23.10.2016 Conference Registration & Welcome Banquette

Highly distuinguished educators from China and Finland were gathered to the warmth of the beautiful Beijing Normal University campus in Zhuhai (珠海) for a joint Forum on Learning and Mind, from October 23^rd to October 25^th.

The hardworking staff members getting ready to receive the participants

The main registration day of the forum was crowned with a Welcome Banquette at the magnificent Chinese restaurant in the hotel of the venue.

Welcome to the banquette.

Ginger Mountain (姜山)

The guests got a chance to enjoy the pleasent dinner and even more pleasent company of old and new acquaintances. Warm conversation filled the air and glasses were raised for the prosperity of the collaboration and the event at hand. The fatigue of the guests from the long journey to Southern China was replaced by the cheerful atmosphere.

Professors Hannele Niemi, Zhou Zuoyu (周作宇) & Liu Jia (刘嘉)

Professors Tu Qingyun (涂清云), Zhou Zuoyu (周作宇) & Liu Jia (刘嘉)

The registration day of the forum had also some unfortunate and unexpected surprises when the airplane carrying a large part of the Finnish representatives was delayed because of a technical malfunction. Fortunately the organizers arranged the tired guests, arriving near to midnight, an abundant dinner in the downstairs restaurant to gather their strength before the next day opening ceremonies.

24.10.2016 Opening Ceremony & Forum on Learning and Mind

The opening ceremony of the forum was filled with inspiring speeches, one after another, with a translation either to English or Chinese from a booth that had been custom-made in to the international conference hall just for this event.

Professor Liu Jia (刘嘉)
The Host of The Event and Dean of The Sino-Finnish Joint Learning Innovation Institute, Beijing Normal University

PhD Mika Tirronen
Counsellor of Education and Science
Embassy of Finland, Beijing

PhD Risto Vilkko
Programme Manager in the Academy of Finland

Professor Tu Qingyun (涂清云)
President of The Beijing Normal University in Zhuhai

Professor Zhou Zuoyu (周作宇)
Vice President of the Beijing Normal University

The climax of the opening ceremony was the unveiling ceremony of the Sino – Finnish Joint Learning Innovation Institute, Zhuhai – emblem.

Professor Zhou Zuoyu & Professor Anna Mauranen (Vice Rector of the University of Helsinki) unveiling the Sino Finnish Joint Learning Innovation Institute, Zhuhai – emblem.

The unveiling ceremony was followed by the keynote speeches that deepened the positive expectations for the event by underlining the possibilities in joining the two countries forces to create something meaningful in the field of education. These speeches also opened up the understanding of learning and education systems both in China and Finland.

Professor Anna Mauranen
Vice-Rector of the University of Helsinki

Professor Ren Youqun (任友群)
Vice President of The East China Normal University

Dr. Pilvi Torsti
Former Secretary at the Finnish Ministry of Education

Professor Liu Baocun (刘宝存)
Dean of Institute of International and Comparative Education, Faculty of Education, Beijing Normal University

After the keynote speeches there was some time to have a breath of the fresh Zhuhai air in the patio of the venue and mingle a bit while enjoying some tea or coffee and small snacks. The participants were enjoying the warm and clear weather so much that the grasp of time was lost and the staff members had to remind the guests about the enterprises reports that were about to start. The presence of the representatives from different enterprises was a clear sign of an interest towards the strengthtening cooperation in the field of education. The audience had a chance to hear how the corporate world may contribute and collaborate with the educational systems.

The afternoon session of the forum after the lunch was divided to four different sections according to the participants research interests:

Forum I : Future Education in the Internet Era

Forum II : Children and Adolescents’ Wellbeing and Fun Learning

Forum III : Quality Assurance in Sino – Finnish Education Cooperation

Forum IV : Future Learning and Future Teacher

The forums had various interesting presentations and the expectations for further dialogue were palpable.

25.10.2016 Keynote Speeches, Closing Ceremony & Committee Meeting

The second day of the forum inheld magnificent keynote speeches from the highly distinguished educators from China and Finland. The speeches described the nature and challenges of the educational environments in both countries.

