliver more and more courses in English and the situation will hopefully improve in the future. Education in Finland is free and of top quality this is a major attraction to foreign students to come and study in Finland. However, the cost of living is very high, which many foreign students may find difficult to cope with. Therefore, there is a need for more merit and need based scholarships for international students. There is a lack of Finnish government scholarships for international students who want to study Master s courses in Finland. The situation is different for PhD students for whom there are various types of scholarships available from the Finnish government and other Finnish foundations. Finnish universities have limited amount of funding available to foreign students as they themselves depend on government grants. This situation should be improved and there should be more funding available at the university level. Finnish universities should also offer placement services to students after graduation. There should be a mechanism for universities to invite different employers on campus to carry out job interviews with international as well as domestic students. This kind of system is very common in Indian, Chinese and American universities. Universities and companies could try to create an international work environment in their respective work places. They should try to create a work force which has both Finnish and foreign professionals. This would foster internationalisation of the Finnish universities and the companies. Universities should also provide international professionals better training and all round development opportunities to further their careers. In the era of globalisation Finnish companies are expanding rapidly. Their presence in many countries with very different working cultures and socio-economic conditions is growing all the time. Therefore well-known Finnish companies, such as Nokia, Stora-Enso, Abloy, Kone and Vapo, could gain immensely from recruiting international students as interns or full-time employees in their organisations. These interns and employees could provide them with first-hand information about the cultures in their countries in a more cost-effective way. Social life and integration into society Communicating with Finnish and non-finnish students has not been a problem for me. Finnish students are generally regarded as introvert and difficult to approach. On the contrary, I found that they are quite open and always ready to help you. It may take some time to befriend a Finnish student (it varies from person to person) but you can easily get along with them once a friendship is established. International students may be more approachable to some extent but sometimes they are very nervous at the beginning being in a new country and only feel comfortable with their fellow country students. As a whole, I can say that the student life in Finland is full of enjoyment and a great learning experience. Language can be a barrier outside the university campus but not in the university and other places of importance. Young Finns are quite comfortable with English and in big shops communication in English is not a problem. Finnish student associations are very strong institutions and they are well established organisations that deliver their responsibilities efficiently. They help new international students to get adapted in the new country by providing relevant information, Finnish student ID cards and other basic items for living generally known as survival package. The parties organised by the student unions are fun to attend and offer a great chance to socialise with international students. The field trips organized by the University of Joensuu Student Union to the Koli 110 Across the Borders Across the Borders 111

58 National Park, Lapland and St.Petersburg (Russia) are simply memorable. However, there is a big need for the student unions to have representatives from the international student community. They should also use English in their activities (meetings, documents etc.) so that the international students could also take part effectively. Universities could organise workshops and seminars where international students could share their experiences of living in Finland to contribute to the process of internationalisation at home. These could be organised intra and inter universities. Exchange of international students between different Finnish universities could also be a viable option. Challenges and benefits In my opinion, the following points are the biggest strengths of the Finnish education system from a foreign degree student s point of view: Universities are student-friendly and studies are flexible. The standard of education and research is world class. The number of English-taught courses is increasing. There are already a significant number of international students in Finnish universities and polytechnics. There are globally recognised companies in Finland and hence better employment and internship opportunities. There are no tuition fees. You have opportunities to take short courses in other countries through university links. There are research funds available. The education system is transparent. There is a shortage of skilled labour in Finland which can be filled from the qualified foreign students pool. I think there are no negative aspects of studying in Finland as such and I would rather consider them as challenges arising from living in a foreign country. They are as follows: Finland is a non-english speaking country and Finnish is quite difficult to learn. The climate conditions are extreme during winter. There is not much choice of optional English-taught courses for international students. There are fewer scholarships available for Master level students compared to PhD students. It is difficult to find both part-time and full-time employment opportunities during studies and after studies. There is a lack of health insurances for international students offered by Finnish insurance companies. I think by introducing more English-taught courses and courses with longer duration would help the situation. More interaction with industries for better placement opportunities is needed as well as more scholarships for Master-level students. Regular workshops, seminars and exchange of students within and between universities would make integration into the Finnish society and university life better. The future I was lucky enough to find a job after graduating in October My fellow students who graduated with me are either employed or pursuing PhDs. During my studies I got plenty of opportunities to interact with my future employer, the University of Joensuu. I spent a considerable part of my second study year at the Faculty of Forest Sciences which is also the Secretariat of the MSc EF programme. Therefore, I always had a close relationship with the coordinators of the programme and other faculty members. The stimulating working environment at the faculty motivated me to continue here for my further study and work. Forestry sector is important for the Finnish economy and forestry related research and education is highly developed in Finland. Therefore, possessing a Master s degree in forest sciences and a doctoral degree on the horizon from a highly recognised Finnish university will help me to find a career of my choice in the international forestry and environmental organizations. 112 Across the Borders Across the Borders 113

