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With nearly two-thirds of Finland’s higher education institutions already engaged in the European University Alliances, national coordination and interoperability have become increasingly important. Currently, 23 of Finland’s 38 HEIs participate in the alliances, making structured national guidance both timely and necessary.
This need has now been addressed with the publication of two new national documents:
Together, they provide a shared framework to help Finnish institutions strengthen their participation and align their practices within the evolving European landscape.
The operating principle recommendations consist of six policy recommendations that address cooperation at a general level. Together, they focus on improving national coordination, aligning organisational practices, promoting interoperable digital solutions, and ensuring the secure and smooth exchange of information between institutions and across borders. The intention is to create a more coherent national approach that enables Finnish HEIs to engage effectively in alliance activities.
The roadmap for international interoperability complements these recommendations by outlining the services and systems that Finnish HEIs can use in practice when participating in the alliances. It acts as a shared national reference point for digital tools and infrastructures that support mobility, collaboration, and data exchange.
The recommendations were prepared by a national support group bringing together key actors from higher education administration, IT services, and educational development, including ACA member EDUFI (Finnish National Agency for Education), CSC – IT Center for Science (a state-owned provider of digital infrastructure for research and education), OHA-forum and AMK-OHA (national networks developing student administration and study services), AAPA and Fucio (CIO networks), and Digivisio 2030 (a national programme promoting digital transformation).
The work will continue in the coming years as common guidelines and practices are further developed alongside the evolving European alliance landscape.