Frameworks for University Cooperation in the Baltic Sea Region
The University of Turku, together with its German partner university Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and the Baltic Sea Region University Network (BSRUN), organised a seminar on the development of cooperation between universities on 28–29 October 2013. More than 50 experts in the field from Sweden, Russia, Germany, Latvia, Poland and Finland convened at the University of Turku.
The seminar was a part of Finland's current Presidency of the Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS). One of the commonly agreed priorities of the CDSS is education and culture. The CBSS and BSBRUN are engaged in close cooperation in the education sector.
BSRUN was founded in 2000 and its current membership consists of 30 universities and research institutes from seven countries. The newest member is the Belarusian State University. The University of Turku, one of the founding members of BSRUN, was an active coordinator of the network for over ten years. The responsibility for coordination tasks is now shared between the Saint-Petersburg State University of Economics and Finance (FINEC) and the University of Warmia and Mazury (UWM) in the district of Olsztyn in Poland.
EuroFaculty cooperation over two decades
The EuroFaculty concept was launched at a foreign ministerial CBSS meeting held in Finland in 1993. The first EuroFaculty projects were implemented in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The objective was to assist the Baltic States reform their academic education in the faculties of law, economics and political science. The programme provided general re-training for local academic staff, language training, and lectures by visiting professors.
The third and most recent EuroFaculty programme was launched in 2009 in the region of Pskov in Western Russia, close to the border of Estonia and Latvia. The project seeks to upgrade university education in Business Economics/Business Administration at the Pskov State University (PskovSU). The practical work and coordination are led by the University of Turku in cooperation with its partners. The goals of the second phase of the project, started in the autumn 2012, include launch of an International Master Programme and a regional development plan with an emphasis on entrepreneurship and innovation. The project will end in 2015.
New winds in the cooperation between universities
In the seminar in Turku, the EuroFaculty projects were considered to have produced clear and successful results. Projects in different universities have influenced the development of their regions also more widely. When the EuroFaculty Pskov ends, it is important to look into the future and consider new and more broad-based alternatives.
One new form of cooperation could be development of the CBSS summer university concept, for which the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin has made preliminary plans. In the future, the cooperation between universities could become more interactive, including use of digital networks, greater student and teacher mobility, and training provided for companies, for example. Professor Antti Paasio invited the participants to look beyond the Baltic Sea Region when new forms of cooperation are sought.
The seminar served as a good start for discussion about the further development of the cooperation between universities in the Baltic Sea Region. The Business and Innovation Development Unit (BID) at the University of Turku will make an assessment of the effectiveness of the EuroFaculty concept and of the cooperation between the universities. The analysis will be financed from the Project Support Facility that has been created for the implementation of regional projects by the CBSS.
More information is available
on the web site of the CBSS Secretariat at: www.cbss.org