59 Flexibility is one thing that I always missed in my home country s educational system. The educational system in India is very rigid and students have to follow pre-defined study modules and tracks. There is also a lack of international dimension in my home university. I had very limited opportunities to meet international students there, which is not the case in the Finnish universities. The Finnish education system is very flexible and students have plenty of opportunities to organise their studies in their own ways. The overall environment in Finnish educational institutions is far better than in my home country s higher educational institutions. There are also better research facilities in the Finnish universities. I can definitely say that the education and training that I have received over the last two years in Finland and in other European universities have prepared me as a better forestry professional. The demand for the MscEF graduates has been increasing over the years and many of them are already working in various reputed international forestry organizations. My expectations have been fulfilled so far and my decision to stay in Finland has paid off. 114 Across the Borders Across the Borders 115

60 The Future of Internationalisation 116 Across the Borders Across the Borders 117

61 Kimmo Kuortti Head of the International Office, University of Oulu The year 2027 marks a turning point for the EU youth and education programmes. The current agreements come to an end, some of the old sub-programmes end and some will be combined and renamed. This is then an excellent time to influence the development of the new programmes, to learn about past mistakes and to further develop the good points in Erasmus. Once Upon a Time There Was Erasmus: a Reality-Based Time Travel to the History of Our Future When I was starting my career in the international office of the University of Oulu, one of my first jobs was to assist in drafting their Institutional Contract. My then manager, the Director of International Affairs Marja Karjalainen, thumped the confidential programme draft that had arrived from Brussels in front of me and said: Read that. In no time we were drafting our first version of the European Policy Statement. Our unit was small. Everybody did everything. It is year When I walk along the corridor of the international department of the headquarters of the Scandinavian Institute of Technology, my present employer, I can count 20 offices and 35 names of staff next to the doors. There are a further 50 staff working in one way or another in international relations and marketing in the different campuses in Finland, Sweden and Norway. There are 10 other people apart from me preparing the next Erasmus Multi-Institutional Cooperation Agreement (MICA). When I was sweating in my tiny office, a slightly extended copy machine corner, in the early summer of 1995, I had no idea that thirty years on, the Erasmus programme would still be as inseparable a part of my year as the red August apples on our Lapland campus or the blossoming spring flowers in Joensuu in March. The education strategy of the EU is still being worked on, but it is clear that the fact that Russia, the western parts of China and Mongolia are joining the Erasmus programme will have an impact in the future of higher education. Close cooperation between the EU and Russia started in the beginning of In the beginning it was carried out in working groups of the Commission s directorates and the Russian ministries, and now, along the new programme, takes a public form. The new USA programme may also increase the number of American students in Europe considerably. The international consortium of Finnish higher education institutions is preparing the Finnish position statement on the new strategy led by FUCIMO, an organisation with its roots in the Centre for International Mobility CIMO. It is important that the consortium gets feedback from the field from the different campuses in Finland. The international offices have knowledge of what really matters and makes a difference in the day-to-day life of the programme. The Finland that is gazing at the 2030s is perhaps in the best position in Europe to benefit from the new Erasmus programme, rumoured to be called New East- West-Collaboration = NEWT-C. The international consortium of the Finnish higher education institutions (SKKK) has already been successfully marketing and recruiting in Asia for years and the Finnish Universities Trading for Universities in Russia and Sino-Trans-Asia (FUTURISTA) has been making Finnish higher education institution so well-known that the other Nordic countries as part of the Nordic Global University Conglomerate (NGUG) are now willing to join in the operations. It would seem that the organisation founded in 2012, that until now has been just a social club and an excuse for exotic travel of university management, will finally get a meaningful purpose. 118 Across the Borders Across the Borders 119

