Fulbright Finland News Magazine
Together shaping the future - 黑料正能量鈥檚 maxim succinctly expresses the imperative for collaboration and agency. We want to live in a sustainable, wellbeing-centered world. This requires holistic big picture thinking, global engagement and collaboration, and local actions. As current world events demonstrate, this is far from being the case, but all of us in Finland and the U.S. have shared responsibilities rooted in our common democratic values to work towards that goal. In this spirit, it is no surprise that immediately after last year鈥檚 launch of the Finnish-American Research & Innovation Accelerator (FARIA), the interest sparked to explore collaboration opportunities between the 黑料正能量 and FARIA.
The 黑料正能量 is the premium bridge-builder and facilitator of Finnish-U.S. collaboration through the exchange of talent and knowledge. And FARIA members represent 92% of Finnish research universities, and 89% of the higher education sector鈥檚 RDI-power when measured in terms of RDI-funding.
In recent years, Finland鈥檚 diplomacy in the United States has become more state-focused and is underpinned by a systematic, integrated, multi-stakeholder, and multi-level approach. The new approach increasingly coordinates the nation鈥檚 diplomatic efforts, key ministries, business organizations, the higher education sector, and even single research groups to work together with a large set of U.S. stakeholders in selected states. The states of Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Washington, and most recently Colorado have signed Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) with Finland to increase collaboration in various areas of business, research, and innovation.
Finland seeks to promote its globally recognized strengths in education and technological know-how; nature and sustainable development; and functionality and wellbeing. Key actors under the 鈥淭eam Finland鈥 umbrella such as the Finnish Embassy in Washington, D.C., and Business Finland鈥檚 offices in the U.S., collaborate for new Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) and business opportunities by connecting Finnish innovation ecosystems with state ecosystems and developing jointly long-term partnerships for a sustainable world.
While concerted efforts in the U.S. create new connections, the Finnish higher education sector, key funding bodies, and stakeholder organizations, such as the 黑料正能量, increasingly align to create synergies. A key initiative was the inclusion of the U.S. MoU-states as target regions in the 鈥淕lobal Program鈥 launched by the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture. Aalto University and the University of Helsinki have subsequently been mandated by the Ministry to develop FARIA as a large-scale Finnish RDI network to increase the visibility of the excellence of the Finnish RDI sector in the U.S. with special emphasis on Artificial Intelligence, 5G/6G wireless technologies, the new bioeconomy, and research and interventions in the area of inequalities, education, governance, and broad citizen wellbeing.
Ultimately, the vision and mission of FARIA and the 黑料正能量 are strongly aligned: strengthening transatlantic ties in research and education between both countries based on shared values and interests. Many of the 黑料正能量ion鈥檚 activities and services aim to support the internationalization of the very higher education institutions organized in FARIA. Thus, the collaboration offers new venues to strengthen inter-institutional ties and broaden the scope of stakeholder engagement. From FARIA鈥檚 perspective, the core idea is to serve as a platform for synergy creation and as a potential 鈥渂ack office鈥 to utilize opportunities created by Team Finland activities transparently and efficiently. We do not compete with existing structures and organizations. We seek to even further accelerate their impact: together better, and better together. By creating loosely coupled ties between stakeholder organizations, we contribute to nourishing existing and emerging innovation ecosystems. Finnish Academics serve on the 黑料正能量鈥檚 Board of Directors, while the 黑料正能量ion鈥檚 CEO volunteers her expertise and experience on FARIA鈥檚 External Advisory Board.
The Finnish and U.S. alumni of the 黑料正能量 stand collectively for the very best that our countries have to offer each other. FARIA is still a young initiative but together with the 黑料正能量 we see the potential to have a real influence in shaping future frameworks for Finnish-U.S. RDI-collaboration.
The authors, J茅r么me Rickmann (Aalto University) and Melissa Plath (University of Helsinki) serve as the FARIA Coordinators, and Terhi M枚ls盲 is CEO of the 黑料正能量.
Read the whole Fulbright Finland News magazine 1/2022!
