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GLOBAL
NETWORKS
Strengthening collaboration between
Finnish Higher Education Institutions and partners
in Africa, China, India, and the United States of America.
What are the Global Networks?
The Global Networks are strategic partnerships of Finnish higher education institutions aiming to strengthen and advance cooperation with partners around the world. They act as a platform for Finnish academia to pursue strategic international engagement through coordination of international cooperation efforts.
The Global Networks are
platforms
for facilitating joint research, development, innovation, and education initiatives
entry points
for connecting with Finnish experts and institutions
aggregators
for disseminating opportunities and policy-relevant information
The Global Networks:
Promoting strategic internationalisation
The Ministry of Education and Culture of Finland is responsible for planning and implementing higher education and science policy and steering the activities of the higher education system, science agencies, and research institutes. Promoting the internationalisation of Finnish higher education and research is an important strategic goal, outlined in the internationalisation programme: Better Together for a Better World: Policies to Promote Internationalisation in Finnish Higher Education and Research 2017-2025.
During the 2021-2024 programme, eight global networks were established, coordinated by higher education institutions.
The Global Networks were established to support the implementation of this programme and to broadly support the internationalisation efforts of Finnish higher education institutions. The goal of the networks for 2021-2024 is to encourage new actions that will lead to better knowledge of Finnish higher education and research around the world and to strengthen Finland’s global expertise and competence. The networks aim to launch cooperation that will provide mutual benefits and foster partnerships.
A total of EUR 185 million has been agreed for the internationalisation programme for the years 2021-2024. The programme is divided into Global Networks and Talent Boost, the latter of which aims to support the internationalisation of Finland’s business community. Global networks of higher education institutions are funded by the Ministry of Education.
Regions
The Global Networks focus on cooperation with four regions/countries where exchange of expertise and knowledge is particularly meaningful.
Four of the Global Networks are working with Africa, with a focus on tertiary and higher education, innovation, sustainable development, and health and wellbeing. Operating in close collaboration, they are contributing to the implementation of Finland’s Africa Strategy and advancing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
The Global Networks working with Africa:
- Finland-Africa Innovation Platform, FAPI
- Finnish and Southern African Higher Education Institutions Network for Health and Wellbeing, SAFINET
- Global Innovation Network for Teaching and Learning, GINTL
- EDUCase
Three Global Networks are working with China, with a focus on food and health sciences and teaching, learning, global education, and applied higher education.
The Global Networks working with China:
- Finland-China Network in Food and Health Sciences, FCFH
- Global Innovation Network for Teaching and Learning, GINTL, for China
- China-Network of Finnish Universities of Applied Sciences
Three Global Networks focus on cooperation with India, emphasising cooperation in education development, innovation, sustainable development, 6G technology, Artificial Intelligence, and materials bioeconomy. The three Networks operate in close collaboration to engage with India.
The Global Networks working with India:
- Finnish Indian Consortia for Research and Education, FICORE
- Global Innovation Network for Teaching and Learning, GINTL, for India
- EDUCase India
One Global Network is responsible for cooperation with the U.S.A. The themes for collaboration include Artificial Intelligence, bioeconomy, 6G technology, and the Nordic Welfare State.
The Global Network for the U.S.A.:
- Finnish-American Research and Innovation Accelerator, FARIA
Global Networks
The following partnership projects and networks have been launched in the global part of the internationalisation program. More information can be found from the networks’ websites.
FAPI is a network composed of 26 Finnish higher education institutions, aiming to advance the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 9 in Africa by promoting innovations together with African partners. For FAPI, an innovation can be any novel way to achieve goals better while advancing sustainable development and responsibility. It can be a product, service, mode of organization or even a new area for modified activities.
The network aims at creating new competencies, high quality joint research, teaching, innovations, and new cooperation models through mutual, responsible and sustainable partnerships. In concrete terms, FAPI offers a platform for: innovative, joint research projects; innovative education cooperation; and co-creative social innovation projects.
