jyvÄskylÄ · the eelovi product family jyväskylä shines in urban lighting competition infokone...

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JYVÄSKYLÄH U M A N T E C H N O L O G Y C I T Y , F I N L A N D

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The Eelovi product family

Jyväskylä shinesin urban lighting

competition

Infokone helpscompanies do

business in the Russian market

Jorma Ollila:Society must

dare to rewardsuccess

Fabulous forms

� Jy v ä s k y l ä • H u m a n T e c H n o l o g y c i T y �

This publication is brought to you by

REGIONAL COUNCIL OFCENTRAL FINLAND

Published twice yearly, Jyväskylä Human Technology City magazineshowcases the expertise, culture and people to be found in the Jyväskylä Region.

ISSN 1795-3146

Editorial Office in this issue: Jyväskylä Educational Consortium, Viitaniemen-tie 1 A, 40720 Jyväskylä, [email protected], www.jao.fiEditor-in-chief: Erkki Mäntymaa, Jyväskylä Educational ConsortiumEditorial board: Merja Lahti (Regional Council of Central Finland), Taija Lappeteläinen (Jyväskylä Regional Development Company Jykes Ltd.), Kevin Manninen (Jyväskylä Innovation Ltd), Anu Mustonen (University of Jyväskylä), Helinä Mäenpää (City of Jyväskylä), Erkki Mäntymaa (Jyväskylä Educational Consortium), Heli Toivola (JAMK University of Applied Sciences),Carola Wictorsson (Jyväskylä Innovation Ltd)Editorial staff: Viestintä-Paprico OyEnglish translation: Peter Gregory and Tony MelvillePrinted by ER-paino/KariteamCirculation: 9 400

www.jyvaskylanseutu.fiwww.humantechnology.fi

Jyväskylä – Human Technology City, Spring 2010

contents first words

The City of Jyväskylä, with a population of 130 000, is one of

Finland’s centres of growth. Recognised as a city of high-quality

education, Jyväskylä is also internationally known for the architec-

ture of Alvar Aalto. www.jyvaskyla.fi

Jyväskylä Regional Development Company Jykes Ltd. is a

business promotion and development company owned by the four

municipalities in the Jyväskylä Region. The aim of Jykes is to create

a favourable business environment. By offering expertise, support

and various networks for companies, Jykes creates opportunities

and conditions for profitable business operations. www.jykes.fi

The Regional Council of Central Finland is responsible for

moulding joint development aspirations and managing the imple-

mentation of the same in a region dedicated to quality of life.

www.keskisuomi.fi

The University of Jyväskylä is one of the largest, most attractive

and dynamic research universities in Finland, with about 15 000

students, including international students from some 90 countries.

www.jyu.fi

JAMK University of Applied Sciences is a multidisciplinary insti-

tution of higher education with a strong international orientation

and a student enrolment of 8 000. Our strengths are workplace-

driven learning, close cooperation with the labour market and

business, as well as extensive international contacts. www.jamk.fi

Jyväskylä Innovation Ltd is a development company that

reinforces the growth, development and competitiveness of tech-

nology companies in Jyväskylä and Central Finland. The company

carries out the Jyväskylä Region Centre of Expertise Programme.

www.jklinnovation.fi

Jyväskylä Educational Consortium is one of the biggest institu-

tions of vocational education in Finland. It provides instruction to

6 000 young people and 12 000 adult students each year.

www.jao.fi

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February 1, 2010

Children are like little detectives, using all five senses to discover new things. The Sapere method, which was de-veloped to reverse the trend towards one-sided diets and an impoverishment of food culture, utilises this natural curiosity on the part of children.

Annukka Lohtander is in her third and final year of a food service course at Jyväskylä College. At the same time she is taking upper secondary school courses to prepare for her matriculation exam.

10

16

4 New technology changing learning environments

8 Jyväskylä shines in urban lighting competition

10 Sapere, introducing children to healthy food

12 Hot and steamy ideas

14 Infokone helps companies do business in Russia

16 Working together to achieve more

18 Society must dare to reward success

20 Eelovi, fabulous forms

22 Smart pipe provides better energy efficiency

24 Turning educational exports into real business

Of the three main sections in Central Fin-land Chamber of Commerce’s effective-ness plan for 2010 one is headed: “Making

learning part of enterprises’ competitiveness and business”. This is a new and vitally important state-ment of policy, since aiming for this goal will be the long-term success factor for entrepreneurial activity in Jyväskylä and the whole of Central Finland.

It is vital to talk of learning and not, for instance, of expertise. Another key issue is the fact that the role of learning is not only support for a company’s business, but is an integral part of what goes on and a value in itself.

The best prerequisites for success in today’s rapidly changing operating environment are in fact in the possession of those enterprises which are at the same time learning organisations. In these learning is the area of responsibility of the firm’s manage-ment and work teams, core skills have been speci-fied, staff development discussions have become an established way of operating, and systems of reward take learning into account.

In enterprises like these work and learning find combination: they are two aspects of the same mat-ter. The teaching material is provided by the operat-ing environment and change. In such enterprises it is justified to speak of a learning personnel which has the ability to switch if necessary to a new and unknown area. It is frequently not even a question of bringing new knowledge or expertise to the enter-prise, but of recognising the expertise that already exists in the company and getting staff to use it more widely.

Expertise can be bought – but not learning

Of course an enterprise can acquire new expertise by re-cruiting, but from the perspec-tive of the firm’s success the decisive issue is how to ensure acquired expertise is main-tained and built on and how such expertise is brought into more extensive use within the business. Immediately a new employee enters the firm’s service, close scrutiny must be given to the in-house learning processes via which all this should be brought about.

It also pays to invest in learning. According to vari-ous studies investments in machinery and equip-ment can boost productivity two to three-fold. By investing in education and training productivity can be increased three to five-fold. Through social inno-vations, in other words by improving methods and ways of operating, productivity can be raised by as much as ten-fold. In addition the absolute prereq-uisite for full-scale exploitation of investments is a commitment to people’s learning.

The Chamber of Commerce’s effectiveness plan enjoys the broad support of the region’s business community. This demonstrates that here in Central Finland we are internalizing the important concep-tion that expertise can be bought - but not learning.

Hannu SalminenCEO, Jyväskylä Educational ConsortiumChair, Education and Training Committee, Central Finland Chamber of Commerce

“Through social innovations, in other words by improving methods and ways of operating, productivity can be raised by as much as ten-fold.”

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� Jy v ä s k y l ä • H u m a n T e c H n o l o g y c i T y � � � Jy v ä s k y l ä • H u m a n T e c H n o l o g y c i T y

What is the importance of bog-land to mankind? How are bogs formed and why should they be protected? At the online virtual bog learning environment (www.virtuaalisuo.fi) children and

young people have the chance to familiarize themselves with the bog ecosystem, the special characteristics of bog-land nature and the purposes to which bogs are put. Visi-tors to the virtual bog are encouraged to explore the bog ecosystem with the help of games and a virtual bog adven-ture among other things.

Marja Kankaanranta, Professor in Innovative Learning Environments at the University of Jyväskylä’s Agora Center, has been involved in developing the virtual bog learning en-vironment. According to Kankaanranta a good virtual learn-ing environment appeals to its users in the same way as a commercial entertainment game.

“Games are nowadays a part of the everyday existence of children and young people. At their best learning games successfully combine elements linked to entertainment and learning. Games have to have problems, by solving which the player can reach a new game level.”

Jyväskylä-based researchers are among the leading lights of ICT research connected with learning. The aim is to establish by means of research studies how effective use can be made of new technology in teaching, how mobile solutions can promote learning and what the importance of virtual environments and social media actually is. Taking part in the research projects are municipalities, educational institutions and major companies in the branch, including Microsoft.

“The learning environment of the future will be a combi-nation of ICT applications and traditional contact teaching. A learning environment must be examined from a broad perspective: learning will no longer be tied to the tradi-tional classroom, but will also take place during free time in information networks,” Kankaanranta predicts.

