Vision and prospects
Work on the vision for higher education and research for 2040 nears completion.
Text santeri palviainen English translation Marko Saajanaho
Stakeholders have been active participants in these preparations, but somehow it feels as though things have been left unsaid and unaddressed in the background. One fo these is the method and quality of human interaction in higher education institutions. How are teachers, researchers, and students positioned in relation to each other in 2040?
While basic, this question is essential because it guides many ongoing reorganisation processes, especially space solutions whose price tag in a world of dwindling resources is well known. The answer to the previously posed question guides the planning of spaces for working – preparing and holding lessons, guidance, conducting research, and many other functions.
The recent pandemic-induced remote working methods are still finding their shape. Many students want flexibility in remote, in-person, or hybrid learning based on their personal preferences, and many teachers and researchers enjoy similar freedom.
What remains unclear is the consequences of us voluntarily choosing virtual work without physical human contact. Such pressure is not felt on the same scale in the more central parts of Europe, or elsewhere for that matter. For example, conferences mostly remain in-person events, although remote attendance methods are also emerging.
However, some part of the science community’s internal interaction is lost when working remotely.
The world will not improve by forcing it. Quite some time ago, one university introduced the practice of requiring their teaching and research staff on-site at their workstation four days a week. Naturally, this was opposed as it violated the collective agreement even at the time, but the practice was only formally repealed recently.
The organisation of teaching and research staff must come from the community itself, and the structures have to support this instead of restricting working methods. In the government sector, there have been discussions of physical presence at workstations despite, arithmetically, there being no such workstations. Universities have not experienced such development.
There is still a possibility for a teacher-researcher to keep doing their job on campus. This should not be spoiled, because the consequences could be far-reaching.
