Border Region Studies – Development and Implementation of Educational Programmes Dealing with Border and Peripheral Regions in the EU
Funded by Euregio Karelia Neighbourhood Programme 2001-2006

Objective of the project

The purpose of the project was to raise the border area expertise of the educational organisations of East Finland to an internationally renowned and acknowledged level.

Main activities

• Production of three e-learning courses, • Ordering new series of lectures from researchers in Russia and particularly from those in the Republic of Karelia, • Collection of network bank for material on statistics about Russia, • Producing a multimedia course called The Russians’ travel in Finland, • Production of Finnish-Russian-Finnish health care vocabulary and a textbook on SME Companies in North Karelia and the Republic of Karelia • Organisation of a three month intensive Russian language course for the personnel of the learning institutions.

Achievements

The project produced three e-learning courses. “The Introduction to the Economic Geography of North-West Russia” and “The Many Faces of Karelia” were produced in broad cooperation between the Finnish and Russian researchers. New series of lectures were ordered from researchers in Russia and particularly from those in the Republic of Karelia. Also, a e-learning course for entrepreneurship studies was produced, which also included a network bank for material on statistics about Russia both as a whole and divided into sectors. A multimedia course called "The Russians' travel in Finland" was also produced in connection with the project. The course was a joint effort between tour operators and travel companies operating in the Republic of Karelia, in order to take the best possible advantage of the entrepreneurs' experiences. The result was a concise summary of the experiences of travel companies in East Finland with Russian tourists and tour operators. Additionally, a 183-page Finnish-Russian-Finnish health care vocabulary "How Are You?" was produced with the project in both printed and CD/ROM versions, as well as a textbook entitled "Business Across Borders: Business Experiences of Small and Medium-Sized Companies in North Karelia and the Republic of Karelia". The book describes cross-border business activities between Finland and Russia of small and medium-sized companies operating in North Karelia and the Republic of Karelia in the 1990s. In order to improve the Russian language skills of the personnel of the learning institutions, a three-month intensive course was organised at the Continuing Education Centre of University of Joensuu. The produced teaching materials were introduced during the project, and their implementation was started. Web and multimedia courses were utilised by 40 universities of applied sciences and seven universities through the Alexander Institute of the University of Helsinki, which coordinates national Master's and research programmes related to Russia. The materials were also used by, among others, the Centre of Russia and the Baltic of the Helsinki School of Economics and the Bank of Finland’s Institute for Economies in Transition.