Kankaanranta believes that the online applications used in teaching increase collaboration. Via the internet a com-prehensive school class can engage in group work with pu-pils at another school, for instance.

The new technology presents a challenge to educators, however, since making use of information and communica-

NEWtEchNology

In the space of �� years information and com-

munication technology (ICT) has fundamentally

changed teaching methods and learning envi-

ronments. Teaching in classrooms and lecture

halls has now been joined by web-based tasks,

social media, learning games, virtual worlds and

mobile applications.

WORDS By TIMo SIllanpää PHOTOS By MaurI raTIlaInen, HeIKKI ollIla

>

“In my studies I took advantage of all the forms of studying on offer: online lectures and semi-nars, reading circles, learning tasks, essays and book reviews.”Hannele KorHonen, STudenT aT THeopen unIverSITy of JyväSKylä

CHAngIng LEARnIng EnvIROnMEnTS

� � Jy v ä s k y l ä • H u m a n T e c H n o l o g y c i T y


satisfy the international demand for courses in institutional management. On offer will be study programmes made up of individual courses as well as an MBA in institutional management and a master’s programme.

“For the purposes of virtual implementation we now have videoed lectures which we have edited into five hundred 20-minute online lectures. Simply videoing lectures doesn’t turn a master’s programme into an online product – since then we’ve done a lot of follow-up work. This has included supplementary tasks and materials and formulating instruc-tions for students,” Alava continues.

In Alava’s view the new virtual implementation is aimed squarely at the global educational market. In addition to the virtual component the educational product always in-cludes cooperation with officials in the purchasing country and personal contact with students.

Towards open learning environmentsIn Finland the development of online study at universities of applied sciences has been furthered since the 1990s by the Finnish Online University of Applied Sciences, where students can complete online courses offered by other uni-versities of applied sciences.

At JAMK University of Applied Sciences the aim is for every study period to involve a virtual workspace. Vice- rector annikki Mikkonen believes that the online capa-bilities acquired while studying also benefit industry and commerce in the region.

“Students have taken the experiences gained from web-based learning above all into small and medium-sized en-terprises where expertise related to information networks is still occasionally below par. This is important because in the future mastery of information networks and social media will be vital in every branch.”

Mikkonen believes that learning environments like social media will change people’s way of learning.

“Social media offer solutions for continuous new learn-

NEW tEchNology CHAngIng LEARnIng EnvIROnMEnTS...

ing since the individual is a participant in shared knowhow through his or her contacts. Many professions demand learning new things all the time because knowledge quickly becomes outdated. In social media knowledge and new ideas spread rapidly.”

Web-based teaching has traditionally made use of closed learning environments, but the trend is now towards open learning environments in which students can produce and comment on content the whole time, like in Wikipedia.

“In open social learning environments people discuss, comment, form a collective understanding and distribute it freely to all comers,” emphasises Mari varonen, the de-signer responsible for web-based teaching at JAMK Univer-sity of Applied Sciences.

New innovations may also boost the internal flow of in-formation at institutions of higher education.

“We’re introducing the WordPress blog platform for the specialist blogs of our own personnel. These blogs are linked to the development of JAMK and in normal blog fashion can be commented on by readers. Blogs are adding a new dimension to JAMK’s internal communication, too,” Varonen states.

new tools for learning in vocational educationAt the various units of Jyväskylä Educational Consortium, a major provider of vocational education, information and communication technology is seen as an opportunity to of-fer new tools for the acquisition of professional skills.

“During the learning process students can make use of networks they already have, such as Facebook communi-ties. Vital key words in learning include multichannelism and cooperation,” stresses Programme Manager Satu-Maaria aksovaara.

tion technology is not yet self-evident to all.“Right from the initial grades of comprehensive school

there is a need to teach the skills associated with the infor-mation society: how to search for information, how to assess its reliability and ways of managing the information flood.”

Master’s programme implemented virtually becomes new export productProfessor Jukka alava, Director of the University of Jy-väskylä’s Institute of Educational Leadership established in 1996, sees a challenge in finding the correct balance be-tween contact teaching and web-based instruction.

“The basic nature of learning includes interaction be-tween people, and for that reason not all teaching can be put online.”

In 2007 the Institute of Educational Leadership intro-duced a 2-year English-medium Master’s Degree pro-gramme in Educational Leadership. The programme pro-vides students with the capability to operate in professional life as experts in educational leadership and institutional management, and as developers in their field.

“Students in the master’s programme have 25–40 hours of lectures for each course plus tasks that have to be com-pleted online. In addition we make use of a virtual envi-ronment that offers information connected to studying as well as a discussion forum,” reveals Project Manager päivi Kananen.

Already five years or so ago the Institute of Educational Leadership gave thought to solutions that could meet in-creasing international demand. Finnish expertise is highly rated in the market for studies in institutional management.

“We came to the conclusion that we should develop an online version of our English-medium master’s pro-gramme,” Alava explains.

At the Institution of Educational Leadership work is at an advanced stage on English-medium study modules in-tended for virtual delivery by means of which they aim to

For the learning of professional skills it is possible to turn to various games and simulations for assistance. From 2003 onwards Jyväskylä Educational Consortium has developed learning games in partnership with the Finnish Institute for Educational Research at the University of Jyväskylä as well as companies specialized in game design.

“We have developed games in which the learning of cer-tain areas of professional skill can be reinforced in a 3D- environment through interaction with other players”, re-veals Project Manager Birgitta Mannila.

Using games it is possible to learn and teach safe work practices on a building site, installing the electrics in a small house, or planning a surface renovation, for instance.

“The games are designed in such a way that the play-ers have to work together, communicate actively with each other and solve tasks forming part of the game which have been designed to be pedagogically effective. These may be accompanied by different conflict situations, solving which develops cooperative skills. Communication between the students takes place via VoIP or internet chat.”

Games are used to support learning a vocation particu-larly with 16–20 year olds, for whom the gaming world is fa-miliar from free-time entertainment games.

In the spring of 2010 Jyväskylä Educational Consortium will publish the pilot of a virtual operating environment which takes the utilization of games and the virtual world in teaching even further than previously. The theme of the new application is human sustainability.

“In the virtual world under development teachers, stu-dents and companies’ workplace supervisors can act to-gether in different situations employing the means of inter-activeness made possible by technology. The new applica-tion combines learning games, a virtual world of the Second Life type and social media.”

According to Mannila the new, collaborative virtual envi-ronment will develop students’ collaborative and interactive skills as well as teach them to take responsibility. n

Hannele Korhonen (33), who works as a lawyer at Evli Bank in Hel-

sinki, completed her subject studies in adult education at the Open

University of the University of Jyväskylä while living in Frankfurt.

“The online lectures and seminars were organised using Adobe’s

Connect Pro software. It was possible to follow the lectures after-

wards as recordings if I didn’t manage to catch them live. Study-

ing was interactive, since everyone was able to participate either by

speaking via his or her microphone or using chat,” Korhonen explains.

Korhonen presented her pro-seminar paper via Skype from Frank-

furt, while the rest of the group were face-to-face in Helsinki. The

reading circle sessions were also conducted using Skype since the

four participants were in different countries. In Korhonen’s opinion

social interaction and group formation worked surprisingly well dur-

ing her studies, since there were frequent group sessions online. n

The Optima web-based learning platform used by JAMK University of Applied Sci-

ences’ Open Studies has allowed Mänttä-based Nina Ruuhinen (37) to complete her

studies in web-based marketing alongside her normal job.

Ruuhinen, who works in sales, wishes to improve her professional skill in marketing,

but in such a way that she can herself influence the length of her studies.

“Tasks, contact with teachers and questions associated with studying, for instance,

can all be handled via the net, which lets me study in addition to doing a busy job.

Communication with other students can be handled in a variety of ways; for example,

we make use of a message box that other students can see as well as a chat function,”

Ruuhinen continues.

