Bioeconomy specialisation studies – innovation and expertise provided jointly by universities and companies for the growth and structural change sector in Eastern Finland
In bioeconomy, sustainable use of natural resource and the acceptability of their use are central values. They will be taken into account in the specialisation studies developed during the project. During the project, the University of Eastern Finland, Karelia and Savonia Universities of Applied Sciences, and companies and other organisations working in the field of bioeconomy will develop a new work-based model of learning and teaching, which will be piloted in the bioeconomy specialization studies in 2018–2020.
The concrete actions carried out during the project include:
- Tailoring the national bioeconomy specialization studies for the needs of the business sector in Eastern Finland
- Creating a work-based education model for the needs of Eastern Finland by utilising the best models and experience of work-based pedagogy
- Channelling the best bioeconomy expertise of the universities to solve the development problems of companies through training
- Training university teachers for the work-based education model
- Piloting the work-based bioeconomy education model designed for Eastern Finland during the first specialization studies in 2018–2020
- Investigating the potential demand for the bioeconomy specialization as studies organized by the universities as an international education export product
The direct goal of the project is to train 30 bioeconomy experts or professionals for the field during the new specialization studies by the end of summer 2020, and thus help the students to find employment, and to create new jobs. In addition, 30 students will complete a 10 cu module during the specialisation studies. The indirect goal of the project is to increase the relevance of university courses to trade and industry, and to make the cooperation between universities in the field of bioeconomy closer. People selected for the specialisation studies must have a university degree, but their status in the labour market will not affect the selection.
