Team Finland Knowledge network to enhance the visibility of Finnish knowledge and expertise and to boost exports
The Ministry of Education and Culture is establishing a Team Finland Knowledge network to enhance Finnish education and research cooperation and the export of Finnish knowledge, expertise and educational innovation. The network will operate in China, Singapore, North America, Spanish-speaking South America, Sub-Saharan Africa, India and Russia. Later on, the network will be extended to the Persian Gulf region. Starting in autumn 2018, seven experts in higher education and science will be hired to the network.
The aim in promoting the international networking of Finnish actors in the field of higher education and research is to further improve the quality and impact of higher education and research and to promote cooperation between companies. The network will make Finland better known as a country with high-quality education and leading-edge research and as a member of international innovative clusters of expertise, thus giving more weight to Finnish research, innovation and business activities.
The purpose of the network is to provide higher education institutions, research institutes, individual researchers and other actors with easier access to new information and to enable better contacts. It will support the efforts to further strengthen the mobility of students, researchers and staff. The network will also make Finland a more attractive destination for talented people and enable, together with the growth programme of the Finnish National Agency for Education, growth of the export of Finnish knowledge, expertise and educational innovation.
“The objective is a more open and international Finland. The network will support and boost the internationalisation of higher education institutions and research and make Finland better known as a country of education, science and innovation. The network is also tasked with attracting talented people to Finland and building contacts for the export of Finnish knowledge, expertise and educational innovation. These new openings were decided together with the higher education institutions, and the expectations are high”, says Minister of Education Sanni Grahn-Laasonen.
The countries were selected taking account of their varying regional profiles, needs and partnerships of Finnish higher education institutions, higher education and science policies and strategies, global megatrends, potential partner country’s interest in Finland, and the demand for knowledge and education in the regions.
The higher education and research experts will be placed in the Finnish embassies. Their tasks include following the local higher education and science policies, promoting cooperation opportunities and visibility in the country or region, and assisting Finnish actors in increasing cooperation with the local actors.
In the first stage, an expert will be posted to Beijing, Singapore, Washington and Buenos Aires. In autumn 2019, the network of experts will be extended to Pretoria, New Delhi and Moscow and later on to the Persian Gulf region.
The Ministry of Education and Culture establishes the network together with other ministries and actors. It will work in close cooperation with the Team Finland network. Other Finnish public actors and civic society actors in the field of education and research, operating outside Finland, will also be linked to the activities of the network.
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The establishment of the Team Finland Knowledge network contributes to the Government objective to increase the internationalisation of education and research. The Government decided on establishing the network in the context of the mid-term policy review. The establishment of the network is part of the policies to promote internationalisation in Finnish higher education and research (2017).
The policies to promote internationalisation in Finnish higher education and research, the vision and road map of the Research and Innovation Council, and the vision for higher education and research set as an objective that Finland is the most attractive and competent environment for experimentation and innovation.
Inquiries:
- Tiina Vihma-Purovaara, Senior Ministerial Adviser, tel. +358 2953 30327
- Heikki Kuutti Uusitalo, Special Adviser to Minister, tel. +358 50 302 8246
- International strategy for higher education and research 2017–2025