Mänttä is some 85 kilometres southwest of Jyväskylä, so in Ruuhinen’s view par-

ticipating in contact teaching would be difficult. She believes that web-based studies

encourage those in work to build on their professional skills. When there is no strict

timetable for studying the student can shift tasks to a personally convenient time. n

“A truly social environment” “The net permits studying in parallel to work”

> ”Social media offer solutions for continuous new learning.”Annikki MikkonEn


in conjunction with its City of Light event in 2012 Jy-väskylä aims to host the LUCi Association’s Annual

General Meeting and the PLDA (Professional Lighting Designers Association) lighting workshop. The workshop would attract international lighting designers to Jyväskylä to test the potential offered by lighting.

Before then the city will organise its next City of Light Jyväskylä event in September and october 2010. This architectural lighting event, which will be the fifth of its kind, will bring a number of lighting related happenings to the city.

City of Light Jyväskylä will feature the unveiling of new illuminated sites and of Elegia, third part of a trilogy which combines light, sound and images in a unique way.

Jyväskylä shines in urban lighting competitionJyväskylä’s objective is quite simple: it aims to

be the Finnish city with the most innovative ap-

proach to urban lighting. Its first-prize win in an

international lighting competition shows that it

has made a very bright start.

WordS By ToMMI Salo pHoToS By JuHana KonTTInen

The work done by the City of Jyväskylä to enhance its urban lighting came under the spotlight in autumn 2009. in Gwangju, south korea, the city and its partners won first prize in the international city.people.

light awards.The awards jury, which consists of independent lighting

professionals, stated that Jyväskylä has been very success-ful in using the potential that lighting can offer in the de-velopment of a sustainable urban environment.

“Jyväskylä has the best general lighting plan of any city in Europe. The plan is highly comprehensive, covering the entire lighting infrastructure from distant views to individual properties and from bridges to green spaces,” says kari Ström, Jyväskylä’s Deputy City Engineer.

The top three winners in the city.people.light compe-tition show that effective urban lighting can be imple-mented by cities both large and small. Behind top-placed Jyväskylä, which has 130 000 inhabitants, the second prize was shared by Hangzhou, a city in China which is home to millions of people, and Lachen in Switzerland, where the inhabitants number fewer than 10 000.

“We’ve done very well in comparisons with cities that have millions of inhabitants,” kari Ström says.

in late 2006 Jyväskylä became the first city in Finland to join the international LUCi (Lighting Urban Com-munity international) Association. LUCi’s objective is to establish an active discussion forum for cities of light all around the world.

More security with less energykari Ström says that the fastest way to transform an ur-ban environment is to modify the lighting. People in Jyväskylä believe that the changes made to the city’s lighting have increased their feeling of security and made their surroundings more pleasant.

Factors influencing the design of urban lighting sys-tems are – in addition to inhabitants’ well-being and se-curity – energy efficiency and the desire to reduce light pollution. When the previously existing lighting situation was analysed in Jyväskylä, it was realised that there were

many areas of overlap.kari Ström says that the power consumed by urban

lighting can be easily reduced by correctly targeting the lighting and using the latest technology.

“Modern lamps retain their light output better – with older lamps output reduces with age but the energy con-sumption remains the same. With new lamps it’s possible to use lower powers without affecting the level of light-ing.”

As a result of the EU’s EuP Directive, the least energy efficient lamps will disappear from the markets by late 2015. The Directive means that around 15 000 light fit-tings will need to be changed in Jyväskylä, representing around half of the total in the city.

“We’re aiming to cut energy consumption by almost 3 000 MWh per year, which is around 20 per cent of the initial level,” kari Ström explains. n

Jyväskylä to host top lighting professionals in 2012?

The light trilogy is the first work featuring light, sound and images to be set as a permanent part of the urban environment in Finland.

“The event always has something to offer lighting pro-fessionals, the people of Jyväskylä, and visitors to the city,” says Ari Peltola, Jyväskylä’s City of Light coordina-tor.

Following the earlier events – which were held in 2003, 2004, 2006 and 2008 – Jyväskylä now has almost 50 permanently illuminated sites. City of Light Jyväskylä is the only event in Finland focusing on lighting in the ur-ban environment. n

• For further information: www.jyvaskyla.fi/valo

An installation designed by Jukka Korpihete, ‘Talviuni’, was presented on the 150-year-old facade of Jyväskylän Lyseo. The installation – a modern camp fire story – featured an innovative combination of lights, lasers, sounds and video.

� � Jy v ä s k y l ä • H u m a n T e c H n o l o g y c i T y

�0 Jy v ä s k y l ä • H u m a n T e c H n o l o g y c i T y ��

Children are like little de-tectives, using all five senses to discover new things. The Sapere meth-

od, which was developed to reverse the trend towards poor diets and a loss of diversity in food culture, utilises this natural curiosity on the part of children.

The method originates from France and has already been used among school children. Jyväskylä’s social in-novation has been to introduce Sapere at the pre-school stage, using it in early education among children 1–6 years old.

“Children’s food and taste prefer-ences are established at a very early stage. Sapere is based on sensory

Introducing children to the varied world of food

Sapere The Sapere method introduces

children to varied diets and

healthy eating in a hands-on

way. In Jyväskylä the method

is being applied at the pre-

school stage as children de-

velop their taste preferences

before they reach school age.

perceptions that are significant to children and it uses these perceptions in the learning process. Children also enjoy the positive atmosphere and chance to do things together. There was a real need for an enjoyable and practical way of getting the message about varied, healthy food choices across to children,” says Nutrition Co-ordinator arja lyytikäinen, who is heading the Sapere project.

The process of adapting the Sapere method for use in day-care centres started with a pilot project at four centres in Jyväskylä. The day-care staff came up with some creative ideas for introducing children to the world of food, including dolls and cards to represent the different senses. They

also revived old-fashioned kitchen and shopkeeping games and developed an ‘idea box’ to encourage the whole fam-ily to prepare food together. The chil-dren visited farms and market places to see for themselves where their food comes from.

“Linguistic self-expression is an integral part of Sapere. Children are encouraged to describe their own ex-periences and perceptions. They grad-ually start to find ways to talk about their food other than just yummy and yuck,” Lyytikäinen explains.

launching Sapere courses The effective practices developed in Jyväskylä have been collected into a book by aila Koistinen, a day-care teacher and Sapere coordinator, and leena ruhanen, a day-care com-munications coordinator. The working methods and teaching methodology used in day-care centres in Jyväskylä

have attracted a lot of in-terest within Europe, and so the “Sapere toolbook for early education” will be pub-lished in English and Swedish as well as Finnish in early 2010.

Jyväskylä’s Sapere experts belong to the Sapere Association, an inter-national network whose members exchange good practices implemented in different countries. Cooperation between European researchers is also being launched. Arja Lyytikäinen has presented the Finnish application of Sapere at the Sapere conference in the Netherlands. In autumn 2009 Aila Koistinen had the opportunity to present the innovations implemented in Jyväskylä during an international ex-change visit to the School of Hospital-ity, Culinary Arts and Meal Science at Örebro University in Sweden.

“People in the international Sapere community are interested in and en-

thusiastic about the way we’ve ap-plied the methods among children

under school-age in Jyväskylä. To-gether we’ve created a compre-hensive and multidisciplinary

approach to educating children about food and improving their

well-being,” Koistinen states.The message about healthy

diets for children and the new nutri-tion and food education method is currently being spread in Finland, too.

Arja Lyytikäinen explains that in 2010 Sapere training courses will be arranged for day-care staff in seven new municipalities and towns in the Jyväskylä area.

These will help to introduce the Sapere philosophy into new day-care centres and, via the children’s parents, into homes too.

