Within the Aurora Entrepreneurialis project, one core aim is to enable and strengthen cross-border collaboration between secondary level schools in the region. The goal is that these partnerships between schools would become long-lasting also after the project and that the schools can continue creating meaningful collaboration activities within entrepreneurship education but also in a wide range of other topics. The first full school year in the project has been busy in terms of piloting a diverse set of different cross-border activities together with individual classes and teachers. Read more to see what we have been up to!
Face to face collaboration
Local entrepreneurship visits in Övertorneå-Ylitornio collaboration
Students and teachers from Övertorneå and Ylitornio high schools met together for one day and visited local entrepreneurs from both sides of the border to learn about how four different companies works with social, environmental, economic, and cultural sustainability in entrepreneurship. The companies represented a variety of different fields from robotics to tourism and musical instruments production. Students worked in mixed groups and prepared questions for the companies.
Photo: Signe Malmer, Gränsälvsgymnasiet Övertorneå
Culture walk in Tornio-Haparanda
Students from Tornio and Haparanda joined together for a nice culture walk in both cities to learn about the local area. Students walked in mixed groups and answered questions about statues, sculptures, and other public art in the two cities. The programme was prepared and led by the teachers from the participating schools. Through the exercise, students had the opportunity to gain cross-border connections, learn about the local area and culture as well as develop their teamwork and language skills.
Photo: Raija Paasimaa, Lappia
Teachers learning the Circula game
Teachers from the Tornio-Haparanda area also joined together to learn new methods useful in teaching sustainability, circular economy and in combining entrepreneurship with sustainability. During the day, teachers played the Circula game, which is a board game developed to teach about circular economy and entrepreneurship. The game itself requires creative teamwork and can be used for teaching many different subjects. Since the teachers have experienced playing the game themselves, they are prepared to use it in their own teaching.
The Circula® Circular Economy and Entrepreneurship Game paints a picture of circular economy through creative teamwork. Circula® offers the players models for responsible business and sustainable lifestyle, self-awareness and appreciation of one’s own strengths as well as hope for a better future.
Circula® excites both young and old alike. It is suitable for learners of different levels from 15-year-olds to adults. The game can be used in both secondary and upper secondary schools as well as in vocational education, universities of applied sciences, development work at companies, free time activity and as a tool for environmental counselling. (Circula game’s website by SYKLI)
Photo: Raija Paasimaa, Lappia
Digital collaboration gives opportunities for schools working together across long distances
One of the important challenges for the project is to pilot and create methods of collaboration between schools that can be implemented for remote learning through digital platforms. This is an opportunity to form cross-border collaborations across long distances in the Bothnian Arc region. During the school year 2023 – 2024 the project piloted in total 4 different collaboration activities in online settings.
Building a shop in virtual reality
The ICT class from Vocational College Lappia and the JA Year students from Strömbackaskolan Piteå joined their forces to collaborate in a very unique way. Students formed mixed groups and worked in a virtual reality platform where their task was to design any kind of shop. The teachers of both classes were enthusiastic to try out this kind of collaboration activity in virtual reality and the results were quite exciting. Students had a lot of fun in the virtual reality platform but also at the same time they learned a lot about entrepreneurship and service design. We are hoping to see this collaboration thrive in the future.
Photo: Laura Vendelin
Collaborating within different school subjects around the theme of entrepreneurship and working life
Entrepreneurial education can encompass many kinds of learning activities which use entrepreneurial methods or develop entrepreneurial competencies. In our project we have encouraged different subject teachers to take part in our events as well as engage in these class-to-class projects with their classes. The Swedish schools taking part in the project all work with entrepreneurship education and the JA Year as an entrepreneur, while only some of the Finnish schools do. The schools approach the collaboration from different angles and can work together around the topics of entrepreneurial education.
With Haukipudas high school and Strömbackanskolan Piteå we facilitated two online lessons with participants from both schools joining. One of the activities was built around the theme of cultural appropriation and proper use of culture in business while the second activity consisted of exercises related to entrepreneurial competencies and the JA Year as an entrepreneur student companies. At Haukipudas high school, the participating classes were from English and Swedish language studies, which is very promising from the point of view of including both entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurial education into different kind of study subjects. Between Björknäsgymnasiet Boden and Oulunsalo high school we piloted an activity around introducing and discussing the green industry in Boden municipality. Here, the students from Boden were completing their course on environmental sustainability and energy and the students from Oulunsalo were participating on a biology course about human effect on ecosystems.
Heading towards the second Aurora Entrepreneurialis school year
During the school year 2024-2025 we will continue to pilot new kind of activities and encourage the schools to collaborate across borders. The focus of the next school year will also be to strengthen these existing partnerships and find ways to make them long lasting also after the project.
For further information please visit our website:
https://www.ouka.fi/en/aurora-entrepreneurialis/school-collaboration (ENG)
https://www.ouka.fi/aurora-entrepreneurialis/koulujen-yhteistyo (FIN)
https://www.ouka.fi/sv/aurora-entrepreneurialis/school-collaboration (SWE)
