EC2U Forum 19-21 May 2021

The 2nd Forum organised by the EC2U Alliance will take place virtually on 19–21 May. It will be hosted by the University of Turku, and will focus on topics including social sustainability, collaboration between universities and cities, and micro-credentials/recognition of students engagement.

Every six months, the Alliance organises the EC2U Forum to gather students, staff, citizens, local and regional authorities to foster open dialogue on pressing issues in society and to share good practices. The Forum in Turku will be free of charge, open to all, and will be organised virtually due to the COVID-19 situation.

Register here

Programme :

Wednesday 19th May

10.00–10.45 CET Opening of the Forum	Host : Vice-Rector of the University of Turku Professor Piia Björn Minister Annika Saarikko, Minister of Science and Culture in Finland Professor Jukka Kola, Rector of University of Turku Manager of International Affairs Mika Akkanen, City of Turku Professor Ludovic Thilly, Coordinator of the EC2U Alliance Chair of the Student Union Executive Board Aliisa Wahlsten, The Student Union of the University of Turku
11.00–13.00 CET First webinar and Panel discussion on Social Sustainability	Host: Tiia Enges, Head of Unit, Student Support Services, University of Turku Keynote speakers Professor Karina Weichold Institute of Psychology, Department of Youth Research The Friedrich Schiller University Jena “BENESSERE: Third Mission and Public Engagement as conceptualized by the University of Pavia” Professor Gabriella Bottini University of Pavia Students’ peer-to-peer psychological support in times of health crisis Associate Professor Daniela Muntele Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi, Panel: Prof. Dr. Karina Weichold, The Friedrich Schiller University Jena Professor Gabriella Bottini, University of Pavia Associate Professor Daniela Muntele, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iaşi TBC, On my Mind Project, University of Turku Chat moderator Lassi Yli-Muilu, International Officer, University of Turku
13.00–14.00 CET Thematic Discussions with Coffee	You may choose one coffee room or pop in pop out in different rooms. There will be 50 seats in every room, so if the coffee room you try to attend is full, plese choose another one. Social Sustainability – Let’s continue discussion about Social Sustainability, host Tiia Enges, Head of Department, Student Support Services, University of Turku Peer support for mental health – Peer support model for mental health, presenting On my mind -Project of the University of Turku/Student Union, host TBC New learning environments – New learning environments, discussion and short presentation of one of these spaces, host Petteri Mikkonen, Jani Pöyhönen, Satu Hakanurmi, Jari Sjölund from Educational Support Services. EC2U in media – EC2U in traditional and social media – winners of Europe Day social media competition, host Lucile Birot EC2U Communication Coordinator Support for exchange student – Presenting the Starting Package for Exchange Students, host TBC My Mobile Tutor – Get familiar with My Mobile Tutor Application, host Susanna Lahtinen CEO of Choose Your Future (CYF) Digital Service and Soile Puranen, Technology and Project Manager, CYF Science Battle – Let’s compete! Science Battle of EC2U in September, come and find out what it is about. Host Erja Hyytiäinen, Communications Officer, University of Turku Meet Student Ambassadors – Meet our Student Ambassadors, host Olha Nikolaienko and Rasha ElMansuri Traditional coffee room – Traditional coffee room with free discussion, host Lassi Yli-Muilu, International Officer and Suvi Hurttila, Student Advicer University of Turku Zen! – Zen! No discussion, just the sounds of Finnish nature, no host needed. Instant idea – Create your own coffee room – Share your own discussion idea during the Forum events at the Zoom chat and invite people to ”Instant idea” -coffee room, host is the person who invites people to the Instant idea -room
14.00–16.00 CET Peer Support and Peer Counselling of Student in EC2U Workshop for Students	Organised by Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi The online GLADE Counselling lab for students of all ages – Workshop with and for Students. The most active student’s association from each university will present, for 10 minutes, their best practices in supporting the international students during their mobility. Specialists will be present in order to guide them in offering peer counselling. The peer counselling services will be addressed mainly to students during their international mobility in the EC2U universities.

Thursday 20th May

10.00–12.00 CET Second webinar and Panel discussion on University and City in cooperation and research

Host: Sampo Ruoppila, Director of Turku Urban Research Programme, University of Turku

Keynote speakers:

University and City in cooperation and research in Turku
Director Sampo Ruoppila
University of Turku
Coimbra-European Capital of Culture 2027
Professor Cristina Robalo Cordeiro
University of Coimbra
Polo Tecnologico di Pavia: a concrete example of Public & Private collaboration
Professor Tommaso Mazzocchi
University of Pavia

Panel

Examples of cooperation between cities and universities
- Educational technology “EdTech”, Mayor Léonore Moncond’huy, City of Poitiers
- Mayor D. Carlos Manuel García Carbayo, City of Salamanca
- Mayor Fabrizio Fracassi, City of Pavia
- Head of the International Relations Office of the City, Elena Farca, on behalf of Mayor Mihai Chirica
- Iasi Smart City, Professor Adrian Iftene, the Dean of the Faculty of Computer Science, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi
- JenaVersum, Dr. Dana Strauss, Friedrich Schiller University, Jena.
- Study in Turku cooperation, Specialist Anssi Kaisti, City of Turku

Chat moderator: Irinja Paakkanen, Head of International Relations, University of Turku

12.00–13.00 CET Thematic Discussions with Coffee

You may choose one coffee room or pop in pop out in different rooms. There will be 50 seats in every room, so if the coffee room you try to attend is full, plese choose another one.