Professor Hannele Niemi
Chair of the Sino – Finnish Joint Learning Innovation Institute, University of Helsinki

Professor Zhao Yufang (赵玉芳)
Deputy Director in Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University

Professor Jari Lavonen
Dean of Teacher Education, University of Helsinki

Professor Wang Zhenhong (王振宏)
Dean of Psychology, Shanxi Normal University

The constructive conversation that took place in the afternoon committee meeting of the Sino – Finnish Joint Learning Innovation Institute had a promise for further deepening of the bilateral co-operation. It was agreed upon in the meeting that the educators of China and Finland should get together biannually, if possible. The representatives of both countries also shared the sentiment that the institute should be developed further to facilitate the collaboration more effectively.

Sino – Finnish Joint Learning Innovation Institute Committee Meeting

After the closing ceremony and lunch there was some time for the Finnish participants to take a tour in the beautiful Beijing Normal University Zhuhai campus.

Thank you for all the hosts and organizers, also thank you for the hardworking staff members and all of the participants for the succesful and inspiring event.

The Memorandum of Understanding Concerning the Sino-Finnish Joint Learning Innovation Institute was implemented with the two days opening ceremonies of the institute, hosted by the University of Helsinki. The event was organized by Rector Jukka Kola, Vice-Rector Anna Mauranen, Dean Patrik Scheinin from the Faculty of Behavioral Sciences and Professor, Dr. Hannele Niemi from the Faculty of Behavioral Sciences. The ceremonies gathered a highly distinguished group of guests from Beijing Normal University and other Chinese universities from the field of education. Also the Institutes Finnish board of directors, representatives of the Ministry of Education and Culture and other distinguished actors from the field of education were present.

Sun was shining on the participants of the opening event at the steps leading to the main building of University of Helsinki

Before the opening ceremonies there was some time to get to know each other at a casual get together for a morning coffee and tea hosted by Vice Rector Anna Mauranen. The get together was held at the main building of University of Helsinki in Lehtisali that holds portraits of important figures for Finnish education and culture on its walls as Dean, Professor Patrik Scheinin pointed out in his speech.

From left to right:
Associate Professor Wang Jun (王君), Deputy Director of Office of International Exchange and Cooperation, Beijing Normal University
Professor Fan Lishuang (范立双), Director of Office of Humanities & Social Sciences, Beijing Normal University;
Professor Hannele Niemi, Behavioural Sciences, University of Helsinki;
Vice President, Professor Zhou Zuoyu (周作宇), Beijing Normal University;
Permanent Secretary Anita Lehikoinen, Ministry of Education and Culture;
Vice Rector, Professor Anna Mauranen, University of Helsinki;
Dean, Professor Patrik Scheinin, University of Helsinki, Behavioural Sciences;
Counselor in Science and Education Mika Tirronen, Embassy of Finland in Beijing

Vice Rector Anna Mauranen welcoming the guests to the opening event.

Dean, Professor Patrik Scheinin introduced the portraits of Finnish cultural icons in his welcoming speech.

The official opening ceremonies constituted of inspiring speeches about what has been done for the Sino-Finnish collaboration in education already and the positive expectations for the future collaboration.

Rector Jukka Kola from University of Helsinki giving his warm welcomes and opening the ceremonies.

Vice Presidet Zhou Zuoyu (周作宇) from Beijing Normal University giving an inspirational speech on the Sino-Finnish collaboration in education

Permanent Secretary Anita Lehikoinen representing the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture with a speech that promised support for the collaboration

Counselor in Science and Education Mika Tirronen from the Embassy of Finland in Beijing did not need the powerpoint to give a vivid presentation on the Sino-Finnish Learning Garden and cooperation in education

On the afternoon sessions of the events first day the participants had a pleasure to enjoy the hospitality of the Ministry of Education and Culture when the dialogue on the five centers of the Sino-Finnish Joint Innovation Institute was opened. This productive dialogue also continued on the second day of the event in the building of Behavioral Sciences at Siltavuorenpenger with a slightly smaller group of people.

Professor Hannele Niemi, Chair of the Finnish board of directors of the Sino-Finnish Joint Learning Institute welcoming the guests to the afternoon session and opening the conversation on the Institutes five centers

Vice President, Professor Zhou Zuoyu (周作宇) finishing the presentation of the Chinese perspective on the Sino-Finnish Joint Learning Innovation Institute

After the two days opening event there was some time for the Chinese delegation also to make field trips to the LUMA- center and the Viikki Teacher Training School affiliated to the University of Helsinki.

Visit to the LUMA- center of natural sciences and math. Research Director, Professor Maija Aksela gave an introduction to the Finnish LUMA- concept

Visit to the Viikki Teacher Training School. Rector of Primary Education, Kimmo Koskinen introducing the teacher training school

A big thank you for all the participants, speakers, hosts and everyone involved to the arrangements on this productive event.

