Vision for higher education and research in Finland 2030

The Minister of Education and Culture Sanni Grahn-Laasonen has launched vision work with the aim of defining objectives for the Finnish higher education and research until the year 2030. The vision will be drawn up in broad cooperation with higher education institutions and other stakeholders. A parliamentary monitoring group will be established to support the work. The vision will be completed by September 2017.

The Finnish universities and universities of applied sciences operate as a part of the global system for higher education and research. Higher education institutions have a significant role as the promoters of renewal and growth, and therefore great expectations are placed on them. An important task for the higher education institutions is to produce new information, promote wellbeing and train experts in different fields. All this, together with an open operating culture and digitalisation, challenges the entire higher education system and the research and innovation system to be renewed in the upcoming years.

“One of the objectives of the Government Programme is to raise the level of education and competence among the population. Finland has, for the entire hundred years of its independence, been built on civilisation, education and culture. This narrative of a small country where the competent and highly educated nation plays the leading role must not be lost. I hereby invite all parties to participate in the discussion on the objectives, contents and structures for the Finnish higher education and research - in other words, the measures required to lead our education system into the future. High quality, also by international standards, must be pursued in the development of the higher education and research system,” says Minister of Education and Culture Sanni Grahn-Laasonen.

The purpose of the vision work is to produce a future scenario which will enable a high-quality, effective and internationally competitive development of the Finnish higher education system by the year 2030. In the course of the vision work, different alternatives and models for improving the Finnish higher education system will be examined and their effects and feasibility assessed. The development needs of the Finnish higher education and research will be assessed and the future desired state will be defined based on the needs for change resulting from the changes that have occurred in the national and international operating environment.  

The Minister of Education and Culture Grahn-Laasonen invites the staff, students and key stakeholders of the higher education institutions to actively participate in the discussion on the future vision for higher education and research.

The vision will be prepared in thematic seminars, workshops to be arranged in Vaasa and Tampere, and digital online brainstorming sessions. The topic of the future of higher education and research will also be opened for public debate.

Inquiries: 

- Heikki Kuutti Uusitalo, Special Adviser, tel. 050 302 8246, heikki.kuutti.uusitalo (at) minedu.fi

- Tapio Kosunen, Director-General, tel. 0295 3 30440

- Ulla Mäkeläinen, Counsellor of Education, tel. 0295 3 30223