Photo: On 1 May 2004 10 countries joined the European Union namely Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia. At the Enhancing Regional ICT Clusters for Regional Development (ERIC) seminar held in Jyväskylä in early 2004 project officer John Beale from the European Commission stated that the new EU member states must be speedily involved in activities in the ICT branch.
Jyväskylä Polytechnic is currently involved in developing project and business activity in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) branch in the newly-enlarged European Union.
Administered by the polytechnic, Enhancing Regional ICT Clusters for Regional Development (ERIC) is a co-operational project between members of the ICT clusters of eight regions in Europe. The purpose of the project is to create an international network between the ICT sectors of seven regions making it possible to launch joint projects and help companies' businesses in this context.
To expedite cooperation in early 2004 the ERIC project assembled head of section-level guests from the European Commission, Finnish ICT specialists and representatives of organisations in the branch from six EU member states in Jyväskylä for an ICT seminar. At the seminar views were exchanged about the future of the branch and an introduction given to business in Central Finland.
Since then a start has been made on firming up cooperation by means of extensive development projects for which funding has been sought in the course of the spring.
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In the global competition success is primarily enjoyed by the world's top specialists, products and technologies.
"The Jyväskylä Region offers all these, which is our strength, since the Invest in the Jyväskylä Region project encourages foreign companies to find their place here. We assist firms in getting established, becoming networked with potential partners and simultaneously in transforming our region into an even stronger centre of expertise", says Jyväskylä Science Park's Samuel Koivisto, who manages the project.
Jyväskylä is small in terms of market area, but an attractive city especially where technological expertise is concerned.
"We are fortunate to have some real global players. Jyväskylä's top branches are machine automation, IT, environmental-, energy-, wellness- and nanotechnology."
According to Koivisto Jyväskylä's appeal also stems in part from the entrepreneur-friendly spirit, safe environment and international atmosphere.
For further information please contact: Samuel Koivisto, Project Manager, samuel.koivisto@jsp.fi, tel. +35814 4451119.
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In the autumn of 2004 an international teacher education programme taught through English will begin at Jyväskylä Polytechnic for the eleventh time.
The programme provides an opportunity to develop teaching skills from an international perspective. For those who have moved to Finland from elsewhere the programme offers the pedagogic qualification necessary to teach in institutions of vocational education.
The multinational group of teacher trainees, including students from Europe, Asia, Africa and America, is one answer to the challenge of internationalizing education and working life in the Jyväskylä Region.
The international professional development of teacher educators is also supported via the Vocational Teacher Education College's projects conducted extensively in Europe, for instance, and also in Vietnam. Through these teachers can establish genuine, active contacts worldwide as well as gather up-to-the-minute information on international learning environments.
These cross-borders efforts are spurred by a desire to ensure that vocational teacher education in Jyväskylä is of the highest calibre.
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The 3rd Tourism and Industry Education (TIE) Symposium will bring together researchers from different fields of well-being and regional development, experts from the industry and students from all over the world to discuss the issues of well-being, social capital and risk management in tourism. The symposium will be held in Jyväskylä from May 19-21, 2005 at Jyväskylä Polytechnic.
The main theme for the 3rd TIE Symposium is Well-Being as a Contributor to Social Capital. The symposium will offer an opportunity for participants to gain new knowledge, to exchange experiences and information and to create new partnerships.
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Jyväskylä is well-known as an international city of fairs and congresses. On the basis of visitors and exhibition space sold Jyväskylä is Finland's second largest city of fairs and exhibitions immediately behind Helsinki. As a congress city Jyväskylä ranks fourth in Finland measured in terms of participants.
The Tekniikka 2004 exhibition to be held from October 6-8, 2004 is a good example of the international gatherings for professionals arranged by Jyväskylä Fair Ltd. The event is set to be the most important automation industry exhibition of this year, in which numerous international companies will participate, including Siemens.
