Workshop for international students in Jyväskylä

As a part of gathering insights and experiences from the target audience of the MILEstone project, the City of Jyväskylä hosted a short workshop for the international students and representatives of the students unions: Jamko - Jamk University of Applied Sciences, JYY - University of Jyväskylä, Humako - Humak University of Applied Sciences international students from. This workshop was held in tandem with the regular collaboration meetings the City of Jyväskylä arranges with the educational institutions. The purpose of this meeting and workshop was to gather opinions from the international students themselves regarding their settling down phase, finding work alongside studies and overall integration in the region. Another objective of the meeting was to impart up-to-date information on the services and support measures available in Jyväskylä for international students. This information will be accommodated in Jyväskylä’s Baseline Study as well.

In all 10 representatives from the student unions and 5 City of Jyväskylä employees took part in the workshop. The participants were encouraged to map out their own knowledge and perception of the available services and support measures with the help of Padlet and compare that to the extensive list of services provided to them at the end of the workshop. Most of the international students are usually interested in staying in the region after their studies and building their lives and careers in Jyväskylä/Central Finland. The workshop brought up important discussions regarding various aspects and topics that affect their overall integration in the region and sense of belongingness, what are the short comings and immediate challenges they are facing at present and how do they see their future prospects given the present labour market situation.

International students are one of the key subgroups (so called) among the target audience of the project, because they form a huge talent and potential pool to tap into for the regional employers and businesses. Heartfelt gratitude to the participants for their valuable time and inputs. The City of Jyväskylä seeks to gather more experiences and insights from other subgroups as well with the help of additional workshops during the course of the project - for the improvement of the public policy instrument, which is at the heart of the MILEstone project endeavours.