TAMK’s learning environments draw interest in Colombia, cooperation with Uniminuto University starts in September
The President of Tampere University of Applied Sciences Tapio Kujala hosted a delegation of 12 Rectors from various campuses of Uniminuto University of Colombia. The delegation was accompanied by Ambassador (of Colombia to Finland) H.E. Ms Adriana del Rosario Mendoza Agudelo and Minister's Advisor Mr Mauricio Franco de Armas.
According to their wish, the visitors got an introduction to the entrepreneurial education models of TAMK. Both Proakatemia and HUBS interest the Uniminuto Rectors, and negotiations will continue about the possibilities of applying these educational concepts to Colombia.
Stéphanie Lavaux, Academic Vice President of Uniminuto, was really impressed after the visit to Proakatemia. “The campus for entrepreneurship was so different, it was just great. Your labs and learning environments at the main campus are also really great.”
“One of the main reasons for this visit was to discuss the possibilities of near-future collaboration between our institutions in academic learning and research. So, we thank you for having us and sharing your best practices and experiences of learning environments. It was also very interesting to hear the vision of students, the users.”
Lavaux described TAMK as being on the cutting edge of innovation. “We would also need that in Columbia, it’s a very traditional country in education.”
At TAMK’s main campus, the delegation paid a visit to modern learning facilities such as those used for environmental technology and industrial engineering education. Later in September, concrete actions will be taken in educational cooperation: TAMK starts training Uniminuto teachers both in academic English writing and speaking skills.
Ambassador Adriana Mendoza stated that Finland is well known in Colombia for its good education system. The two countries have a very good bilateral cooperation in many fields, and education is one of them.
“I have been in Finland since January and now in Tampere for the first time. I’m sure that the rectors will bring along a lot of good ideas and want to strengthen cooperation with TAMK to bring innovation to their programme platform.”
“We are interested in enhancing student mobility and capacity building for teachers.” The Ambassador encouraged TAMK’s students and staff to visit the Embassy in Helsinki in case they need any specific information about Colombia or its education system.
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Uniminuto (Corporación Universitaria Minuto de Dios) is a private and Catholic university in Colombia, with headquarters in Bogotá. They employ around 4,000 professors and staff and have nearly 100,000 students both in contact and distant learning programmes.
Photos: Virpi Heinonen, Saara Lehtonen