“In Jyväskylä we’ve laid good foun-dations, and developed and tested the method. Now it’s time to get it prop-erly established and expand it,” she says. n

WORDS By pIa TervoJa, PHOTOS By peTTerI KIvIMäKI

SAPERE, USIng ALL FIvES SEnSES • The Sapere method was developed by Jacques Puisais, a French chemist and ethnologist, during the 1970s. • “Sapere” is a Latin word and means “to be brave and to taste”.• The method is based on sensory training and experiences, and their impact in the processes of discovering new foods and learning eating habits.• The method uses all five senses: smell, taste, sight, hearing and touch.• The aim is to arouse the child’s curiosity and interest in foods, where they come from and how they are prepared, and in meals enjoyed together.• The method emphasises the importance of really listening to children and encouraging them to express themselves, which helps to strengthen their self-esteem.• The Sapere method is in use in many European countries, includ-ing France, Sweden, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Belgium. In Jyväskylä the method was applied with children aged 1–6 years for the first time.

• For further information: http://sapere.ebaia.com,www.sapere.fi

At Pupuhuhta day care centre in

Jyväskylä the Sapere method

is part of the regular routine.

Even one-year-olds eat by

themselves and get to try

baking. Here Elaha Rahimpur,

Niclas Remsu ja Topi Leppänen are

hard at work under Iliriana

Krasniq’s guidance.

�� Jy v ä s k y l ä • H u m a n T e c H n o l o g y c i T y ��

Could sauna be the launch pad for surprising and innovative business? risto Harvia, Managing Director of Harvia Oy, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of sauna heaters, an-swers in the affirmative.“you have to remember that taking

a sauna means many things to many people. In Asia, for example, steam baths are popular. Infrared saunas, too, are growing in popularity. Others prefer a heater that is always ready,” Harvia explains.

He stresses that for companies in the sauna branch the emphasis on wellness is generating new opportunities for innovation: colour therapy, relaxing audio landscapes, extra oxygen in the sauna...

In partnership with the University of Jyväskylä Harvia Oy has studied new innovations in wellness technology in an effort to develop its business. Product development at Har-via provides work for 15 people, whose task is to constantly come up with something new.

energy-friendliness valuableNowadays solely at the heart of the sauna, the heater, there is plenty of choice. An electric or wood-burning stove? A small powerful heater or a large stone heater? Or how about a slab of soapstone instead of the usual sauna stones?

“Wireless remote control can be used nowadays to man-age the heater as well as the lighting and ventilation in the sauna. The aim is to put the level of equipment in saunas on a par with decoration in the rest of the home,” Risto

Hot and steamy ideasIs a sauna for you a hot room that produces

a sweat before a refreshing swim, a peaceful

place to relax, a venue for social interaction or

something which has yet to be experienced? For

companies producing sauna solutions sauna is

the source of endless innovation.

WORDS By ToMMI SaloPHOTOS By HarvIa, Hannu vuorInen, laIla veneTpalo

Harvia continues.In line with current trends energy efficiency is a factor

increasing in importance where saunas are concerned too. For instance the new infrared saunas are clearly more en-ergy-friendly than the traditional sauna.

Managing Director Harvia reveals that at Harvia Oy con-siderable thought is being given to ways of storing energy in something other than stone. Less energy would then be needed to generate heat.

For Harvia the best markets, in addition to Finland, are in the area covered by the old Soviet Union. In deeply-rooted sauna cultures there are many people who demand a great deal from their sauna and are also prepared to make the necessary investment.

In Harvia’s view Asia is a growing market. Thanks to ho-tels, fitness clubs and corporate hospitality suites sauna cul-ture is beginning to spread into private homes. Harvia set up its own sauna factory in Southern China five years ago.

“If we didn’t have a presence right there on the spot, we would soon get trampled on by local manufacturers.” n

Finnish sauna set to surprise

Central Finland wants to be the spiritual home of Finnish sauna. Making good on the promise in-volves taking the productization of sauna equip-

ment and services to a new level. It also necessitates that sauna, so familiar to the Finns, can be made to generate novel, even surprising, service innovations.

“Central Finland already possesses a diverse sauna cul-ture together with numerous services and products, but they are not sufficiently visible. The objective is for people to come here from far and wide to explore sauna culture,” emphasises Carita Harju, Development Manager at Jy-väskylä Regional Development Company Jykes Ltd.

Development work has been assisted by the creation of the Sauna from Finland concept, beneath which it is pos-sible to design new products and services and offer them to customers.

“The aim is to use sauna to strengthen international ap-peal, our own particular draw. First we have to try out some very off-the-wall ideas,” Harju continues.

Sauna guides to assist touristsIn Harju’s view sauna has the potential to boost Central Finland’s earnings from tourism, which means an increase in the number of foreign visitors and hotel occupancy rates. In addition growth in international sauna tourism could give birth to a completely new professional group.

“Sauna tourist guides could introduce foreigners to the fundamentals of sauna culture. By that I mean what taking a sauna involves in practice, the dos and the don’ts and so on.”

The Sauna from Finland concept has already been pre-sented in different parts of Finland as well as international-ly at the Cannes Lions 2009 festival in the summer of 2009.

The photo and story competition arranged by Jykes and Keskisuomalainen, Central Finland’s leading newspaper, generated over 50 stories and approximately 150 pictures linked with the Finnish sauna. n

• For further information: www.saunafromfinland.fi

architect alvar aalto emphasised sauna as a cultural phenomenon par-

ticular to the Finns and expressed criticism of urban sauna culture. in

1924 he designed a culture sauna intended as a national monument

to be situated on Jyväskylä’s Harju ridge, but it was never built.

The Finnish sauna enjoys long traditions, but also incorporates

some of the very latest innovations. Taking a sauna is essentially

a question of personal preference: be it long and slow relaxation

at a summer cottage, or a quick blast of steam after an evening

run.


Well-planned Internet marketing, incorpor-ating techniques like search engine opti-

misation, banner advertising, social networks and search term advertis-ing, offers companies an effective way of getting their message across to the huge Russian markets,” says nataliya Kohvakko, Managing Director of Jy-väskylä-based Infokone Oy, which spe-cialises in Russian-language Internet marketing.

Originally from Ukraine, Nataliya Kohvakko established Infokone in ear-ly 2009. The company’s fresh business concept has attracted a lot of interest. Infokone is profiled as an international information service agency.

Kohvakko herself uses the term “In-ternet bridge” – a bridge which acts as the central marketing tool between two different cultures. The Internet makes it possible to build this bridge, provided that the contents of the mar-

Infokone helps companies do business in the

Russian marketThe Internet is a useful marketing tool for businesses looking to

enter the Russian market. This marketing is most effective when

it is done in Russian, provided that cultural differences are prop-

erly taken into account in the website design work.

WORDS By TIMo SIllanpää, PHOTOS By peTTerI KIvIMäKI

keting messages are made attractive for the target group. “It’s not enough just to have websites translated into Russian,” she explains.

Tourists search forinformation on the InternetNataliya Kohvakko says that she devel-oped the idea for her business over a number of years as she sought infor-mation about services available in the Jyväskylä Region. Once the company was established she built an Internet portal offering information in Rus-sian on tourist attractions in Central Finland. At the same time the portal provides tips on practical, everyday issues facing Russian speakers in Fin-land – starting with instructions for drivers on how to buy fuel at Finnish service stations. One of the company’s revenue streams comes from sell-ing marketing packages on the portal – www.keskisuomi.ru – to businesses in the tourism sector.

“

Nataliya Kohvakko (29) graduated from Kharkov Technical Uni-versity of Radioelectronics in 2000 and continued her studies on the EU funded Master’s Degree Programme at the University of Jyväskylä, focusing on mobile technologies. Having complet-ed her MSc degree, Kohvakko joined the doctoral programme and completed her PhD in 2006. Her dissertation concerned context modelling and utilisation in heterogeneous networks.

It was in Jyväskylä that Nataliya met her future husband, Dimitri Kohvakko, who traces his roots back to Finland. The

couple have two children, Ulrika who is five and Juliana, one. Between 2006 and 2009 Nataliya Kohvakko worked for Nokia in Jyväskylä as a software specialist.