The Finland-China Network in Food and Health is a multidisciplinary network based on the research and educational co-operation of Finnish and Chinese institutions. The network connects 21 Finnish universities and universities of applied sciences and supports higher education-business co-operation. This creates basis for both new innovations and R&D.
Partners in China will include higher education and research institutions of high quality which best fit the goals of the network. The fields and topics of the network aim to answer global challenges related to food: food safety, sustainability related to food, and environment and sustainable food chains. Food and health-related research topics could be linked e.g. to metabolic diseases and food behaviour. The educational co-operation will support the research co-operation on these questions and ensure a pool of experts and talents for research and businesses in the future.
FARIA serves as a strategic network and funding mechanism, which enables concerted andjoint action of higher education institutions and other relevant stakeholders in Finland and the U.S. The network focuses on research areas where Finnish academics are amongst the leading researchers in the world. The main goal of FARIA is to initiate joint RDI projects aimed at cutting-edge research and innovation together with American partners.
Finnish and Southern African Higher Education Institutions Network for Health and Wellbeing, SAFINET
SAFINET is a network that joins the forces of 24 Finnish higher education institutions operating in the field of health and well-being to conduct high-impact and goal-oriented collaboration with Southern African higher education institutions, research institutions and other stakeholders.
FICORE is a network of higher education institutions from Finland and India collaborating in diverse fields of science and technology.
The vision of FICORE is to provide a foundation for stakeholders in higher education, industries, research, and policy from Finland and India to engage in meaningful and impactful joint initiatives that benefit society at large.
GINTL is a network in which Finnish higher education institutions, together with partners from India, China and Africa, co-create research-based solutions to global educational challenges and collaborate in research and education. GINTL offers a gateway to research-based education cooperation with partners in the Global South and entails a variety of activities with different implementation modalities, including projects and activities of more limited scope and duration.
The China-Network of Finnish Universities of Applied Sciences (UAS) is a national- level and non-profit educational cooperation platform comprising 20 Finnish Universities of Applied Sciences (UAS). The China-Network aims to help Finnish UAS to connect and cooperate with Chinese higher education institutions especially in the area of applied higher education.
We emphasize the development of career-oriented teaching methods, develops discipline construction according to the labour market and industry needs, and train applied talents. Finnish UAS has more than 30 years of experience in UAS´ management and we wish to help the transformation of higher vocational institutions after China’s vocational education reform through this project using our experience and competence.
EDUCase Platform is a network of 11 universities and 15 universities of applied sciences, facilitating joint learning activities and aiming to scale up collaboration with partner countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.
The network promotes practical case collaborations for education, research, innovation, and entrepreneurship skills development between Finnish and partner country HEIs. Case studies offer a tangible modality of cooperation to address intersecting sustainable development challenges, with stakeholders representing various cultures, institutions, and areas of expertise.
Partner With Us!
The Global Networks offer you concrete tools for exploring cooperation with Finnish institutions.
- Access to Finnish experts undertaking excellent research.
- Connections to Finnish institutions with cutting-edge research infrastructures.
- Frameworks for undertaking responsible research, development, and innovation, and engaging in equitable partnerships.
- Opportunities and tools for developing joint actions.
Contact the Networks!
Finland-Africa Platform for Innovation, FAPI
fapi.utu.fi/contact/
Finland-China Network in Food and Health Sciences, FCFH
fcfh.utu.fi/contact/
Finnish-American Research and Innovation Accelerator, FARIA
www.faria.network/get-in-touch
Finnish Indian Consortia for Research and Education, FICORE
ficore.aalto.fi/ficore/contact
Global Innovation Network for Teaching and Learning, GINTL
gintl.org/contact-us/
China-Network of Finnish Universities of Applied Sciences
www.china-network-of-finnish-uas.com/contact
EDUCase Platform
educase.aalto.fi/educase-platform/contact