62 Will the administration become more complicated? As the Erasmus programme widens, its administration becomes a critical issue. Managing mobility of masses and, for example, doing business as part of the EU Campus Asia (EUCA), part of the Action VII of the Trans-National Higher Education Business, require specialised skills. It remains to be seen how the EU will monitor these big and complicated projects. Those of us who still remember the Socrates programme (the sub-programme of which Erasmus was about twenty years ago) do not wish to see a return to the centrally planned economy of when information about each exchange student had to be input in advance in the FoxPro database that was constantly collapsing. The reporting system of the early phase of the Socrates programme is not to be taken as a model either. Although the EU has allocated resources to development of the Asian higher education system and its administration, structures and education, it is still unclear how the new Erasmus countries will administer the programmes. The Sapporo process that aims at introducing the standards of the Japanese higher education system which are naturally very USA-led in the Pacific region and even in parts of Russia add their flavour to the structural changes. If we are looking for good practices from the past as a model to the new NEWT- C programme, we cannot underestimate the important role of the national agencies. In Finland, the importance of CIMO grew hand-in-hand with the userfriendliness of the programme: the more higher education institutions were in contact with CIMO, the better informed they were and the easier the work of the Erasmus coordinator. The transformation of CIMO into the Finnish Universities Center for International Marketing and Opportunity in 2013 by mutual agreement of the Ministry of Education, Research and Communications and the International Consortium of Finnish Higher Education Institutions SKKK and coowned by them, was a success. The needs of the higher education institutions were taken into account better and having university representatives in the board of governors of FUCIMO has made it possible to influence Finnish higher education policy directly. Although FUCIMO has been actively informing about the planning of the new programme, a lot remains unknown. One of the most significant changes relates to the agreement between higher education institutions. The agreements, which were introduced during the first phase of the Socrates programme, are the basis of the Erasmus programme. Before them, activities were based on so-called ICP networks. The new NEWT-C programme would appear to incorporate a strong element of exporting and marketing of education. What kind of agreements should we be making for these kinds of activities? According to SKKK, the international and marketing units of higher education institutions will have big training needs to be able to manage the new programme. Do we need Erasmus? When student exchanges became saturated in the 2000s, Finnish higher education institutions started setting their eyes on income generating internationalisation. Finnish students became more passive because a must-graduate-quick system, counterproductive to mobility, was born as a side-effect of the degree reform. A record number of students graduated from higher education institutions during that time, with a 100% pass rate. The system created a mass unemployment and a flourishing continuing training sector. In reality, students and young people in general became internationally active, but not necessarily in the way envisaged by the international units of higher education institutions with their developers, directors and secretaries. It was increasingly cheaper to travel abroad and as their standard of living rose, more and more people travelled abroad during their holidays. Businesses became more international, too. It finally dawned on Finland that the values of the young generation had shifted from admiration of the turbo-capitalism to appreciation of global ethics. It needs to be remembered, however, that we Finns are an isolated lot. The kind of cultural, linguistic and commercial cooperation that has existed for centuries between countries like Switzerland, Germany and France or Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium never took off between Finland s neighbours (Yes, I can hear the uproar of a lot of Finns at reading the previous sentence, but the counter arguments with reference to Stone Age migration and the making of Russian as the second official language in 2025 crucially miss the target.). We still need to work hard for internationalisation. For this reason, the opportunities provided by Erasmus and other EU programmes are so important to us. 120 Across the Borders Across the Borders 121

63 In the wake of the new phase of EU education programmes, it is good to ask what we have benefited from the 40-year-old Erasmus. The programme went through its perhaps most severe crisis in the beginning of the 2010s when higher education became thoroughly commercialised. Support of exchanges with public money was regarded as reactionary and the directors of some companies that had moved their business to South America demanded that public funds should be used for more productive purposes. Finland and other Nordic countries in particular have managed to hold onto popular education and the ethical use of human resources by forming consortia and cooperating at home and abroad. The Erasmus programme adapted itself to the demands of the time and short exchanges of less than three months were funded. Their popularity showed that international exchanges were still alive and well, even if they had taken a different form. When the European Coal and Steel Community was established in 1952, its purpose was to avoid a new world war on European soil. The idea was that if we agree on the use of the most important raw materials together, nobody will have a cause or a chance to take aggressive measures against the common good. There is a similar idea behind the free mobility of people: if people truly regard themselves European, they don t have the need to defend their nation aggressively at least in theory. Has Erasmus reduced the negative dependency of people on their national identity? How much is it about individual characteristics and how much depends on social institutions and stakeholder groups that are formed by individuals? Is the nation state in the end just an extended stakeholder group? Once the Balkans was pacified as a result of the Kosovo agreement of 2021, it would appear that the European harmony has finally reached new levels. The Erasmus programme has certainly played its part in this. It will be important in the future for the same reasons as it was in the past. When I will be 70 years old in 2039 and ready to retire, I believe that Erasmus will be a world-wide programme and that the international base to be completed on the moon in five years time will host students with Erasmus scholarships. 122 Across the Borders Across the Borders 123