Opening remarks; Vice Rector, Professor Anna Mauranen, University of Helsinki

The Finnish education professionals from different universities gathered in the University of Helsinki on Monday (21.12.2015), before the Christmas holiday, to converse on the establishing of the national “Sino – Finnish Joint Learning Innovation Institute”. The Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture, the Embassy of Finland in Beijing and the Academy of Finland were also represented in the meeting.

The gathering was a part of the collaborative efforts between the Chinese and Finnish universities on the field of education. The main theme was related to the agreement signed in Beijing last month (16.11.2015) between the Beijing Normal University and the University of Helsinki about establishing a platform for the national level coordination of the collaboration; the Sino – Finnish Joint Learning Innovation Institute.

The dialogue between different universities was very productive and all of the participants agreed on the importance of the national level cooperation. Many of the Finnish universities have an ongoing collaboration with the Chinese universities and this was seen as an important resource for the future cooperation. The establishing of the Sino – Finnish Joint Learning Innovation Institute will be conversed more in the coming months after the holidays to outline the platform before March 2016.

Thank you for the productive meeting for all the participants (remote and present), for the IT- support on the remote connections and everyone involved in the arrangements!

Merry Christmas!

Last November Digital Storytelling traveled in Beijing where Veera Kallunki and Marianna Vivitsou discussed previous research experience and findings with Primary School Teachers, Principals, Professors and Post-graduate students at the Department of Educational Technology, Peking University.

See the whole post from Finnable 2020 blog- site:

Digital Storytelling Goes Beijing

Related Chinese news on the visit to Jiaotong School in Beijing:

国际视野下的中芬教育合作

Finnish delegation witnessed the signing of two agreements by Beijing Normal University (北京师范大学) and the University of Helsinki on strengthening the Sino-Finnish collaboration in education.

The aim for the first agreement is to enhance collaboration on several different aspects of education between the University of Helsinki and the Beijing Normal University; teacher education, research cooperation and to establish joint master’s program.

The second agreement considers a broader view of the Sino – Finnish collaboration on the national level. This agreement concerns the Sino-Finnish Joint Learning Innovation Institute which is a platform for enhancing the collaboration between Chinese and Finnish Universities. Beijing Normal University and University of Helsinki being the national coordinating universities for the cooperation.

These agreements are an important concrete step, not only for the fruitful collaboration in the field of education, but also for enhancing the mutual cultural exchange and understanding.

News on the subject from the Finnish embassy in China:

China’s leading teacher education university to cooperate with Finnish universities

News on the University of Helsinki websites:

Opettajien koulutuksessa aloitetaan yhteistyö Pekingin kanssa

The ongoing Sino – Finnish collaboration continued with yet another successful event when the University of Helsinki had a great honour to host a visit from a Chinese delegation from the Peking University last week. The main conference for the visit was set for the 21st and 22nd of October under the title of ”Roundtable Meetings”. The event gathered over thirty Chinese and Finnish  researchers from Professors to Master students under the same roof for a productive dialogue on collaboration.

Roundtable Meetings Participants

Welcome addresses and greetings were exchanged:

Dean, Professor Patrik Scheinin & Vice Dean, Professor Shang Junjie (尚俊杰)

Professor Hannele Niemi & Vice Dean, Professor Shang Junjie (尚俊杰)

The aim for the conference was twofold:

First object was to concentrate on the future joint publication on digitalization in teaching, learning and learning environments by exploring the latest research for the articles to come. The object was met with a vast amount of excellent presentations by the experts of various different fields of education; Game Based Learning, Massive Online Open Courses, Teacher Training, Mobile- based Education, Special Education, Science Education etc.

The high standard presentations were a great introduction for the second object of the conference which was: To explore the possibilities for the future collaboration and creating concrete plans for the co-operation between the researchers. To meet these objects the researchers were divided in to smaller groups for a session of a more detailed conversation, according to the fields of interest.

Brainstorming in groups:

On the left Professor Pirjo Aunio and Professor Jia Jiyou (贾积有)

The conference laid a solid ground for the future collaboration and concrete plans are already in motion for the joint research and courses. It can certainly be said that we are finding ”new ways to teach and learn in China and Finland by crossing the boundaries with technology”.

