Unique Atmosphere of Turku Introduced to 150 International Higher Education Institution Representatives on 23 September

Annually, the European Association for International Education organises a conference for experts of international affairs from different universities and other higher education institutions. The EAIE conference is the most important annual event for the international affairs units of higher education institutions in Europe. Usually, the conference is participated by approximately 5,000–6,000 experts from around 100 different countries. The participants of the event include not only representatives of higher education institutions, but also of different ministries and the Finnish National Agency for Education.

This year, the EAIE conference is organised in Helsinki. As a pre-conference event, the higher education institutions of Turku (University of Turku, Åbo Akademi University, Turku University of Applied Sciences, and Novia University of Applied Sciences) invited the representatives of their partner institutions participating in the conference to get to know the student city of Turku on Monday, 23 September.

During the day, the rectors of each higher education institution briefly introduced their institutions and Turku as a student city in the Visitor and Innovation Centre Joki. In a small fair organised in Joki, e.g. the higher education institutions, Turku Student Village Foundation, and joint sports services CampusSport introduced their activities for the visitors. The visitors we also shown around the campus areas of the higher education institutions. In the evening, the programme included a trip to the town of Naantali and a dinner there.
 

– Two teachers and a group of students from the Wellness Tourism programme of the Turku University of Applied Sciences helped with organising the event as well as the practical arrangements on Monday. This is a good example for our international guests on how we apply innovation pedagogy to the studies, tells Head of International Affairs at the Turku University of Applied Sciences Anu Härkönen.

The purpose of the event was to introduce the higher education institutions of Turku to the current partner institutions as well as the ones they are about to start a partnership with. The event mainly focused on student mobility opportunities, support services, and international degree programmes offered in Turku.

– Turku stands out among the Finnish exchange locations thanks to the closeness of nature and archipelago as well as the diverse culture and student life activities. Our objective is to share this unique atmosphere with the representatives of our partner universities. Their personal experiences have a major impact on what kind of an impression they get of Turku and pass on to their students and personnel, says Head of International Affairs at the University of Turku Irinja Paakkanen.

Part of the event’s programme was also targeted at the participants of the seminar by the Coimbra Group network and Latin American Grupo Montevideo network. The University of Turku and Åbo Akademi University are members of Coimbra Group network. The seminar focused on collaboration and e.g. promoting mobility. Altogether, the events were participated by approximately 150 visitors from over 30 different countries and about a hundred different higher education institutions.