KS1675 BioCom

Russian-Finnish Bioeconomy Competence Centre

BioCom project promoted the BioEconomy concept and approaches for agricultural industry in neighbouring border territories of Finland and Russia through the complex of capacity building actions and practical showcases for the local actors in agricultural sector. Russian-Finnish BioEconomy Competence Centre for education, research and life-long learning process on biologically sustainable agriculture was established. The aim of centre is to provide permanent educational and information facilities and to integrate the BioEconomy principles and approaches into the regional and local development policies forming favourable environment for their adoption by the local industries and communities in the Russian and Finnish Programme regions.

The demand for project outputs and outcomes was wider than initially expected – additional project target groups were defined, and project developed more training programmes than originally planned. New evaluation criteria for energy audits of enterprises were developed – an environmental assessment accounting for polluting emissions and developing measures for the use of renewable energy sources. Calculation model was created that can be used by farmers in order to study CO2-emissions of different processes and fuels. Project partners developed recommendations for the creation of a demonstration zone of high-energy efficiency based on a pilot farm in the Leningrad Region.

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KS1529 GET READY

Getting Ready for the Cross-Border Challenges: Capacity Building in Sustainable Shore Use

The GET READY project was aimed at increasing readiness to respond to existing and expected challenges in the field of sustainable environmental management in the eastern part of the Gulf of Finland.
As a result of the project, the Russian-Finnish Center for Education, Research and Innovation in the Field of Coastal Zone Management CERINCO was created, based on the educational and information platform DELS (Distant EcoLearning System) developed in the project and allowing the use of distance learning technologies for learning.

The CERINCO Training Center is a trigger for improving and changing the work on building up the human resources potential of environmentally dependent business companies in Russia and Finland based on competence-oriented educational programs.
The harmonized Russian and Finnish pilot training courses developed in the project and university educational programs in the field of sustainable use of coasts and coastal zone management, as well as hydrological calculations in coastal zones, are based on the applied research and engineering developments carried out in the project, and also include regional strategies on climate change mitigation. Distance learning and methodological complexes developed within the framework of the project and further developed at the CERINCO center based on the innovative online platform “Distant EcoLearning System” will ensure the formation of new modern professional competencies demanded by employers. The introduction of new professional competencies into practice will undoubtedly lead to the application of the principles of “green economy”, “circular economy” in the economy of coastal territories.

The project also formed an international cohort of highly educated specialists and highly competent experts in the field of rational use of the coast and management of the coastal zone. For the first time, the methods developed in the project at a high scientific level to minimize the negative anthropogenic effects of the coastal ecosystems of the Eastern Gulf of Finland will be used in the practical activities of regional and municipal authorities, as well as numerous business companies in Russia and Finland. The project also developed recommendations for improving the regulatory and methodological framework in the field of environmental protection and legislative initiatives at the federal and regional levels of Russia. The project prepared and published the monograph “Developing best practices for sustainable coastal zone planning at the Eastern Gulf of Finland”, which presents the best Finnish and Russian practices of marine spatial planning in the Eastern Gulf of Finland. The monograph summarizes for the first time all previous works in this field. The Digital Environmental Management Tools (EMT) developed by the project based on digitalization, as more and more detailed data about the port area is available through real-time automatic measuring devices, can create useful and easy-to-read forecasts, reports and analyses.

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KS1280 C3E

Contents for Cross-Cultural Events

C3E offered collaboration with the creative industries in cities of Mikkeli, Kotka, Kouvola, Vyborg and St. Petersburg. Cultural institutions, festivals, tourism sector, development agencies, NGOs and SMEs related to the creative industries were invited to participate various activities such as further education series “Future of Festivals” for managers and executives as well as other multidisciplinary, educational collaboration.

In the framework of project, cross-border curriculas were created addressing the needs of students and professionals. Project developed and piloted several event, culture and design concepts. Co-design resulted in agile prototypes and contents for festival audience engagement and marketing tools. Most successful development process examples are mobile accommodation www.laawu.fi Synesthesia visualizing music competition and Finnish Fantasy concert, Admiralty Needle fashion festival contents, Great Escape multiple player interactive game wall for youngsters as theatre audience engagement, Vyborg digital tourist map with St. Olof’s Medieval festival and Gatchina light festival fashion contents.

C3E 30 articles collection presenting project results are available: Design Dimensions. Contents for Cross-Cultural Events

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KS1253 SUSTECH

Lightweight hybrid wooden composite materials for sustainable construction technology

During the project a new construction technology was created and implemented. For this purpose, 2 experimental stands were developed and manufactured, 8 basic construction elements were tested, 2 constructions test samples for full-scale testing were manufactured and 16 test reports were carried out.

In order to assess the technology, the project team made a comparative analysis of mechanical, physical, durability, flammability and aesthetic characteristics with reference material, e.g. wood, metal or plastic used for construction and an economic evaluation report.

In the course of the project 20 constructions on 5 new tourist routes were installed in Vepssky Forest, in Russia and 4 constructions were installed in Lappeenranta, Finland. In addition, various sculptures were also manufactured during the project and those located in Vepssky Forest.