“Nokia offered me positions that would have involved moving to Helsinki or Tampere with my family. But we had decided that we were going to stay in Jyväskylä. This was just the right situ-ation for me to try out my own business ideas.”

• For further information: www.keskisuomi.ru

“Ski resorts in Central Finland like Laajavuori and Himos fill up with Russian tourists, especially around New year. By boosting their market-ing they could get more tourists at other times of the season, because a lot of Russians search for holiday des-tinations direct from the Internet,” Kohvakko emphasized.

The secret of marketing is in the languageThere are around 160 million native speakers of Russian, and English is not particularly widely spoken in Rus-sian-speaking countries. The way to influence consumers’ purchasing deci-sions is therefore to do marketing in Russian.

Kohvakko also offers her expertise to companies outside the tourism sec-tor.

“Finnish companies lose a huge proportion of their potential custom-ers if they only do their marketing in Finnish or English. On top of that, websites in Finnish or English are less visible on Russian-language search engines than Russian sites. Therefore companies should register a .ru do-main and create a site that’s designed with the target market in mind,” Koh-vakko says. n

Protomo promotes the creation of new business

In the Jyväskylä Region the objec-tive is to turn new ideas as quickly

and as efficiently as possible into new business. Protomo constitutes a novel way of promoting the creation of such business.

“Protomo is an environment based on interaction between people in which highly educated and experi-enced specialists refine their expertise in a collaborative manner into new

business,” reveals Jyväskylä Innovation Ltd’s Kari Halttunen, who is respon-sible for the project.

Jyväskylä Innovation provides teams working on a business idea with the necessary facilities and data communi-cations connections.

“Protomo can be used by freelance professionals, young guns in the final stages of their studies or who have re-cently graduated, and enterprises. The

method of working also suits those who are unemployed, since at Proto-mo they are able to enhance their own employment prospects without receiv-ing any form of compensation.”

At the present time the ideas be-ing refined at Jyväskylä’s Protomo are connected, among other things, with mobile technologies, the internet, wellness, process industries, health-care and the forest industry. n

��


The objective is to offer young people a better preparation for the future and further lower the boundaries between upper secondary and vocational education, which have long been organised separately in Finland.

annukka lohtander is in her third and final year of a food service course at Jyväskylä College. At the same time she is taking upper secondary school courses to prepare for her matriculation exam.

“I wanted to get a vocational qualification while I was do-ing upper secondary courses,” she says.

She already has a clear objective: she intends to continue her studies in the hospitality and catering field at Jyväskylä University of Applied Sciences, while perhaps working as a waitress at the same time.

Annukka Lohtander provides a good example of the way upper secondary and vocational studies can be combined. The conventional split between upper secondary and vo-cational education is no longer appropriate – to meet the needs of working life and desires of the students them-selves, the boundaries between institutions have to be broken down. In Jyväskylä one response to this challenge is that from next August the city’s seven upper secondary schools will become part of Jyväskylä Educational Consor-tium, which is already responsible for organising vocational education in Jyväskylä region.

“Back in 2005 we calculated that in future we should make sure that we are in a position to offer education com-bining upper secondary and vocational courses to around one third of the annual intake. More and more students, particularly in vocational education, are taking advantage of

Upper secondary and vocational education

Working together to achieve moreJyväskylä has pioneered many aspects of edu-

cation and training in Finland – and still does.

now Jyväskylä has introduced a new approach

to increase collaboration between the two types

of organisation providing education for ��–��

year olds – upper secondary schools and voca-

tional colleges – and this is presently attracting

great interest throughout Finland.

WORDS By ISMo Myllylä, PHOTO By peTTerI KIvIMäKI

this opportunity but the practical implementation is certain to get easier when there is only one body responsible for organisation,” says Jari Kinnula, Principal of Voionmaa Upper Secondary School in Jyväskylä.

In the first half of the decade he studied the potential and need for collaboration in secondary education in the Jyväskylä Region.

The needs of the students are centralThe upper secondary schools and Jyväskylä College will continue to be separate units. However, Hannu Salminen, Director of Jyväskylä Educational Consortium, promises that collaboration will increase.

“The needs of the students are central. One advantage of the new arrangement is that students can follow their own personal study paths. Another benefit is that both vocation-al and upper secondary courses are further improved.”

laila landén, Director of Education and Culture for the City of Jyväskylä, points out that there is a regional dimension to the new approach. Jyväskylä Educational Consortium is in a better position than the city to develop secondary education on a regional basis.

“This is a practical implementation of the idea of a shared route for growth, with the city responsible for basic educa-tion and the educational consortium responsible for sec-ondary education, in such a way that the needs of the entire annual intake are catered for.” n

• For further information: www.jao.fi

Annukka Lohtander is training to be a waitress while preparing for her matriculation exam.

SECOnDARy EDUCATIOn In FInLAnD

• In Finland pupils completing comprehensive school transfer either to an upper secondary school or vocational college. For most students, upper secondary school paves the way for study at an institution of higher education. Those studying at vocational colleges learn vocational skills and then start work or, increasingly, continue their studies, perhaps at a university of applied sciences.• In the past upper secondary schools and vocational colleges have been separate, from the point of view of both their opera-tions and ownership. Upper secondary education is organ-ised by municipalities, while vocational training is generally organised by regional educational consortiums, which involve a number of municipalities.


The people who are most successful in science, the arts and business are those who test both their own limits and those of their commu-nity. They are creative and want to be the best at what they do.

Of those who test their limits, some are successful and some fail. Jorma ollila, Chairman of Nokia and Royal Dutch Shell, says that the climate of opinion in society must accept both outcomes.

Ollila, who is widely recognised as one of Finland’s most prominent business people, spoke about attitudes to and incentives for entrepreneurship in his Martti Ahtisaari lec-

Society must dare to reward successJorma Ollila, one of Finland’s most prominent

business leaders, says that successful people

have a strong personality and an ability to ‘think

outside the box’. They are never found among

the anonymous masses of society.

WordS By ToMMI Salo pHoToS By JyrKI KauKo

Jorma Ollila states that economic crises force people to think about things in a different way. One manifestation of this is that more than half of the world’s 500 biggest compa-nies were founded during a depression or equity market recession.

ture, which he gave in Jyväskylä in December 2009.“Society must reward bold risk-taking, but it must also

accept failure. This may sound paradoxical, but the market economy needs failed experiments just as much as it needs success stories.”

Ollila believes that society should reward those who achieve growth and success, and suggests that tax incentives could be one means of providing such rewards.

High quality is key to success for finlandThe only chance for a small nation to succeed is to have an effective research, education and innovation system.

Ollila emphasises that Finland must be in a position to secure growth in knowledge, skills and competence, for this is one of the basic pillars of the economy and society. This requires an open-minded approach in such areas as the fi-nancing of research.

“Financing should be targeted at those research groups and individuals who are in the best position to produce ideas and new breakthroughs in knowledge.”

He says that all research should aim to produce high quality. Attention must also be paid to ensure that educa-tion is of a high standard and educational capital is utilised effectively.

“The demand for quality is the only demand in the world markets that a country like Finland and Finnish businesses are best positioned to meet.”

For a small country it is also vitally important to have re-search and innovation activities that are international.

“At the very best we can only produce a fraction of the knowledge we need. The presence of foreign research-ers in Finland and the international movement of Finnish researchers are natural and essential channels for the trans-mission of global knowledge,” Ollila points out.

nurturing soft valuesDuring his time as head of Nokia, Ollila steered the mobile phone company to its position as world market leader. Now the former CEO turns the spotlight not only on high stan-dards of science and innovation, but also on softer values which play an essential part in shaping society.

Central values in Finnish society are community spirit and social cohesion. They are strengths of the Nordic wel-fare society, and Ollila believes that they should be nur-tured and reinforced.

