Finland - Jyvaskyla Region - Final Self-Evaluation Report.pdf

Jyväskylä is a lack of coordination as the continuing education is also provided by some faculties creatingcompetition within the university.Starting points and channels of regional effectivenessExisting networks of the staff facilitate the regional orientation. From the regional point of view, theleadership training for public administration, development of the organizations’ staff and support in strategywork are essential channels of expertise of the Continuing Education Center. Center’s know-how inproductization of academic competence, connections to working life and strong national and internationalnetworks could be better exploited in the region.Regional co-operation and the division of tasksOf the public sector actors in the region, the key partners are the Regional Council of Central Finland,Employment and Economic Development Centre and Central Finland Health Care District. There has beenco-operation with large businesses in the region, which has concentrated on leadership and personneltraining. The regional actors often see the university as being too academic and theoretically oriented whichhinders the co-operation.The relationship with Jyväskylä Polytechnic is distant and the co-operation is minor. The problem is that thefields of operation of the institutions are not clearly defined, which results in an unhealthy competition.Creating close and equal co-operation between the university and polytechnic in the future is considerednecessary, but it requires a clarification of the roles and co-operation fields.Areas of strength and prioritising of activitiesImportant fields to be promoted in the future are leadership and development of enterprises. Also, the futureof continuing education in the field of education has to be ensured. According to the view of the ContinuingEducation Centre, the integration of teachers’ continuing education into regional strategies would benecessary for the region.Agora CenterRoleAgora Center is a separate institute of the University of Jyväskylä that operates entirely on external funding.In Agora Center, results and resources of internationally networked research are compiled to support thedevelopment of product concepts and operational models from a human point of view. Research anddevelopment projects are implemented in co-operation with different fields of the university, businesses,public sector and other operators. The shared vision of the parties operating in Agora Center is to develop thefuture society from a human point of view and act as a source of spearhead ideas (human tech) in the region.Agora Center has high visibility as an operator in the region, although it is partly still looking for its place. Ithas become known also because of its location (Agora building) and creating the brand has been a success asa whole. Moving the traditional faculty system towards multidisciplinary operation and changing the generalattitude towards it more positive have been the challenges faced inside the university.Starting points and channels of regional effectivenessAgora Center carries out many regional projects, which aim to emphasize students’ graduation theses,especially doctoral dissertations. The objective is to participate in regional activities which support its corefunctions. Promoting employability of students through practical training and graduation theses projectscarried out with firms is an important channel of regional effectiveness, and more resources should beallocated to systematically develop it further.Regional co-operation and the division of tasksJyväskylä Science Park is an important partner of Agora Center. It assists in building the concept andprovides support in issues concerning commercialization and business in general. According to the view ofAgora Center, the emphasis of the operation of its own and the whole university should be on developingsubstance knowledge and the other processes of the innovation chain should be outsourced to for exampleJyväskylä Science Park.135