Project results, especially knowledge about the new material, were disseminated in different ways throughout the project. Emphasis was put on two international seminars organized by the project and several publications in scientific journals.

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KS1054 EFREA

Energy-efficient systems based on renewable energy for Arctic conditions

The main objectives were developing structures for remote Arctic areas with a key aspect the need of cost-efficient ways of manufacturing these structures, including the safety aspects at the same time, and increasing the level of education and knowledge related to the matters in this theme. These were achieved for the most part by means of various activities, which comprised research activities (e.g., scientific articles and theses), seminars as well as new teaching environments and education tools. As a summary, the project produced new knowledge and information in terms of energy-efficient and environmentally safe systems and structures for renewable energy production in Arctic areas and extreme conditions.

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KS1134 SAFECON

Safe, skilled and productive construction sites

The specific objective was to increase organizational commitment and efficiency to improve employees’ well-being and work safety. It was aimed to reach the objective by supporting top management’s understanding of work safety’s relations on company’s productivity by creating a set of guidelines with supporting material and webinars, and by providing tools for systematic development such as Lean Construction. Achievements were a set of guidelines and a video production in cooperation with higher education students.

It was also decided to build up interaction skills of construction on-site managers and work safety experts because the interaction skills are essential in cultural-sensitive and influential work management and in encouragement of safe working practices. As a result of analyzing interviews, guidelines which also consider cultural and social perspectives, were created for on-site managers. Videos and podcasts related to occupational safety were also produced to support the guidelines as well as an occupational safety glossary. Working community simulations for the construction sector was utilized to recognize one’s strengths and development targets as a promoter of occupational safety, to recognize the different attitudes of employees towards occupational safety and to be able to act in a solution-oriented manner and motivate different employees to follow occupational safety instructions. The working community simulation can be utilized as a cultural-sensitive monitoring methodology for work safety competence evaluation on the construction sector.

The objective of the project is to implement innovative training programs on labor protection developed within the framework of the SAFECON project for people employed in the construction industry in Russia and Finland. These programs aim at creating a safe behavioral model of trainees’ work activities, culture of safe work as well as ensure safety, high professionalism, and efficiency of work on construction sites. The main result of the project is the construction of a safety park – the Polygon “Smart Labor” – on the training base of Saint Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering (SPbGASU) in Krasnoye Selo. The Polygon represents an innovative educational site with a unique interactive learning environment, provided with both physical educational installations and virtual means using virtual reality computer technologies as well as content for the implementation of standard and distance learning at all levels of education and professional training of specialists.

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KS1027 DIGIFOR

Digital Forest Pedagogy

Main activities include development of teaching modules and pedagogical methods, coaching teachers as well as creating and piloting virtual eLearning platform. Special attention is given for strengthening relevant network, which functions actively and continuously. The working life in forest sector needs skilled, motivated, and innovative professionals to manage, research, utilize and protect forest resources. Therefore, there was a need not only to update the teaching and learning methods but also curriculums and the content of the study courses to meet the working life needs.

The overall objective of the project Digifor was to increase the skills and competences of future workforce in forest sector in South-East Finland, St. Petersburg and Leningrad Region. The four specific objectives were: to increase the skills of teachers in forest sector higher education institutions (HEIs) to use digital eLearning methods in their teaching, to increase the skills of students to meet the changing working life needs, to strengthen the international cooperation between the partner HEIs and to strengthen the connection between working life and the universities. The objectives of the project were achieved by nine activities. The main activities included a creation of the pedagogical methodological bases, coaching the teachers, the creation and piloting of the eLearning study modules and creation and implementation of Massive online courses (MOC). One activity strengthened the connection between HEIs and working life by creation of the network.

As a result of the project the teachers’ skills to create high-quality eLearning materials and to use eLearning methods increased. 18 teachers developed all together 36 study modules, which were piloted in 56 study courses. The published handbook “Towards 21st century skills – Pedagogical Insights for Digifor teachers” offers pedagogical guidance for all the interested. During the project the students’ skills and competences to meet the needs of working life improved. More than 1500 students participated the study courses with developed eLearning modules. The number of the studied credit units was more than 2400. According to the students’ feedback, the skills and competences did increase.’

One achievement is the network of enterprises, associations and universities functioning actively for the development of forest sector higher education in the programme area. During the project, 25 enterprises and 14 public organizations or associations cooperated with the teachers and tutored the development of the study courses. More than 70 working life representatives contributed the teachers’ study course development work or participated the workshops as advisers. On the other hand, the partners created tailor-made training for companies as well. The project publication offers articles ranging from research-based discussions to practical descriptions, from qualitative approaches to detailed quantitative analyses presenting diverse contexts in Finnish and Russian forestry higher education. Moreover, it presents best practices and experiences of the cross-border pedagogy development. Finally, the achievement of the project is the created MOC courses. As an example, implemented Finnish Forest Plant MOC has had within five months more than 500 participants. Thus, when the other courses are available, it gives the possibility for the students and all the interested to increase their professional skills by studying in the courses related to forest sector.

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