Media students created future media culture in Liepaja

Our delegation of ten students and two lecturers has returned from the second two week Media Culture 2020 workshop held in Liepaja, Latvia. The first workshop was in Tampere in April.

Media Culture 2020 is an Erasmus Intensive Programme. The project demonstrates what 21th century converged and interactive European Media Culture could be. MC2020 breaks classroom and campus walls by creating open virtual learning environments where students from different countries and fields can explore and learn together.

You can find all projects done by the students, presentations by the lecturers and daily reports from both Tampere and Liepaja workshops on the project blog http://mediaculture2020.blogspot.fi/

The 50 participants in Liepaja and 40 in Tampere were art, film, media and business students from Liepaja University, Utrecht School of Arts, University of Vic, University of Lincoln and TAMK.



The project was started on-line by preparing the projects in teams and participa-
ting in on-line lectures. On the big picture the Dutch team at the Ubiquitous
Media lecture given by Björn Stockleben (third small pic fron left) in one of the
five Google Hangout plenaries.




The main form of activity was team work, but ...




...there was also lectures and votes...




...and intensive debates.




Each team hosted their national cultural evening. Here team Latvia
members introduce traditional Latvian masks




Every day the teams presented the assignments and progress of their
projects to receive feedback




Freetime at last at the weekend. Exploring the old Russian fort in Karosta



On the second but last evening all seven teams presented their
projects to the international audience of the iWeek Festival in Liepaja
(Photo: Graham Cooper)




The last day was about finalising all the work and a long feedback plenary.
René Lansink (Utrech School of the Arts) assessing students projects
with Graham Cooper (Lincoln University)




Incredible how fast two weeks can pass. TAMK students saying
thanks and bye at Riga airport.

"A trip to paradise..."

...at least this is how one of the participants discribed it...

After over one week full of lectures and group work it was time for some well-deserved relaxation for the participants of the intensive programme "Traditional Food in combating food-borne pathogens".
And what Finns call a "normal summerday at the cottage" was a welcomed and very impressive change for the international group of students from all over Europe.

The IP participants enjoy the nice weather

We spent the afternoon at a typical Finnish cottage in Kangasala next to the lake 'Matalajärvi'. The weather was great, so everyone could enjoy the sauna and a refreshing dip in the lake. For some of them it was the first time ever in a Finnish sauna and therefore a great new experience.

 Professional instructor in Finnish sauna culture: Ms Leila Kakko

 

Fresh chanterelles and blueberries from the forest

Apart from the sauna there was the possibility to enjoy Finnish nature by collecting wild blueberries in the forest, which also suited the topic of the intensive programme very well. There were even some chanterelles found - and the self-picked berries and mushrooms were also a nice addition to the dinner.

 

Dinner with flamed salmon, fresh bread and salads

 The food was very Finnish and very tasty. Minced elk soup, pumpkin soup and rhubarb pie for lunch and flamed salmon freshly from the fire, salads, fresh bread, selfmade buns and pancakes for dinner. A very  special thank you goes to Ms Arja Luiro who made the effort to cook the delicious food for everyone - "the best salmon I ever ate", as someone said.

The participants with Leila Kakko, Arja Luiro and dog Rolle

All in all it was a nice and relaxing afternoon in the nature and gave everyone a bit of new strength to keep working on their group projects and the big final presentation on Friday.

Text & Photos: Annika Dillenburger, Trainee, International Services

Intensive programme has started at TAMK...

Start-up lecture by Mr Philippe Mongondry from ESA Angers, France

Yesterday the IP "Traditional Food in combating food-borne pathogens" has started on TAMK's premises. Besides TAMK students also foreign students and teachers from France, Italy, Hungary, Austria, Slovenia, Malta, Spain and Croatia are participating in the programme.

The first day went very well with lots of information and lectures and ended deliciously with the European Dinner in the evening, where the students from every country could introduce their local delicacies to the others.

TAMK lecturer and co-organizer of the programme Ms Leila Kakko is explaining about Finnish food

France showed its sweet side...

Ham, goat cheese and wine from Croatia

During the next two weeks the students will work in groups on different topics related to Finnish foods and beverages and present their findings to the teachers and other students at the end of the programme.

Text & Photos: Annika Dillenburger, Trainee, International Services

Advertising campaigns for companies by European Advertising Teams

The management of SARAR company with IP participants

European Advertising Teams - EUTA IP 2013 was organised in Eskisehir, Turkey. Altogether around 40 students and staff members from Belgium, Finland, the Netherlands, Spain, Turkey and UK took part in LLP Erasmus intensive programme.  From Tampere University of Applied Sciences, Finland six students participated the IP: Hanna Nelimarkka & Satu Majava from TAMK Virrat, Degree Programme in Media, Scriptwriting and Visual Expression, exchange students Gabriella Fodor & Petra Turi from TAMK Virrat and from Tampere Laura Heininen & Jaana Syrjälä from the Degree Programme in Tourism. The coordinator of the team from Finland was Senior Lecturer in Marketing Pirkko Varis.

Demonstration of SARAR products

Advertising and media expert presentation

Students were divided into multicultural teams to work with company assignments. From each of the countries one company had given an assignment to the IP. The main task of the students was to plan a marketing communications and an advertising campaign for the European markets. Special lectures were given by experts in marketing communications and advertising to give students guidance in their work. Staff members of the universities worked as coaches for the teams. Students built up marketing communications strategies, campaign plans and produced creative solutions for the companies. Each of the team worked hard across the multinational boundaries and produced several campaigns for the companies.

