Helsinki - a global village
The University of Helsinki is a driving force of collaboration between science and the business sector of the vibrant city.
One of the hallmarks of a living metropolis is a viable university. This is also true of Helsinki: in addition to being the cradle of higher education and top-level research, the University of Helsinki is also a key player in the development of the area's business activities.
"In order to be internationally successful, a city must be aware of its capacity and potential," says Eero Holstila, Director of Economic Development, City of Helsinki.
He believes that the Helsinki metropolitan area has every opportunity to rise to the world league of economic hubs, following the regional innovation strategy. He considers the University of Helsinki to be a driving force of collaboration between science and the business sector and a flagship of the vibrant city.
"Part of our international appeal will in future depend on foreign students who will successfully integrate into the life of their university towns. Besides versatile basic research, we will also need strong investment in top-level research, which again requires international co-operation."
Marja Makarow, Vice-Rector of the University of Helsinki, agrees. "Co-operation among, for example, the members of the League of European Research Universities, is extremely important. The University of Helsinki has, in fact, started building joint international postgraduate programmes and joint degrees with leading European universities. In June 2006, we signed an agreement on a postgraduate programme in biomedicine with the Karolinska Institutet."
Makarow is fully aware of the gap between the rhetoric and the reality. The different operating models and bureaucratic systems of different universities complicate matters, but by no means make co-operation impossible. "We can make it work if we want to. The same goes for the business sector: SMEs should be better informed of the university's abilities to solve problems that affect them," says Makarow.
If Finland's most-recent boom was based on Nokia and on information technology competence in general, the focus must be shifted on to new fields in the future. Holstila refers to serendipity and face-to-face models as a basis for new ideas.
"Alongside technology centres, it is vital to consider how university campuses are interlinked with the surrounding city. The local authorities, in turn, must develop the city infrastructure so that they can act as a partner and mediator between universities and enterprises. SMEs, in particular, need new means of finding the appropriate funding instruments."
Links:
University of Helsinki City of Helsinki
Text: Kai Maksimainen
Photo: Veikko Somerpuro
