FARIA Mobility Consortium Workshop

Project idea: FARIA Mobility Consortium for Transformative SDG Innovation

The state governments of Colorado, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota and Washington have signed Memoranda of Understanding with Finland to increase collaboration in various areas of mutual interest. Research and Innovation collaboration is highlighted and encouraged in all of them. The Finnish-American Research & Innovation Accelerator is active in the MoU signatory states and parts of California

Idea in a nutshell:.

FARIA seeks to establish a mobility consortium consisting of Finnish higher education institutions and key universities in FARIA focus states to support these new frameworks with a concrete mechanism that contributes to the envisioned deepening of relationships. Focus will be on predominantly short-term mobility (1-3 weeks) of academics, university staff, selected company representatives and doctoral students under the umbrella theme of “Transformative SDG Innovation”.

We propose to organize a one-week training/teaching period in Finland for U.S.-colleagues once per year, which serves as anchor event and will be partly hosted in Helsinki, and partly at participating member universities. This training week serves as mutual platform for connecting our stakeholders in Finland and U.S. around the SDGs, while showcasing joint and individual strengths.

Individual short term mobilities that can be pursued throughout the year to deepen the emerging SDG-centered relations will complement the training week concept.

Funding for mobility activities will be applied for via ERASMUS+ (EU funding instrument for inbound and outbound mobility).

Why:

· Achievements of SDGs is a joint global endeavor where universities are in the central position. Finland globally leading in SDG-implementation progress. USA leading nation in RDI, able to scale and important for global impact.

· Almost all universities connect their work somehow to SDGs. Thus, the SDG umbrella provides on the one side a specific theme for collaboration but is on the other side so broad that many activities can be linked to the consortium and support university specific strengths and interests

· Establish funded and easily accessible mobility scheme which allows actors from Fin and U.S. target states to deepen collaboration in a flexible manner

· Mobility serves to connect respective innovation systems, win “champions for Finland” and prepare the grounds for more substantial collaborations between Finnish member universities and U.S.-institutions.