The City of Joensuu and the University of Eastern Finland will conclude a strategic partnership agreement aimed at promoting internationalisation and university-business collaboration, as well as developing joint advocacy and increasing regional appeal.
“This is the first strategic agreement between the city and the university. We have many shared interests, such as promoting product development and university-business collaboration, as well as attracting and retaining skilled workers in the region. The city’s growth needs a vibrant university, and the university needs an evolving city,” says the City of Joensuu’s Mayor Jere Penttilä.
Collaboration will expand beyond teacher education
Teacher education has long been the cornerstone of collaboration between the city and the university. Besides the teacher training schools managed by the university, other schools in the Joensuu area, too, have hosted countless students doing their teaching practice and completing their final thesis. Many teachers also end up working for the City of Joensuu.
With the strategic agreement, this successful collaboration will expand to other fields as well.
“The University of Eastern Finland is the most multidisciplinary university in Finland, so there are plenty of fields to choose from. The focus areas of the agreement are tourism, the forest bioeconomy, photonics, energy, ICT and comprehensive security. The goal is to increase internship opportunities and applied research, as well as to make the city a pleasant place to live for students and employees from different backgrounds,” says the University of Eastern Finland’s Rector Tapio Määttä.
Border studies and autonomous forest machines
With the agreement, the city offers to serve as a test environment for innovations. A particular focus is on sustainable urban development, utilising data provided by the city.
“The city’s forests and areas such as Mehtimäki will be made available to researchers. The university’s multidisciplinarity and the use of artificial intelligence offer endless possibilities. Besides high-level expertise related to forests, there are many untapped opportunities in, for example, the border research conducted by Jussi P. Laine’s group. Personally, I would like to see the world’s first self-driving forest machine here,” says Seppo Tossavainen, the City of Joensuu’s Head of Economic and International Affairs.
The Joensuu City Board will discuss the strategic partnership agreement in its meeting on 20th January.
