Minna Harju, project coordinator at Raisio Regional Education and Training Consortium (RASEKO). Minna specializes in RASEKO’s sustainable development projects.
What motivated you to get involved in the SEED project?
As providers of vocational education, our task is to respond to the needs of working life and to be involved in ensuring that after graduation our students have the needed skills to work for the energy transition. Closer cooperation with the regions higher education institute and companies strengthens the continuity of our students’ learning and working life cooperation, which is the cornerstone of our school’s operations. Internationally, learning from other regions gives us the opportunity to develop and share knowledge, which is also valuable.
How do you think the project can contribute to developing the regional CoVE?
The project SEED is a good start for developing the regional CoVE because it involves schools and companies with a common goal. During the project we build a stronger community where vocational education, higher education and companies work together. The community looks for new ways of working that utilize and engage everyone involved. The purpose of this is to find what kind of joint future we will create in response to the energy transition and how to make the operation continuous even after the end of the project.
In what ways do you think the SEED project can help to promote cultural understanding?
The project’s transnational meetings give the participants the opportunity to introduce our own cultures and get to know the cultures of other project partners. The meetings are usually organized in local vocational schools or higher education schools, where we get a better understanding of the different educational systems. The cultural exchange, such as sharing stories and traditions, that takes place both alongside work and after the meeting days, deepens our understanding of cultural similarities and differences. We get to connect, build relationships, and share for example tongue twisters in our native language!
How will the project ensure the transfer of knowledge and best practices?
CoVE SEED website is actively updated with relevant and recent activities that the project partners are organizing jointly or in their own region. We share the best practices on teaching and learning, partnership with industry and educational governance that we have selected and implemented in the project. We are creating guides that are easily shared within the partners but also to outside stakeholders. We have a big conference coming up, where outside researchers, academics and practitioners are organizing workshops on sustainable energy education. By attending the conference is a great way to get to know the SEED project and people and ideas behind it.