64 Ulla Ekberg Afterword The progress of international cooperation in Finnish higher education has been tremendous in the past few decades. There are many reasons for this. It has been a national priority: the Finnish Ministry of Education has given the issue a lot of public support and international cooperation has been one of the criteria to receive performance-based funding for higher education institutions. The Ministry of Education has also set national strategies to increase cooperation with Russia and Asia and it has allocated higher education institutions project funding for diverse international objectives in its annual performance target negotiations with them. There have been other national measures to strengthen the international dimension of education, too: in 1991, the Centre for International Mobility CIMO was established. Finland s membership in the European Union in 1995 gave us clear programme structures and incentives for international cooperation, at least at European level. In addition, higher education institutions have established strong administrative support structures for international cooperation. We have achieved a lot but challenges remain. The government programme of Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen, who took up his post in spring 2007, stated that a new international strategy will be drafted for higher education. The work started in spring 2008, using a new kind of process. The previous strategies had been drafted in working groups with representatives of various stakeholders who then presented a joint proposal together with the ministry. The new process involved contributions from external consultants and the aim was to involve as many stakeholders as possible in the discussions. The Ministry arranged six official discussions for invited experts on different themes. The meetings were chaired by consultants and the purpose was to gather as many ideas as possible together. An open on-line consultation was also available for anybody interested. A total of 1,224 people gave their contribution. Based on these, the officials of the Ministry prepared their draft for the strategy, which was then sent out to be commented upon widely. This new approach confused many people in the higher education sector. They thought that a dialogue to consolidate different views into a shared strategy was missing. The aim of the strategy was very ambitious and could not have been reached with the old process. 124 Across the Borders Across the Borders 125

65 The new international strategy has five objectives: genuinely international higher education cooperation improvement of quality and attractiveness of Finnish higher education raising the profile and export of Finnish higher education supporting of multicultural society global responsibility The objectives apply to all higher education institutions but they can realise them in their own ways. Special attention was paid to the fact that there are very few international teaching staff members and degree students in Finland and that the position of immigrants in higher education is clearly worse than that of the majority groups. The strategy also states that we are beginners when it comes to export and marketing of our education. There is still a strong focus on international mobility in the strategy and it sets clear quantitative and ambitious targets for it. In order to give room for mobility in the new Bologna qualifications, it is proposed that all studies include international components. Online services should be increased and cooperation is encouraged. There are also some new funding proposals, the most significant of which is establishment of a new fund. The definition of who can benefit from the fund is left quite open in order to keep it flexible. Despite its ambition, the proposal was not received with much excitement in the higher education sector: particularly heads of higher education institutions were critical. The fact that the on-going major higher education reform had tied their resources elsewhere at the time must have had its impact. The critics were asking for strategic vision and sectoral and geographic priorities. They were also wondering why immigrants should receive special treatment. On the other hand, they defended the autonomy of higher education institutions and their right to make their own choices and that the Ministry should not interfere with these. It has not been as easy as before to pinpoint the new strategic choices presented by the Ministry of Education. As the critics say, the strategy does not give clear and concrete objectives and means to achieve them. Another new issue is that the Ministry no longer allocates funding for projects. This kind of funding has been available before, for example, to steer higher education institutions to cooperate with the new financial giants of Asia and to start English-taught study programmes. Overall, there will be less central control in the new strategy. CIMO finds the new strategy refreshing and supports it. It presents CIMO with new tasks and extends existing ones. The proposed new fund would be administered by CIMO and extra funding is proposed for the Russia and development cooperation projects, which are important to CIMO. According to the strategy, CIMO would also collaborate with other actors in creating on-line services for people coming to Finland. The global economic crisis is likely to have an impact on realisation of the different components of the strategy, particularly when it comes to funding. After every financial crisis the world always changes a little. The new strategy, however, is structured in such a way that it can be adapted to new situations. Higher education institutions are now legally allowed to provide tailor-made courses and the strategy encourages them to increase export of their know-how. I believe we have to think very carefully about starting these projects. A Danish colleague of mine defined Danes as people who have an unassuming but strong belief in that they are very good and that everybody knows it. They are not the only ones. The Finnish have had a lot of good publicity through excellent results in Pisa studies, for example, but we cannot use it directly to help export our higher education. The higher education market is very competitive and new competitors come to the field all the time. Buyers are also increasingly quality and price conscious: successful export relies on competitive products and knowledge of the market. However, I strongly believe that Finland will continue to succeed in international cooperation in higher education. By selecting the aims and means of international cooperation wisely, Finnish higher education institutions can achieve a high standard and good results. Knowledge and skills play a key role in national strategies and they provide a solid base for international cooperation, too. 126 Across the Borders Across the Borders 127

