The City of Turku organised the Forum for International Competence on 27 May 2024. The forum brought together actors across project, organisational and municipal boundaries, and around 35 participants arrived to exchange information and experiences.
The opening speech was given by Anna Kivinen, Project Director of the Competence spearhead project, followed by a comprehensive presentation on international recruitment and job placement in the new employment area by Pipa Turvanen, Director of Change.
Ameya Foujdar presented the Study and Stay in Turku programme, which aims to provide international experts with inspiration and networking opportunities to exchange experiences. According to Foujdar, the most popular event at Study and Stay in Turku is the alumni panel discussion, which gives visitors concrete examples of study pathways and employment opportunities, among other things.
Sonja Kareranta spoke about the Friendship Programme and the Turku Åbo Summer School. The Friendship Programme runs during the spring and autumn terms, with a staggering 300 participants each term. In the Friendship Programme, local people of different ages and from different life situations as friends to international migrants and introduce them to Finnish culture, among other things. The Turku Åbo Summer School attracts students to Turku through five higher education institutions, which all offer a wide range of high quality courses.
Speakers at this year’s Forum for International Competence also included Olli Hakala from Turku Chamber of Commerce and Lotta Kujanpää from Business Turku.
Anna Kivinen, who facilitated the forum, summed up the essence of the event:
– I find it valuable that people developing services for international competence across organisational boundaries come together and genuinely want to learn from each other. Developing services for labour and education-based migration is a common cause for the region. The lack of motivation and enthusiasm cannot be blamed on this field of actors!