Jyväskylä Fair Ltd is one of the largest organisers of fairs and exhibitions in the Nordic countries specializing in professional gatherings. In addition to Technology 2004 other large events for professionals include Electricity, Tele, Light & AV, Wood and Bioenergy as well as FinnGraf. Besides trade fairs a number of general fairs and exhibitions in different branches are also staged in Jyväskylä.
Jyväskylä Paviljonki offers excellent facilities for arranging fairs and exhibitions: an auditorium seating 1200 people, seven exhibition halls and restaurant services located in the city centre and right in the middle of Finland.
Arrangements for congresses in the city are handled by Jyväskylä Congresses, an organization that specializes in staging international and scientific congresses and conferences. In 2003 Jyväskylä Congresses was involved in the arrangements for 12 international congresses and major events. This year the number of events will be of similar magnitude.
The largest international events to be held in Jyväskylä in 2004 to date were the 10th International Behavioural Ecology Congress ISBE, which involved some 850 participants, and ECCOMAS 2004, the European Congress on Computational Methods in Applied Sciences and Engineering.
ECCOMAS 2004 brought together in Jyväskylä roughly a thousand leading researchers in information technology from a total of 60 countries. In addition about 100 representatives of technology companies in the branch attended the event.
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A master's programme in international development will be started at the University of Jyväskylä in autumn 2004.
The Master's Programme in Development and International Cooperation provides both the theoretical knowledge and practical skills required in the complex field of international development. A two-year degree programme offers students an opportunity to study international development from a multidisciplinary perspective emphasising the social, educational and environmental dimensions of expertise.
Conducted in the spring, the application process attracted 186 applicants from 42 countries. 32 students were eventually selected for the course, which begins in the autumn.
In addition to students from Europe, those accepted for the multidisciplinary programme include individuals from Columbia, Brazil, Ghana and Kenya. The foundation for the new master's programme is the University of Jyväskylä's internationalization strategy and the strategy for international development work complementing it - the first of its kind to be drawn up at a Finnish university.
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August
5.8.-8.8. RallyExpo 2004 Jyväskylä Paviljonki - International Congress and Trade Fair Centre. www.jklfairs.fi
6.8.-8.8. Neste Rally Finland. nrf.akk-motorsport.fi/en/
9.-27.8.2004 The 14th Summer School. University of Jyväskylä. www.jyu.fi/summerschool/
27.-28.8. 4th International Alvar Aalto Design Seminar. www.alvaraalto.fi
September
1.-2.9. Forest It Jyväskylä and Jämsänkoski www.forestit.net/
4.-5.9. Wellness Technology Event Jyväskylä, Hippos Hall, Agora Center, Multipurpose Hall and Viveca. www.onsport4you.com/hot
10.9.-14.11. LUMO 2004 -15 years of enhancement of photography. Jyväskylä Art Museum, Suoja, Holvi and Galleria Harmonia. www.jyvaskyla.fi/kulttuuri/taidemuseo/lumo/2004/
October
4.-6.10. Promoting Well-being and Sexual Health Jyväskylä Polytechnic. www.jypoly.fi/sote
6.-8.10. Tekniikka 2004: Automation, Motion, Drive. Jyväskylä Paviljonki - International Congress and Trade Fair Centre. www.jklfairs.fi 23.-24.10. Snow Mobile 2004: snowmobiles, off-road vehicles. Jyväskylä Paviljonki - International Congress and Trade Fair Centre. www.jklfairs.fi
November
11.-12.11. Women's Studies Conference University of Jyväskylä. www.jyu.fi/yhtfil/naistut
19.-20.11.2004 Autumn Seminar in Physical Education. The event is a part of the European Year of PEd 2004. University of Jyväskylä. Further information: Terhi Huovinen, terhi.huovinen@sport.jyu.fi
December
1.-2.12.2004 Vocational Education and Training and Polytechnic Education Research Seminar. Jyväskylä Polytechnic, IT-Dynamo. www.jyu.fi, www.jypoly.fi