Click thumbnail to visit website

Helsinki, Finland

Helsinki’s vision is to be the world’s most functional city. In Helsinki, the entire city is a learning environment – in fact, the learning environment expands beyond the city’s physical limits when digitalism and virtual reality are added in. Digital technology enrichens the learning process and enables learning regardless of time and place.

Education is diversified and expanded through partnership networks between institutes of higher education, companies, the third sector and various city actors. Helsinki ensures that all residents have the chance to acquire and strengthen the skills needed in the information society.

Helsinki is building an Älykoulu (Smartschool) operating model where future pedagogical solutions will be innovated and implemented. Digital analytics provides an enabling environment for learning to progress at an individual level. Digital services lower the threshold to seek education and for reorienting studies at transition stages.

The City of Helsinki plays an important role in maintaining and developing know-how as a provider of vocational upper secondary education, in steering the operations of universities of applied sciences and as a partner to universities. Students at institutes of higher education are an important part of Helsinki’s future appeal and vitality. The city cooperates closely with the universities, other institutes of higher education, and students’ networks in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area to promote both the conditions for international-level tuition and research and the city’s strategic goals.

Vocational training based on foresight creates good conditions for jobseekers and immigrants to find employment. To raise the skill levels of immigrants, Helsinki is drawing up a development plan to enhance the skills, education, and training of immigrants. The plan spans the whole learning career from early childhood education to adult education. In addition, the city pursues responsible HR policy and invests in good leadership. The city provides apprenticeship and work-based learning.

Helsinki Education Week will be organized in November 2020. It provides a program for learners of all ages and for everyone who is interested in learning and developing education. The week’s program includes is created together with Helsinki educators and international education specialists and innovators. The events will be open for learners, their caregivers, and Helsinki citizens.

Learning City Developments

Helsinki is made into an innovative, experimental city for lifelong learning. Collaboration with leading Finnish and international universities, cultural institutions, developers, and companies will promote the creation of a new ecosystem of experimenting.

Urban Academy is a great example. It is a platform and network that brings together multidisciplinary research, teaching and societal impact in the field of urban studies. It is a partnership of five organizations: Aalto University, University of Helsinki, City of Espoo, City of Helsinki and City of Vantaa. Urban Academy was founded in 2012 and started as a partnership of the two universities offering a joint bachelor level minor study progamme. In 2015 the agreement of the strategic partnership between the Aalto University, the University of Helsinki and the City of Helsinki was signed and in 2016 a coordinator for the city-university collaboration started working as a mediator and matchmaker of interests and ideas. In 2018 Urban Academy collaboration got new resources when the cities of Helsinki Capital Region started funding postdoctoral researcher posts (6 positions/year) in urban studies at both partner universities for the period 2018 - 2023. The research themes are selected from the strategy programmes of the cities. In 2019 the Urban Academy collaboration expanded to cover the cities of Espoo and Vantaa.

Another example is the 6Aika strategy for sustainable urban development. It is a joint strategy of the six largest cities in Finland: Helsinki, Espoo, Vantaa, Tampere, Turku and Oulu. 6Aika started in 2014. The six cities in Finland share the same challenges of urbanisation. The Six City Strategy has been used to start dozens of projects in urban development and the development of employment and competences. The Strategy has focused on projects related to smart mobility, learning, circular economy and energy efficiency, among other topics. The basis of the Six City Strategy was developed in three large-scale spearhead projects: Open data and interfaces, Open participation and customership, and Open innovation platforms.

General Information

Helsinki is the capital and largest city of Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. Helsinki has a population of 616,042 an urban population of 1,176,976 (31 December 2012)and a metropolitan population of 1,4 million, according to the OECD 1.8 million, making it the most populous municipality and urban area in Finland. Helsinki is located some 80 kilometres (50 mi) north of Tallinn, Estonia, 400 kilometres (250 mi) east northeast of Stockholm, Sweden, and 300 kilometres (190 mi) west of Saint Petersburg, Russia. Helsinki has close historical connections with these three cities.

The Helsinki metropolitan area includes the urban core of Helsinki, Espoo, Vantaa, Kauniainen, and surrounding commuter towns. It is the world's northernmost metro area of over one million people, and the city is the northernmost capital of an EU member state. After Copenhagen and Stockholm, it's the third-largest city in the Nordic nations.

Helsinki is Finland's major political, educational, financial, cultural, and research centre as well as one of northern Europe's major cities. Approximately 70% of foreign companies operating in Finland have settled in the Helsinki region. The nearby municipality of Vantaa is the location of Helsinki Airport, with frequent service to various destinations in Europe and Asia.

In 2009, Helsinki was chosen to be the World Design Capital for 2012 by the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design, narrowly beating Eindhoven for the title.

In the Economist Intelligence Unit's August 2012 Liveability survey, assessing the best and worst cities to live in, Helsinki placed eighth-best overall. In 2011, the Monocle Magazine in turn ranked Helsinki the most liveable city in the world in its Liveable Cities Index 2011.