“But alongside these values – as a counterweight – we have to increasingly think about the significance of indi-viduals, as well as the acceptance of differences and ways to encourage individuals to be different. We need equality but without restraining creativity.” n

MARTTI AHTISAARI LECTURE

• The 2009 Martti Ahtisaari lecture was the tenth of its kind. The lectures are organised by the Central Finland National Defence Association, City of Jyväskylä, University of Jyväskylä, and Keskisuomalainen newspaper. Over the years the lectures have brought many important international figures to Jyväskylä.

Speakers in the Martti Ahtisaari lecture series:• 2000 Max Jakobson, Honorary Minister • 2001 Harri Holkeri, Honorary Counsellor, Chairman of the UN Millennium Assembly • 2002 Göran Persson, Prime Minister of Sweden • 2003 Arnold Rüütel, President of Estonia • 2004 Matti Vanhanen, Prime Minister of Finland • 2005 Branko Crvenkovski, President of Macedonia • 2006 Tarja Halonen, President of Finland • 2007 Martti Ahtisaari, Former President of Finland • 2008 Abdullah Gül, President of Turkey • 2009 Jorma Ollila, Chairman of Nokia and Royal Dutch Shell

�0 Jy v ä s k y l ä • H u m a n T e c H n o l o g y c i T y ��

yväskylä-based designer Jonas

Hakaniemi be-lieves steadfastly that by taking ad-vantage of design-ers’ professional skills many busi-nesses could gain a significant amount of added value for their products and services.

“By employing design it’s possible to boost a company’s turn-over. People often think that design is only about making a prod-uct look better. It would be good for a designer to be involved from initial planning and material choices onwards,” Hakaniemi ventures.

Hakaniemi, who established his own design business in Jy-väskylä in the autumn of 2009, has already left his fingerprint on Finland and the world through his expertise. The Box Light lamp designed by Hakaniemi has stimulated interest at fairs in Milan and Stockholm. Sweden’s Design House Stockholm will start sell-ing the lamp in spring 2010.

In Hakaniemi’s view a designer’s key task is to help companies to look sufficiently far forward and uncover future trends.

“Especially during an economic recession businesses should be thinking about the future. When the upswing arrives it’s already far too late.”

One big challenge is getting small businesses in particular into contact with designers.

Services shaped to customers’ likingWhere making use of designers is concerned, service design has been trumpeted as offering significant potential.

Service design means the desire to provide customers with a service experience that is in line with the enterprise’s goal. The experience may be generated, for example, via the premises, ob-jects, marketing or people.

“Service design is service development using the methods of design. It is vital to understand the special characteristics of the service in a particular context – in its own branch. The idea of service design must extend from innovating and planning right through to marketing,” explains Carita Harju, Development Manager at Jyväskylä Regional Development Company Jykes Ltd.

Harju points out that services and products must always be designed from the user’s standpoint. Frequently these planning tools can be found in the possession of professionals specialised in service design.

“Nothing prevents a designer from considering the user even in industrial product development.” n

yväskylä designer Janne Tyynismaa (30) has set out with his colleagues to dis-cover new forms. The points of departure for design are

the Finnish countryside and nature plus a dash of playful-ness.

“Should we really be designing more fantastic lamps when the world is already full of them?” Tyynismaa asks.

Janne Tyynismaa, together with his wife Tuija (30), set up Design Of-fice Edvin Oy in summer 2008 on graduating with a BA in Design from Lahti University of Applied Sciences’

Fabulous formsThe form and colours of an object can arouse positive emotions in its user.

The Eelovi product family originating from Jyväskylä’s Design Office Edvin Oy

heralds a new era in the design of everyday items.

WordS By TIMo SIllanpää pHoToS By Janne nouSIaInen and edvIn

Institute of Design. The company’s first year was

spent putting the finishing touch-es to the Eelovi product family

prior to the market launch.“My designer colleagues

have been responsible for de-signing the items. I’ve been left

with finding subcontractors and all the arrangements to do with production.”

Small runs initiallyEdvin Oy cooperates with local en-trepreneurs in the wood products and metal branches. Since the aim is a high-quality range of products, the quality requirements for subcontrac-

tor businesses are tough.“The first products

have already gone out to retail-ers. Initially we’re looking to distrib-ute through small interior decoration stores.”

The dreams of the young designer are not restricted to small product runs, however. Plans are already afoot to take their design to other countries – the Japanese market in particular is of interest.

“In addition my wife and I have hit on the idea of extending the Eelovi brand to a café or lunch restaurant. The place would serve as an outlet for

Eelovi products, but on the other hand the surroundings would make it an easily ap-proachable design store for the ordi-nary passer-by,” Tyynismaa underlines.

The roots of the Eelovi brand lie deep in the Finnish countryside, which also sits wells with the basic ideology of design. Janne and Tuija Tyynismaa happened to hear about a farmer from Sodankylä, Lapland, whose first name was Eelovi. It im-mediately sounded like an appropriate name for the product family they were designing. n

• For further information: www.eelovi.fi

J

J

Jonas Hakaniemi

Designers predictand create trendsWORDS By ToMMI Salo PHOTO By Janne nouSIaInen

��


PV-Putkitus Oy, which is based in Äänekoski, has launched a bold project to upgrade the methods and technology it applies

to manufacture district heating prod-ucts. When the new product family is ready the company aims to establish itself with competitive products in the Russian, European and Asian markets.

It has already recruited employees with the right international back-grounds for the export markets.

“We are presently training Chinese engineers to handle our sales and mar-keting in Asia. At the same time we are also training Chinese and Russian production employees for the energy sector. In addition new employees from Africa will soon be joining us. In the future Africa will be an attractive market area for district cooling and electrical technology,” says Managing Director Tapani viik.

Last spring the company started manufacturing district heating prod-ucts at its Kinnula plant in the north-ern part of Central Finland – a plant which Viik describes as the most mod-ern in the world.

“We’re aiming to automate our manufacturing to such an extent that products leaving the line will not have been touched by hand at all.”

Automation will help to keep the prices of the products down, but au-tomation alone will not be sufficient. PV-Putkitus has planned an innovative

The world’s ‘most modern plant’for district heating products

With automated production, energy efficient products, innovative solutions

and cosmopolitan personnel, Pv-Putkitus – a company with a number of

interests in the energy sector – is aiming to establish itself on the interna-

tional market. WORDS By pIa TervoJa, PHOTOS By peTTerI KIvIMäKI

solution to cut its energy costs. “We are still using electricity to

heat our plastic production lines, but we’re building a biofuel powered hot oil boiler to produce the base heating for the line. Electricity will then only be needed for regulating the tempera-ture. The production lines are also being provided with heat recovery systems. These solutions will enable us to produce at lower cost than our competitors.”

Investment boom in russiaTapani Viik believes that within the next five years Russia and China will

both see the start of major investment booms to upgrade district heating net-works.

When the upgrade projects really get going in the Kola and Karelia re-gions of Russia, these areas will shift directly to modern energy technol-ogy.”

Energy saving is an important ob-jective in upgrade projects. New tech-nology is needed in building services, thermal insulation, and to improve the efficiency of heating plants.

Tapani Viik explains that a lot of energy is wasted in Russia, where the efficiency level typically only reaches 50% with the existing building stock and heating plants.

PV-Putkitus is planning a manu-facturing plant for new-generation 3–50 MW heating plants powered by biofuels, oil and gas. The company intends to market the plants out-side Finland and is currently look-ing for potential business partners. It is already working with Nord Kraft, an automation company based in the Russian city of St. Petersburg, on con-struction of biofuel heating plants.

One of the company’s visions is that in the future it could have its own pro-duction operations abroad rather than exporting products.

“We are presently in negotiations with a view to purchasing a factory in the Karelia region of Russia. There are also potential locations in Asia,” Viik states. n

PV-Putkitus is expecting that one of the products it has developed – an

energy-friendly district heating pipe with a smaller diameter than conven-tional pipes – will achieve a break-through within a couple of years.

