In English
Come to imagine the University of your Dreams
Week of action from 20 to 24 April
We invite all students and staff of the university to The University of Dreams Action
Week, which is held from Monday 20 April to Friday 24 April. During the week, university
people exchange ideas, what a perfect university would be like. The week offers dozens of
different activities, from sports and yoga to discussion events and workshops on how to
repair a bicycle, for example.
The aim is to construct a new kind of forum for an open discussion and a free exchange of
ideas, uniting all students and teachers.
“Media coverage of the university reform has concentrated to the defects of the reform.
In the University of Dreams Action Week we want to underline that the question is not
about opposing everything, but about the will of the universitarians to participate in
the discussion on to which direction the universities should be developed”, says Juhana
Venäläinen, one of the organisers of the action week.
In the morning, we have the possibility to prepare ourselves for the challenges of the
intellectual work by jogging, yoga or bird spotting excursions, for example. In
“sweatshops” we can learn useful skills on how to repair a bicycle or how to knit a
woollen sock. In “knowledge workshops” everyone can be the teacher and the pupil, using
our common experiences and knowledge to form new ideas about the university.
The panel discussions deal with the hot topics of the university system. On Tuesday, we
discuss about interlaces between the university and the cultural life, on Wednesday about
the basic income and on Thursday about the coming University of Eastern Finland (with
Rector Perttu Vartiainen). Evening program is also abundant and serve to nourish the
dreams in a more relaxed atmosphere at clubs and parties. Cultural events, as for example
music and dance, have been mixed with other events to avoid too serious atmosphere. Most
of the activities take place on the university campus.
Click here to see the program of the action week.
The University of Dreams Action Week has been organised by the University Action Network,
formed in spring 2009 by university students and staff. In the same time, the global
action week Reclaim Your Education takes place around the world. In Finland, university
action weeks are held also in Helsinki and Tampere, among others.
Further information:
University Action Joensuu
Heidi Meriläinen
Tel. +358 44 322 4564
hemerila@cc.joensuu.fi