Teams working

 

From Finland the assignment was given by Iittala. The aim was to raise brand awareness and sales of the vases and bowls of Alvar Aalto Collection among the selected target audience in Europe, to influence on the target audience, to raise the recognition of Aalto on social media in European markets, and to design an integrated marketing communications campaign including both traditional media and internet, online & social media. The student team from Finland did a market survey before the IP and the multicultural team worked with the assignment in Turkey. The company got the results of the work and is able to use suggested ideas in its operations.

 

Presentation of one team

Pirkko Varis with other judges listening to presentations

Team Iittala with certificates

To work in a multicultural team with a real-life assignment was a very positive experience. In addition to the study programme, some visits to the region and cultural programme were organized.  More about the experiences and feelings you can find in the Facebook.

We did it! Happy IP participants

Text: The team from Finland

Photos: Staff of Anadolu University

Erasmus IP: See me! - Creative methods with youngsters at TAMK.

Erasmus Intensive Programme for Social Services studies has begun on Monday the 13th of May. In total, there are over 60 participants, both teachers and students from six countries: Lithuania, Spain, Hungary, Germany, Netherlands and Finland.

See Me! Erasmus IP participants during the introduction day

During the two week programme the participants will get to know each other, work and study together and familiarize themselves a little with Finland and it's culture as well. In the programme there are several different workshops, visits and a lot of international teamwork!

Course participants prepared some special treats and drinks as a greeting from their region for the students and teachers of other countries. How nice!

See Me! -learning style. Fun!

Teamwork for the win!

Students and treats from Sevilla

Here in Finland we have this thing called Letkajenkka

Text: Panu Alanko
Photos: Sanna-Maria Anttila & Eveliina Anttila

Erasmus Intensive Program: Forests and Storms at TAMK

International cooperation course in Erasmus Intensive Program on forests and storms ends in good but wishful spirits. The Program was organized at Tampere University of Applied Sciences lasting from March 14th to March 27th.

Portuguese students enjoying Finnish spring weather and trying out the snowshoes!

A two-week intensive course on forests and storms at TAMK came to its end yesterday. Almost 40 students and 15 teachers from 5 different European countries had a busy time learning and lecturing about things like climate change, storms and bioenergy. Besides the lectures and group-working, the participants had the chance to see some forestry activities in practice and visit e.g. the SMEAR (Station for measuring ecosystem-atmosphere relations) –station of Helsinki University 60 kilometers north of Tampere.

Forests and Storms field trip – Logging excursion

Although the weather was exceptionally cold for this time or the year the students and teachers really enjoyed the activities on snow on free-time. Everybody tried cross-country skiing and walking with snow shoes. One Romanian student proved to be a real fisherman – his catch was five perches from a hole on the frozen lake. The Spanish young men were brave enough to try ice-swimming - in water with temperature close to zero degrees Celsius!

Visiting teachers testing another very Finnish thing to do, cross-country skiing.

One of the unforgettable experiences for the visitors was undoubtedly the northern lights, aurora borealis, which they could observe on the night of March 17th. At these latitudes it is very exceptional to see so impressive electromagnetic activity.

The IP Forests and Storms was realized for the third time. Previously it has been in Bazas, France in 2010 and in Palencia, Spain in 2011. The IP was coordinated by ELEPFA de Bazas and the other participating universities were University of Valladolid (Spain), Transilvania University of Brasov (Romania), Polytechnic Institute of Bragança (Portugal), Polytechnic Institute of Castelo Branco (Portugal) and Tampere University of Applied Sciences.

The Erasmus Intensive Program: Forests and Storms participants.

Text: Ari Vanamo

Photos: Ari Vanamo, Manne Viljamaa & Raul Araujo

TAMK hosted Erasmus Intensive Programme in Sustainable Tourism

Grilling sausages in Seitseminen National Park

The last two weeks we had extremely nice and instructive time during the project course about Sustainable tourism management! Course’s aim was to analyse three different destinations in Tampere from sustainable point of view: city centre, Pyynikki and Seitseminen national park. So we had a great time by making these destinations familiar for our visitors from Spain and United Kingdom! Based on our experiences and lectures we had to make a presentation in mixed groups about our proposals for those destinations.

On a first day all three nationalities had presentations about their culture which was really interesting and good opening for the weeks. The visitors could even taste a little piece of Finland: Finnish salmiakki, but it didn’t get so great admiration. I just have to wonder why!;) We Finns also arranged a welcoming party where everyone had a good chance to make new friends and enjoy their time.

Our first destination was city center where the majority of students went to see Tuomio church, the Main Square, Finlayson, market hall and Vapriikki-museum. There was a little snow storm during our walk, but we solved the problem by drinking hot cup of coffee in Vapriikki-museum till snowing was over.

The trip to our second destination, Pyynikki and Pispala area, was a whole new experience for the majority of our visitors! They were thrilled about wooden residential area of Pispala, tasted the best donuts of Tampere in Pyynikki observation tower and walked on an icy like for the first time. In addition the weather was lovely because sun was shining.

Walking on a lake in Pyynikki

City Tour and Tallipiha

Our final destination was Seitseminen national park where we Finns arranged different kind of activities outdoors. First there was a short document about the nature of Seitseminen and after that we had a walk in a forest. Few people took a sled with them and there was a lot of screaming when they went down the hills! After our nice walk we grilled some sausages on a campfire and enjoyed our delicious picnic lunch. Before leaving we played football in the snow, skied a little bit and played Finnish game mölkky.

Team working

After long days of teamwork finally every team succeed and made good presentations. Now it is time for the final party and we have to say good bye.

Writer: Niina Väisänen, student in Tourism in Ikaalinen Campus