“We are also going to launch a dis-trict cooling pipe which uses plastic rather than steel for the medium pipe. This reduces the cost to the consum-er,” Tapani Viik says.

The company has additionally de-veloped improved remote monitoring for the new smart pipes. A tape con-taining silicon chips is attached to the pipe, allowing the pipe to be moni-tored from the surface or via satellite. Remote monitoring facilitates the ex-pensive process of locating leaks and eliminates the costs associated with

PV-PUtKItUS

Smart pipe provides better energy efficiency

secondary surveys.The premises that will be complet-

ed next year will provide increased ca-pacity for production of semi-finished steel district heating and industrial pipes. The company will also take into use high-tech automated steel welding systems and bending machines.

“This new technology will enable us to produce steel piping without welded joints. That also means that some of the quality inspections will no longer be necessary.” n• For further information:www.pv-putkitus.fi

”The new technology will enable us to produce steel piping without welded joints. That also means that some of

the quality inspections will no longer be necessary.”

Pv-PUTKITUS Oy

• founded in 1986 in Äänekoski

• turnover EUR 8 million in 2009,

target EUR 100 million in 2014

• 40 employees

• specialises in district heating and

industrial piping, municipal pipeline

construction and qualification-tested

welding

• the Kinnula plant produces district

heating and cooling pipes and semi-

finished pipes with various insulation

thicknesses, industrial piping elements

and components, and municipal water

and sewer pipes

• planning a new unit to produce

biofuel, oil and gas powered heating

plants

Managing Director Tapani Viik.

Qingmina Yang from China is one of PV-Putkitus’ team of experts, which consists of several different nationalities.


In brief

ACCORDIng TO a recently conducted image survey unspoilt nature and first-class academic and research opportunities are regarded as Central Finland’s best char-acteristics. Those taking part internationally also associ-ated world-famous architect Alvar Aalto, the University of Jyväskylä’s centres of excellence in research and the Sauna from Finland concept with Central Finland. Finnish respondents held Neste Oil Rally Finland, staged annually in Central Finland, in particularly high regard.

According to the survey the Human Technology Region brand, the tool used to market Central Finland interna-tionally, has demonstrated itself to be effective and of interest. The theme is viewed positively and is a good il-lustration of the expectations of different interest groups towards Central Finland’s international marketing which combines top-flight expertise with the natural environ-ment. As a result of this brand building all groups of re-spondents placed the Jyväskylä Region first in an interna-tional comparison of cities.

“The term Human Technology points to people-centred technology, the aim of which is to harness leading-edge technology for the everyday use of ordinary people. The term is also a broader concept and suggests good life, in other words a safe living environment of appropriate size where good services, nature and advanced technology find combination,” explains Päivi Tervonen, Information and Communication Officer at Jyväskylä Regional Devel-opment Company Jykes Ltd. n By Timo Sillanpää • www.humantechnology.fi.

THE ��TH TCI Annual Global Conference of cluster ex-perts will be held this year in Dubai. Jyväskylä will co-operate with the conference organisers in producing the event, since Jyväskylä successfully hosted the 2009 world conference back in October.

The Competitiveness Institute (TCI) is a worldwide net-work of experts comprising 1700 members from almost 100 countries. The network studies, trains, provides consultancy and endeavours to spread good practices in order to boost regional competitiveness.

The theme of the TCI conference in Jyväskylä was to offer new perspectives on maintaining competitiveness amidst structural changes in business life. The event at-tracted 350 experts from 50 different countries. The of-ficial hosts of the conference were the Regional Council of Central Finland and the City of Jyväskylä. Responsibil-ity for the implementation of the event was carried by experts in EduCluster Finland, a development network for educational business. n By Pia Tervoja

central Finland known for its unspoilt nature and educational traditions

Jyväskylä’s successful learning event raises international interest

yväskylä-based Mobiletools International, providers of mobile tools for organisations’ change management, operates in both the Finnish and South African mar-ket. In recent months the company has conducted promising negotiations with officials in Singapore and

Malaysia with the support of EduCluster Finland.EduCluster Finland is a business network which promotes domestic and international business in the educational branch. For enterprises in the branch the network opens the door to negotiations with decision-makers of the high-est level in various countries.

“Our own area of expertise is narrow since we are fo-cused on mobile technology. Thanks to the EduCluster network we are able to offer our customers more extensive packages. In addition EduCluster Finland serves as a cred-ible door-opener: the name itself underlines that we are from a model country of education and expertise,” explains pekka pirttiaho, CEO of Mobiletools International Oy.

Mobiletools is building an export product package in co-

Turning educational exports into

REal bUSINESSFinnish educational expertise is currently re-

garded as the brightest prospect where exports

of intellectual capital are concerned. In Central

Finland the education branch has strong tra-

ditions and its relative size both in terms of

performance and employment are higher than

the national average.

WORDS By TIMo SIllanpää, PHOTO By Janne nouSIaInen

operation with other firms operating in the network, such as Humap Ltd, which provides coaching and consultation, and DialogueLife Ltd, which specializes in team inter-action.

“By combining the expertise found in companies and large educational organisations we can create packages for the international market for which demand exists through-out the world,” Pirttiaho continues.

“dynamic approach in asian countries” “We support public organisations and educational-branch companies in establishing business contacts. The aim is for expertise to produce real business which will benefit both the Central Finland region and the international custom-er. There is a highly promising market for Central Finnish educational expertise in the countries of Asia. Negotiations have been conducted with a number of countries,” reveals elise Tarvainen, Development Manager (Education) at the Regional Council of Central Finland.

According to Tarvainen customer orientation is a key point of departure when building educational business.

“What characterises the rapidly developing Asian coun-tries is their dynamic approach to development. On the other hand, the Asian market is extremely diverse: coun-tries have different requirements, which increases the need for customer-oriented products.”

finnish Institute in Japan as partnerEduCluster Finland is building Japanese cooperation in partnership with the Finnish Institute in Japan. Dr Heikki Mäkipää, Director, Finnish Institute in Japan, explains that Finland’s success in international comparisons has awoken the interest of the Japanese media.

“In particular the high standard of teacher training and teachers’ pedagogic skills set themselves apart as Finland’s strengths. In Japan the weakness of the school system is generally attributed to the relatively poor quality of the teaching personnel,” Mäkipää goes on.

In Japan the widespread use of information technology in teaching presents significant commercial potential. There is also demand for Finnish expertise in technology invest-ments related to development of the education and training sector and particularly in solutions for online learning.

“Finnish educational exports must have a clear focus. For educational exports to succeed we must have an adequate-ly considered overall concept to which the key players are prepared to give sufficiently strong commitment,” stresses Mäkipää. n

• For further information: www.educlusterfinland.com

“Thanks to the EduCluster network we can offer our international

customers more extensive training and consultancy packages,”

claim Business Arena Oy’s Managing Director Mikko Markkanen

(left), Olli-Pekka Juoperi, Managing Director of Humap Ltd, and

Pekka Pirttiaho, CEO of Mobiletools.

J

”The asian market is extremely diverse: countries have different

requirements, which increases the need for customer-oriented

products.”


In brief

Events 2010JyväSKyLä REgIOnAL Development Company Jykes Ltd’s office in Saint Petersburg will move to Finland House in the course of 2010. The representations of various cities and regions as well as other Finnish actors will soon be housed under the same roof, ensuring the cooperation conducted with them by Jykes gains a further boost.

“Jykes has had its own office in Saint Petersburg since 1993. The task of Jykes’ Saint Petersburg office is to foster good relations with the Russian business sphere and help businesses from Central Fin-land into the Saint Petersburg market,” says Minna Haapala, Man-ager, Russian Operations, at Jykes. n By Timo Sillanpää

JyväSKyLä EDUCATIOnAL COn-SORTIUM has received a quality cer-tificate overseen by CIMO, Finland’s Centre for International Mobility. Be-hind the award of the certificate lie the consortium’s active and dedicated ef-forts to develop mobility projects.