66 Authors Maija Airas-Hyödynmaa is the Head of Higher Education Cooperation Unit in CIMO. Ulla Ekberg was CIMOs Director from 1996 until March Irma Garam is the Research Manager at CIMO. Paavo Pelkonen D.Sc (Agr.&For) is the Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Forest Sciences and the Professor of Production Ecology in the University of Joensuu. He acted as the chair of the European forest sciences network SILVA and as a Vice-Chair of The International Partnership for Forestry Education (IPFE) since Pelkonen has coordinated the Erasmus Mundus MSc in European Forestry since Pradipta Halder is a PhD student at the Faculty of Forest Sciences, University of Joensuu. He is from India and graduated from the MSc European Forestry (Erasmus Mundus) programme in At present apart from his studies he is also involved in the coordination of the MSc European Forestry programme at the University of Joensuu. Juha Ketolainen is the Assistant Director of CIMO. Riitta Pyykkö is a Professor of Russian language and culture in the University of Turku, Finland. She has been a member of the Finnish Higher Education Evaluation Council from 2004 to 2007 and is the Chair of the Council She has been the national coordinator of the Humanities sector in the Bologna Process from 2003 and a member of the national Bologna expert group from Pyykkö has given a great number of presentations in national and international seminars and has written various articles. Janna Koivisto worked as the Secretary for International Affairs in the Union of Finnish Students in Universities of Applied Sciences (SAMOK) from 2004 to She was the Vice-Chair of the European Erasmus Student Network in 2001 and was herself on an Erasmus exchange in Bilbao, Spain, in Kimmo Kuortti is the Head of the International Office of the University of Oulu. His main interests in the field of international education include comparison of study programmes (creative benchmarking tool), the issues regarding Englishtaught programmes and ethical questions relating to the neo-liberal approach to internationalisation of higher education. Gunn Mangerud is the Director of the Norwegian Centre for International Cooperation in Higher Education (SIU). She holds a masters degree in biology from the University in Trondheim and a PhD in geology from the University in Bergen. She has long experience in natural science research and research and technology management and has been a member of several boards including editorial, research and professional boards. She presently serves as the vice president in the Academic Cooperation Association (ACA). Anne Siltala is the Programme Manager for the Erasmus Programme in CIMO. Yrjö Sotamaa is a Professor of Design Innovation at the University of Art and Design in Helsinki (TaiK). He has a long career as an academic leader and he acted as the President of TaiK for over 22 years. He is a Visiting Professor at the Nottingham Trent University in UK and at Tongji University in Shanghai, China. Professor Sotamaa is the Chairman of the Foundation of the Finnish Institute in Japan, the Japan Finland Design Association and a founding member the Finnish-Swedish Academy of Industrial Design. Liisa Tahvanainen D.Sc (Agr.&For) is the Director of the Cross-Border University (CBU) and a lecturer in wood energy in the University of Joensuu. She has been the Secretary General of the European forest sciences network SILVA from 2001 and, among other things, has been involved in developing the Erasmus Mundus MSc in European Forestry. 128 Across the Borders Across the Borders 129

67 Tapio Varmola (Ph.D) is the President of Seinäjoki University of Applied Sciences. He also acted as a Chairman of the Rectors Conference of Finnish Universities of Applied Sciences ARENE in Siegbert Wuttig is currently Director of the National Agency for Erasmus, Erasmus Mundus, Tempus etc. in Germany and Head of the Department EU programmes, Bologna Process at the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) in Bonn. Dr. Wuttig has been a member of several EU programme committees and working groups in Brussels, and has published widely on topics relating to European higher education programmes and mobility. 130 Across the Borders

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69 Centre for International Mobility CIMO Centre for International Mobility CIMO P.O. Box 343 (Hakaniemenranta 6) FI Helsinki, Finland Tel