University and City cooperation – Let’s continue discussion about University and City in cooperation and research, host Sampo Ruoppila, Director of Turku Urban Research Programme, University of Turku
Students in the municipal – Presenting Group 40 000, a network of higher education students in Turku, whose purpose is to promote issues important to students in the municipal decision-making, host TBC
Study in Turku -project – Presenting Study in Turku -project: The city, universities, student organizations and companies together are building Turku into the best student city in Finland, host Anssi Kaisti, Specialist, City of Turku
Student Union – What makes a Finnish Student Union, host Joni Kajander, Specialist, Academic Affairs, Student Union of the University of Turku
My Mobile Tutor – Get familiar with My Mobile Tutor Application, host Susanna Lahtinen CEO of Choose Your Future (CYF) Digital Service and Soile Puranen, Technology and Project Manager, CYF
Science Battle – Let’s compete! Science Battle of EC2U in September, what is this about, come and hear more! Host Erja Hyytiäinen, Communications Officer, University of Turku
Meet Student Ambassadors – Meet our Student Ambassadors, host Suvi-Anni Huhtinen
Marketing Planner
Traditional coffee room – Traditional coffee room with free discussion, host Pia Le Grand International Liason Officer, University of Turku
Zen! – Zen! No discussion, just the sounds of Finnish nature, no host needed.
Instant idea – Create your own coffee room – Share your own discussion idea during the Forum events at the Zoom chat and invite people to ”Instant idea” -coffee room, host the person who invites people to the Instant idea -room

14.00–16.00 CET Student Event

European Campus of City-Universities (EC2U) is all about creating a shared space. That space is diverse and it stretches across seven countries, seven academic cultures and seven cities. Students are in the centre of every campus and its culture.

The Student Union of the University of Turku invites you to begin the journey towards a European Campus and gives glimpses of local student culture and activities. We will also discuss how these relate to other campuses of EC2U. Teaser: you will for example learn about the biggest student event, which involves the whole city, and you will learn a new sport.

Friday 21st May

10.30–11.30 CET Building a value-based community: findings of the 1st EC2U Think Tank survey Value4YourValues	With your help we have sketched the value sets within our seven European cities – on a personal, professional and societal level. More than 1.300 people have participated in the survey. Now, we like to reflect the results and discuss what we can do to further develop and strengthen a value-based community. We have invited representatives from the spheres of academia, city and businesses to share their understanding and perspective. Panelists: Francisco Silva, member of the Erasmus Student Network Coimbra, Master’s student in Quantitative Methods in Finance, University of Coimbra Prof. Heikki Ervasti, National Coordinator of the European Social Survey (ESS), University of Turku Matthias Bettenhäuser, Mayor’s office, City of Jena Jean-Marc Neveu Co-founder of PLAXTIL/ CEO of CDA group, Poitiers
12.00–13.45 CET Higher Education Round Table on: Student engagement and micro-credentials	Host: Piia Björn, Vice-Rector of the University of Turku Speakers on Micro-credentials Klara Engles-Perenyi, Policy Officer, European Commission “A European approach to micro-credentials for lifelong learning and employability”. Jonna Korhonen, Senior Ministerial Adviser, the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture “Promoting continuous learning through micro-credentials” Speaker from Coimbra Group University, TBC Panel on Student Engagement: Host: Specialist in Academic Affairs Joni Kajander, Student Union of the University of Turku Representative from each university of the EC2U Alliance Chat moderator: Oscar Nyman, Career Service Planner, University of Turku
13.45–14.00 CET Closing of the Forum	Host: Piia Björn, Vice-Rector of the University of Turku Rector Jukka Kola, University of Turku Professor Ludovic Thilly, Coordinator of the EC2U Alliance Professor Efrem Yildiz, Vice-Rector for International Relations, University of Salamanca Find out who will be the first competitors at the Science Battle in September 2021.
14.00–15.00 CET Social Programme: Virtual City Walk on the banks of river Aura	Join the streamed live broadcast from the banks of the Aura River. Along this river are the origins of Turku and Finnish culture, so we have a lot to show and tell you. Our guide walks and shows you views online, while telling the history and present of this magnificent city. You have the opportunity to ask questions while walking.
15.00–16.00 CET Casual Discussion and Evaluation	Let’s summarise the Forum together and have final discussions. We can also think of best practices and issues which could be taken to the next EC2U Forum in Salamanca.