The certificate was awarded to a mobility project entitled “Promoting EUCINMOVE – from theory to praxis how to remove obstacles of interna-tional mobility”, which forms part of the European Commission’s Leonardo da Vinci cooperation programme.

“Mobility projects are aimed at the international exchange of both students and staff. A good example of this are the periods of on-the-job-learning students spend abroad. These are arranged chiefly in companies and organisations in different parts of Eur-

ope,” underlines Aino Malin, Manager of International Affairs at Jyväskylä Educational Consortium.

Jyväskylä Educational Consortium, owned jointly by municipalities in Cen-tral Finland, is one of the largest insti-tutions of vocational education in the country and actively engaged in devel-oping work-life practices. Students in vocational education are required to complete a period of on-the-job learn-ing as part of their studies; around 300 apply each year to spend this time in another country.

During this period of on-the-job learning students learn the rules by which work-life is conducted and ac-quire a deeper knowledge of their fu-ture profession. n By Timo Sillanpää

• www.jao.fi

THE OECD has launched an extensive feasibility study, the purpose of which is to establish whether the learning and academic performance of students in higher education can be measured in-ternationally. The aim is to develop an assessment method, known for short as AHELO (Assessment of Higher Education Learning Outcomes), which takes into ac-count the diversity of higher education systems with all their language and cul-tural differences.

In Finland national responsibility for coordination of the project is being car-ried by the Finnish Institute for Educa-tional Research, which forms part of the University of Jyväskylä.

“AHELO has a number of subdivisions, including business and economics, tech-nical sciences and generic skills on which

measured data is sought. Finland will work alongside Korea, Mexico and Nor-way on assessing generic skills. By meas-uring generic skills the aim is to establish how well institutions of higher educa-tion teach critical thinking, analytical reasoning, problem solving and written communication,” says Jan Ursin, Senior Researcher at the Finnish Institute for Educational Research.

For the purposes of the feasibility study, to be conducted in Finland in 2010–2011, a total of 1 000–2 000 stu-dents in the final stages of Bachelor’s de-gree studies at ten institutions of higher education will be selected.

In 2012 the OECD will take a deci-sion on launching the research project proper. nBy Timo Sillanpää

JyväSKyLä-bASED Mobiletools International Oy, in partnership with JAMK University of Applied Sciences, reached the final of the worldwide Adobe MAX awards 2009 competition in Los Angeles. The Jyväskylä pairing, the first representative from Finland, was compet-ing with its TeamTool application against three other finalists for vic-tory in the mobile category.

Using the application a team’s communications and shared work can be handled via a single, simple mobile tool. The application is the result of partnership between Mobiletools International and Flash guru Pasi Manninen. Manninen currently works as Senior Lecturer in Media Engineering at the School of Technology, JAMK University of Applied Sciences. He also does freelance work in Flash development in partnership with Mobiletools.

The Adobe Max Awards is a competition in which software devel-opers compete for the best implementation employing Adobe soft-ware in eight separate categories. nBy Timo Sillanpää

3.–5.2. Electrical Industry, Telecommunications, Light

and AV 2008

• Electricity, Telecommunications, Light and Audio Visual

International Exhibition

• www.jklpaviljonki.fi

25.–26.2. Current trends and future challenges in wildlife

biology, international workshop

• www.jyu.fi/winterschool

5.–7.3. Building Trade and Home Renovations 2010

Specialized Exhibition for Contructional Engineering and Repair

Building


27.–28.3. Jyväskylä Book Fair


27.–28.3. Free Time 2010, Fashion and Wellness 2010


18.4. Central Finland day at Jyväskylä Paviljonki with the

theme Multicultural Central Finland

• Multicultural programme, seminar.

6.–8.5. European Congress of Adapted Physical

Activity (EUCAPA)

• The aim of the European Congress of Adapted Physical Activity

(EUCAPA) is to disseminate reliable, latest knowledge in the field

of APA.

• www.eucapa2010.org, www.lts.fi

22.5. Yläkaupungin Yö

• All-night cultural happening

• www.ylakaupunginyo.fi

31.5.–1.6. 20th European-Japanese Conference on Information

Modelling and Knowledge Bases (EJC2010)

• http://ejc2010.jyu.fi

9.6.–12.6. International Conference in Childhood Studies

• The 3rd Finnish Childhood Studies Conference.

• www.jyu.fi/en/congress/childhood2010

14.–17.6. 13th World Sport for All Congress

• www.sportforall2010.org

16.–19.6. Sataman Yö – harbour night festival and market

• www.satamanyo.fi

Jyväskylä Educational Consortium among the first in Europeto receive internationalisation quality certificate

Jyväskylä tops image survey JyväSKyLä CAME first in an image survey of Finland’s municipalities in 2009. As in previous years Jyväskylä achieved the best score in business development and active municipal de-velopment. In 2008 Jyväskylä achieved third place in the equivalent survey.

The survey covered 19 municipalities with over 50 000 inhabitants. With its 130 000 inhabitants, Jyväskylä is Fin-land’s seventh biggest city.

The survey, which was conducted by Taloustutkimus Oy, a major Finnish market research organisation, studied the awareness and image of Finnish mu-nicipalities, as well as the strengths and weaknesses of the image. It was carried out in late 2009 and responses were provided by 850 Finnish decision- makers involved in public administra-tion, the media, the banking and insur-ance sectors, and voluntary organisa-tions. n By Tommi Salo

Learning outcomes of higher education students to be assessed

PHOTO: JUKKA SALMI

Jykes’ Saint Petersburg officemoves to Finland house

Jyväskylä expertise on show at finalof adobe MaX awards 2009

JyväSKyLä IS to stage the 2012 World Masters Athletics Indoor Championships. These will be the first world indoor athletics champi-onships ever to be arranged in Finland.

The WMA indoor championships in Jyväskylä will be organised from 3.–8.4.2012 in the Hippos Hall with the throwing events in the open-air Harju stadium. The half-marathon will be run on the beauti-ful pedestrian/cycle path that circles Lake Jyväsjärvi in the centre of the city. The WMA indoor championships are expected to attract 3 000 competitors from 60 countries. Practical arrangements for the championships will be the responsibility of the City of Jyväskylä and Jyväskylän Kenttäurheiljat in partnership with other athletics clubs in the region. n By Tommi Salo

Jyväskylä to host 2012 World Masters athletics Indoor championships

THE InTER-nATIOnALLy FAMOUS opera artist, tenor Seppo Ruohonen has joined the band of teachers at JAMK University of Ap-plied Sciences. Ruohonen’s charg-es include a dozen or so singers at an advanced level in their studies.

Ruohonen has been attached to the Finnish National Opera, the Frankfurt Opera and the Deutsche Oper Berlin among others. In addition his list of merits includes numerous international guest ap-pearances in various parts of the world. nBy Timo Sillanpää

• www.musiikkikampus.fi

Seppo Ruohonen to teachat JaMK Universityof applied Sciences

�� Jy v ä s k y l ä • H u m a n T e c H n o l o g y c i T y

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The Human Technology Region combines top-flight information technology with the human perspec-tive in a unique trailblazing manner. Pooling our strengths and knowhow makes for a varied, flexible and idea-rich platform generating new leading edge technologies and services for an ever more successful future!

The new Jyväskylä is a strong centre of educa-tion and technology• The new City of Jyväskylä started work at the beginning of 2009. The city is made up of the old City of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä Rural Municipality and the Municipality of Korpilahti.• New Jyväskylä has almost 130 000 inhabitants and ranks as Finland’s seventh largest city.• After the merger Jyväskylä is an even stronger centre of education, culture, urban design and new technology. Its position at the head of developing urban regions in Finland will enjoy extra emphasis.

Central Finland• Central Finland has a population of over 271 000. The region’s location in the very centre of Finland is a big advantage for visitors to con-gresses and fairs

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