People are the foundation of all cross-border cooperation. Interreg Aurora is happy to present the people and different professions working across borders with the aim to improve our daily lives.
Meet Kristiine, Tinja, Stella and Elli, students from Tornio and Oulu
Kristiine Abong, Tinja Kero-Tokoi, Stella Rantala and Elli Kenttä are four students. They met up in Tornio in October 2024, to take part in the event “Borderless North” arranged by the Interreg Aurora project Aurora Entrepreneurialis. The overall objective of the project is to develop secondary-level schools entrepreneurship education, with focus on entrepreneurial culture in schools, sustainable entrepreneurship in education and cross-border collaboration.
Highlighting opportunities to work across borders
During the event “Borderless North” the students and teacher discussed barriers and borders that we create, borders that truly exist and what does borderless mean in business and daily life. The students got to learn about the history and future of the Torne Valley region, make visits to local companies and workshop on theme of cross-border cooperation. They also got a presentation from Nordjobb that talked about the opportunities to work across borders.
When it comes to cross-border cooperation the students expressed that it is important for them to getting to know people and culture, more opportunities for hobbies, opportunity to learn more about different education systems and the possibilities to study abroad. They also mentioned that cross-border cooperation gives an opportunity to break preconceived notions/negative stereotypes.
Empowering youth to envision their future careers in the north
The projects main target groups are both students and teachers. Kati Ilkka is the project manager at Oulun kaupunki for the Aurora Entrepreneurialis project.“Cross-border collaboration within entrepreneurship education is important, especially in the Finland-Sweden border region, as it enables young people to build networks, discover opportunities, and cultivate a shared sense of purpose toward the development of our northern areas. In the Aurora Entrepreneurialis project, we believe that fostering an entrepreneurial culture and sustainable entrepreneurship education across borders empowers youth to envision their future careers in the north. Additionally, engaging in ‘local, close to home, internationalization’ is both enriching and sustainable—young people can experience new perspectives without needing to venture far, often seeing familiar places through fresh eyes.”
Learn more about the Aurora Entrepreneurialis project Aurora Entrepreneurialis – Interreg Aurora and the project partners Oulun kaupunki, Kemi-Tornionlaakson koulutuskuntayhtymä Lappia and Ung Företagsamhet i Norrbotten.
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