Kuva Kolin huipulta, ihmisiä kalliolla.

Inter­na­tio­nal Dele­ga­tion Visits at Karelia UAS’s Busi­ness Academy

Inter­na­tio­na­lity is a key pilar of Karelia Univer­sity of Applied Sciences, as well as Karelia UAS’s Busi­ness Academy. As part of the Busi­ness Academy’s inter­na­tio­na­lity agenda, the academy hosts guests from all around the world and share exper­tise and know-how. During the 2021-2022 acade­mic year, the academy had the plea­sure of hosting three sepa­rate inter­na­tio­nal dele­ga­tions. These dele­ga­tions inclu­ded guest from Chile, France and Uzbe­kis­tan. The main purpose of these visits to the Busi­ness Academy is to network with future part­ners, share know­ledge, engage student co-opera­tion and plan future visits to their respec­ted orga­niza­tions. Each dele­ga­tion is diffe­rent and the goals of the visi­tors change, there­fore below each sepa­rate dele­ga­tion visit is explai­ned and the bene­fits of each one explored.

Chilean Dele­ga­tion 24.11.2021

At the end of the year 2021, the academy had its first inter­na­tio­nal dele­ga­tion visit in years, due to the Covid-19 pande­mic. The visi­ting dele­ga­tion came from the Chilean Embassy: Ambas­sa­dor Mr. Rodrigo Olsen Oliva­res and Third Secre­tary Mr. Fernando Cacho. The goal of the dele­ga­tion visit was to learn how Karelia UAS is tackling the active aging problem, which is similar in Chile. As well as lear­ning how, Karelia UAS is using entrepre­neurs­hip during studies as a way to grow entrepre­neu­rial mind­sets in students for the future. The goal was to share know­ledge, which the dele­ga­tion would be able to send back home and for future co-opera­tion programs.

The dele­ga­tion was first intro­duced to the university’s faci­li­ties and depart­ments. Their intro­duc­tion conclu­ded with a visit to the Busi­ness Academy faci­li­ties at Joensuu Science Park. The dele­ga­tion was briefed on the history of the buil­ding, as well as how the Busi­ness Academy conducts their studies in an entrepre­neu­rial envi­ron­ment. The dele­ga­tion was intri­gued with lear­ning how the Busi­ness Academy students create a co-op and finish their univer­sity degrees through entrepreneurship.

The dele­ga­tion was able to meet four students from the Busi­ness Academy’s inter­na­tio­nal team. The inter­na­tio­nal team shared their expe­riences studying at Busi­ness Academy, why they believe this was the correct method of study for them and how they view inter­na­tio­nal rela­tions as being extre­mely impor­tant to their future goals. The dele­ga­tion was also able to partici­pate in a short format dialog, which is one of the main study methods used at the Busi­ness Academy. The dele­ga­tion, as well as the Busi­ness Academy students shared their study backgrounds, favo­rite foods from back home, as well as the impor­tance of inter­na­tio­nal relations.

Ryhmäkuva henkilöistä
Picture 1. From left: Busi­ness Academy’s inter­na­tio­nal team members Mr. Antti Hodo­kai­nen, Ms. Sonja Kontro, the Chilean Ambas­sa­dor Mr. Rodrigo Olsen Oliva­res, Busi­ness Academy’s inter­na­tio­nal team members Ms. Ulpu Klasila, Mr. Andrei Potek­hin, Busi­ness Academy’s Team Coach Mrs. Riikka Räsänen, and the Chilean Third Secre­tary Mr. Fernando Cacho.

French Dele­ga­tion 7.4.2022

The second inter­na­tio­nal visit to the Busi­ness Academy came from France, inclu­ding Mr. Nicolas Robert, the Head of Degree Chez Univer­sité Grenoble Alpes and five of his univer­sity students. Hosting the dele­ga­tion were two Finnish tourism students, as well as four Busi­ness Academy students from the inter­na­tio­nal team. The diffe­rence between this dele­ga­tion and the Chilean dele­ga­tion, was that this dele­ga­tion was a univer­sity dele­ga­tion, compa­red to an embassy dele­ga­tion. The goal of this visit was to share know­ledge on how our univer­sity conducts diffe­rent studies, such as the Busi­ness Academy that could be inte­gra­ted to the French univer­sity if the future. Also, having students be a part of the dele­ga­tion allowed for the students from both univer­si­ties to network with each other, share stories and expe­riences, as well as unders­tand how studies can differ, even though both univer­si­ties reside in Europe.

The dele­ga­tion, as well as the Finnish tourism students, learned about Busi­ness Academy, with the Busi­ness Academy students sharing their own perso­nal stories how they have conduc­ted their studies through entrepre­neurs­hip. This enticed the French students, and they hoped their univer­sity in the future could have a similar option as Busi­ness Academy. Similar to the Chilean Dele­ga­tion, the French Dele­ga­tion was able to partici­pate in a short format dialog, where every­one was able to share their own expe­riences with studying their speci­fic field, how they best learn and what goals each student has for the future. The visit ended with plan­ning an inter­na­tio­nal trip to the French Univer­sity by our Busi­ness Academy’s inter­na­tio­nal team in the fall of 2022.