Relaxing under the tree of playful learning after the fruitful, two day conference

Sincere thank you for the productive event to all of the highly distinguished participants, the hosts and everyone involved in the arrangements.

See the detailed program, participant biographies and presentation abstracts for the Roundtable Meetings:

Sino – Finnish Collaboration Roundtable Meetings (Oct. 21-22)

A link to the Peking University news on the visit:

http://pkunews.pku.edu.cn/xwzh/2015-10/30/content_291162.htm

The University of Helsinki had a great pleasure to arrange a seminar for the highly distuinguished representatives of the Beijing Normal University. The visit of the BNU- delegation was a one step further in the ongoing, bilateral collaboration between China and Finland. The University of Helsinki was responsible on the schedule of Monday the 21st of September. Despite the tight schedule and some last minute changes the day was a successful contribution to the Sino – Finnish collaboration in many levels.

The seminar at the faculty of Behavioral Sciences gathered a diversed group of experts in the same room for a dialogue on the future collaboration on various fields of science (e.g. education, neuroscience, law, medicine, air quality etc.). In addition to the University of Helsinki the Universities of Turku, Tampere, Oulu and Eastern Finland were represented.

See the complete program for the seminar here:

PROGRAM 21.9.2015 UH – BNU

Participant resumees:

Finnish:

The Finnish Representatives

Chinese:

BNU Delegation Resume

Welcome Adresses, Dean, Professor Patrik Scheinin

Welcome Adresses from Professor Hannele Niemi, Committee Member for Cooperation with China and University of Helsinki

Beijing Normal University Representatives

Presentation from Beijing Normal University President, Dr Dong Qi

The dialogue continued at the lunch, hosted by the Director General Tapio Kosunen from the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture. During the lunch some presents were exchanged and common grounds were established.

A Gift for the President Dong Qi

A Gift for the Director General Tapio Kosunen

Establishing the Common Grounds

Sanna Lukander (Rovio) & President Dong Qi signing a contract on collaboration

After the lunch the BNU- delegation had a chance to visit one of the Teacher Training Schools of the University of Helsinki in Viikki. The Principal Marja K. Martikainen gave also a great presentation on the education at the Viikki Teacher Training School.

Principal Marja K. Martikainen introducing the Auditorium of Viikki Teacher Training School

The Center for Playful Learning was also introduced by Professor Kristiina Kumpulainen.

Introducing the new ways of sitting

A visit to the LUMA centre for the natural sciences and math was also fitted to the tight schedule.

In the evening it was time to relax after the busy day and enjoy a great dinner in the restaurant Bronda hosted by the Vice Rector of the University of Helsinki, Professor Anna Mauranen.

A toast for the collaboration.

Exchanging gifts:

Special thank you for all the participants, hosts and guests for the highly successful milestone on the way for the Sino – Finnish Collaboration!

For a while now, there has been inquiries about a collaboration in the field of education between the University of Helsinki and two highly distinguished universities in Beijing, Peking University (PKU) and Beijing Normal University (BNU). After a dialogue that was mainly held through e-mail conversations, a Sino-Finnish symposium was finally agreed upon. The main organizer for this event was the Peking University and the symposium was to take a place in the PKU on the 22^nd and the 23^rd of May.

The Finnish delegation consisted of the highly distinguished researchers and actors from various different fields of education and in the last meeting before the journey to Beijing the excitement for the future collaboration was palpable. The final arrangements were made in the few weeks before the symposium and everything was set up for the trip.

The schedule in Beijing was going to be tight as the symposium would begin at the morning of the Finnish delegation’s arrival. And so it was straight to the symposium from the airport but fortunately the hospitable Chinese hosts greeted the delegation with some tea, coffee, snacks and fruits to freshen up after the long flight.

The two day symposium was very productive with a relaxed atmosphere and the high standard presentations. To see the detailed schedule and the abstracts:

Schedule And Abstracts PKU

Schedule in Chinese:

中芬“教育与技术”双边研讨会

On Sunday (24.5) the delegation had an arranged trip to ZhongGuanCun, the Chinese “Silicon Valley” and also some leisure time in the city。

ZhongGuanCun (中关村)

The Old Summer Palace

On Monday (25.5) it was off to the Beijing Normal University and the theme for the day was Fun Learning.

The BNU conference also turned out to be very productive and a common ground for future collaboration was established.

Many thanks for the great hosts, for the participants, and everyone involved to the productive symposium. The Finnish delegation is looking forward for the future collaboration.