news | 08.12.2023 14:30
Ten years of international student exchange
Internationality is an important part of the basic activities of the units at the University Consortium of Pori. UCPori students have the opportunity to go on exchange or to act as an international tutor for a foreign student staying in Pori. The UCPori exchange programme has been running for ten years.
The Director of UCPori Katariina Yrjönkoski (left), Professor Tarmo Lipping and Project Manager for International Affairs Kimmo Ahonen are pleased with the long-term development and good results of the exchange programme.
The first students of UCPori's international exchange programme arrived in Pori in autumn 2013. Over the years, the exchange programme, run jointly by the University of Tampere and the University of Turku, has brought nearly 400 exchange students to Pori.
The 10-year anniversary of the exchange programme was celebrated with a seminar and coffee on 5 December 2023. The seminar started with a presentation by Kimmo Ahonen and Tarmo Lipping, who both have a long experience working with the programme.
– Long-term work with both the host universities at UCPori and international partners and collaborators has made the success of the exchange programme possible, Ahonen summed up.
– The best part of internationalisation is gaining life skills and understanding people. Act locally, think globally, Lipping reminded.
Over the years, the exchange programme has made a significant contribution to the internationalisation at UCPori. The exchange tutors have done important work in familiarising the exchange students with Finnish culture, while gaining valuable international experience themselves. During the seminar, the participants were able to hear about their memorable experiences and see pictures of excursions and parties that the students have enjoyed together.
The seminar was concluded with a greeting from Susan Loubet from the French ESIEA University in Paris, a partner in the UCPori exchange programme. Ms Loubet praised the importance of cooperation and the good experiences of the student groups that ESIEA has been making with UCPori for many years.
Photos of the event (click on the pictures to see them in full size):
Text and photos: Hanna Rissanen