Picture 2. Picture inclu­des students from Karelia UAS’s tourism depart­ment, Busi­ness Academy’s inter­na­tio­nal team members Ms. Emilia Mati­lai­nen, Ms. Emma Hassi­nen, Ms. Hanna Karp­pa­nen, Ms. Olga Asikai­nen and the French dele­ga­tions’ students and the Head of Degree Chez Univer­sité Grenoble Alpes, Mr. Nicolas Robert. 

Uzbe­kis­tan Dele­ga­tion 1.6.-2.6.2022

The final dele­ga­tion of the acade­mic year inclu­ded Uzbekistan’s Kokand University’s Rector, Mr. Musta­fa­ku­lov Sherzod Igam­ber­die­vich and Dean of Econo­mics and Educa­tion Faculty, Mr. Turgu­nov Jasur­bek Alimar­don ugli, Samar­kand State University’s Assis­tant Profes­sor, Mr. Ikrom Khusa­no­vich Nasimov, as well as Univer­sity of Tash­kent Inter­na­tio­nal Medical Center’s Direc­tor of Educa­tion, Mr. Yarmuk­ha­me­dov Bekhzod. The goal of this dele­ga­tion visit was for the dele­ga­tion to create co-opera­tive part­ners­hips with Karelia UAS in student exchange, as well as sharing know­ledge about the methods of study at Karelia UAS, which could be imple­men­ted at partner univer­si­ties in Uzbe­kis­tan in the future. Currently, there are students from Uzbe­kis­tan studying at Karelia UAS, and this dele­ga­tion visit hope­fully creates possi­bi­li­ties for Karelia UAS’s students to partici­pate in study exchange possi­bi­li­ties in Uzbe­kis­tan in the future, as well as conti­nued study exchange possi­bi­li­ties for Uzbe­kis­tan students to Karelia UAS.

The dele­ga­tion visited diffe­rent depart­ments throug­hout Karelia during their week-long visit, with visi­ting Karelia UAS’s Busi­ness Academy on the 1st of June. Similar to the Chilean Dele­ga­tion, the visi­tors were infor­med on the history of the Science Park, as well as the study methods of Busi­ness Academy through entrepre­neurs­hip. The dele­ga­tion was extre­mely impres­sed with the student entrepre­neurs who shared their current and past projects. The dele­ga­tion was especially inte­res­ted in the inter­na­tio­nal aspect of Busi­ness Academy and how possible coope­ra­tion projects could develop in the future with visi­ting team coaches, students and study programs.

Ryhmäkuva henkilöistä.
Picture 3. From left: Kokand Univeristy’s Dean of Econo­mics and Educa­tion Faculty, Mr. Turgu­nov Jasur­bek Alimar­don ugli and Rector, Mr. Musta­fa­ku­lov Sherzod Igam­ber­die­vich, Karelia UAS’s Princi­pal Lectu­rer of Entrepre­neurs­hip, Mr. Heikki Immonen, Samar­kand State University’s Assis­tant Profes­sor, Mr. Ikrom Khusa­no­vich Nasimov, Karelia UAS’s Busi­ness Academy’s Team Coach, Mrs. Riikka Räsänen, and Karelia UAS’s Global Educa­tion Officer Mrs. Katri Truong.

On the 2nd of June, the Uzbe­kis­tan dele­ga­tion, as well as Karelia UAS staff members, inclu­ding Karelia UAS’s Presi­dent, Mr. Petri Raivo, Head of Inter­na­tio­nal Affairs, Mrs. Liisa Timonen, Global Educa­tion Officer, Mrs. Katri Truong as well as Busi­ness Academy’s team coach, Mrs. Riikka Räsänen visited Koli Natio­nal Park to showcase Finnish nature and conti­nue discus­sions how co-opera­tion can conti­nue in the future. During the Koli visit, the dele­ga­tion was able to stop at the Kontio­lahti Biath­lon Stadium, as well as spen­ding most of the time at a local island, Kelvän­saari at Tarina-Aho. Here, the dele­ga­tion was able to enjoy a local meal, hear how nature is a strong part of Finland’s history as well as enjoy a speed­boat ride from the harbor to the island and back. The rest of the evening was spent walking in Koli Natio­nal Park, sight­see­ing at Ukko-Koli and Akka-Koli. This visit allowed for the dele­ga­tion to see the diffe­rent possi­bi­li­ties Finland has to offer in expe­riences, not just educa­tion for future co-opera­tion projects.

Kuva Kolin huipulta, ihmisiä kalliolla.
Picture 4. View from Ukko Koli peak.

Author:

Riikka Räsänen, team coach at Karelia UAS’s Busi­ness Academy