A Vision for Higher Education in 2030

Finnish higher education and research are facing a changing landscape: work (and therefore universities’ role in relation to it) is changing, competition for the brightest minds has gone global, needed meta and hybrid skills are changing, AI and robotization is opening up new possibilities, and science is becoming more and more open to the public. At the same time in Finland in particular there has been a drop in higher education graduates. Will universities successfully adapt?

The Minister of Education and Culture Sanni Grahn-Laasonen launched vision work with the aim of defining objectives for the Finnish higher education and research until the year 2030.The purpose of the vision is to produce a future scenario which will enable a high-quality, effective and internationally competitive development of the Finnish higher education system.

The vision was prepared in collaboration with the main stakeholders: students, personnel, and other education and research oriented professionals. Demos Helsinki has expertise in co-creation and strategic work with academic institutions. With workshops and seminars to stimulate brainstorming, Demos Helsinki coordinated the development of a vision with the stakeholders. The workshops were held in Helsinki, Tampere and Vaasa and the results of the co-creation process will be open access. The final vision for higher education and research in Finland 2030 will be published in October 2017.