Inter­na­tional Dele­ga­tion Visits at Busi­ness Academy

Inter­na­tion­al­ity is a key pilar of Karelia Univer­sity of Applied Sciences, as well as Karelia UAS’s Busi­ness Academy. (Link to website). 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.

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.

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 1^st 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.

On the 2^nd 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.

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