Employment in a global context The Swedish Council of Higher Education’s contribution to a global resource pool

September 18 – 19, 2013 Sida, Valhallavägen 199, Stockholm

Two days of active discussions Over 150 participants took part in the seminar Employment in a global context, which was held at Sida in Stockholm and hosted by The Swedish Council for Higher Education. The seminar gave the participants inspiring lectures, practical workshops, a panel discussion and a possibility for varying exchange of experiences. Introduction to the seminar and the overall theme Sten Vesterman, Head of Department at the Swedish Council for Higher Education, opened the seminar and Programme Officer, Johan Leidi, presented the theme of the seminar and explained the idea behind the programme. The first day of the seminar was focused on discussions regarding various definitions, goals and results that has an impact on all of the different programmes that The Swedish Council for Higher Education administrates and are responsible for. This includes programmes such as Linnaeus-Palme, Minor Field Studies, Sidas travel grant, The Youth Trainee programme and Athena.

2  Universitets- och högskolerådet 2013



Involving young people to strengthen the resource pool The first session of day one was a panel discussion where the topic of an international career for young people and being part of the swedish resource pool was discussed. The members of the panel represented different organizations and institutions such as Sida, Umeå University, Chamber Trade Sweden, We Effect and The Swedish Council for Higher Education. What they have in common is that they are all involved in strengthening the so called resource pool in various ways. Throughout the discussion in the debate it was quite clear that the different panel members sought a closer cooperation with each other, in order to support and encourage young people in Sweden to aim for an international career. Charlotte Kalin, CEO, Chamber Trade Sweden, pointed out that in order to keep up with international competition from countries such as India, China and Brasil, we have to make sure that young people gain international experience from work abroad. Christian Lien, Head of Department of Capacity Development at Sida, agreed upon the importance of international experience and in order to find new and improved ways to cooperate with the private sector we need to know more about each others possibilities and needs. Christian Lien ad- ded that we have to aim for relations beyond aid, in order to achieve progressive mutual cooperation.

• • • • • •

Christian Lien, Head of Capacity Development Unit, Sida Gun Sparrhoff, Senior Lecturer, Department of Education, Umeå University Charlotte Kalin, CEO, Chamber Trade Sweden David Fältén, Trainee Coordinator, We Effect Josefin Peterson, Operation Development Manager, Swedish Council for Higher Education Moderator: Jenny Collste, Program Manager, Sida Partnership Forum

Universitets- och högskolerådet 2013  3

The role of the programmes Maria Kaarto, Programme Officer, Swedish Council for Higher Education, continued the discussion regarding resource pool from the panel debate and linked international experience for young people to the programmes managed by The Swedish Council for Higher Education. Participation in any of the programmes can be a starting point for young people in their forthcoming international career and therefore plays an important role. Maria explained how the different programmes comply with Swedish policies and politics for global development. Maria also mentioned the joint overhaul concerning the programmes (financed by Sida) that Sida and the Swedish Council for Higher Education are currently working on.

Can we measure everything? Janet Vähämäki, PhD Candidate, SCORE, Stockholm University, spoke about her research regarding measurments and how the needs to measure, in order to be able to present results, has changed over the years. According to Janet and her research, the need to measure in order to simplify and display results have grown rapidly and nowadays common in a lot of various sectors in society. Even though it is good to measure results, in order to make sure that you are doing the right things, Janet were also critical to measuring too much and pointed out that measurement should be a tool but that organisations, that for instance work with development/ aid, have to be careful and not let the tool become the goal in itself.

4  Universitets- och högskolerådet 2013



Networking session and inspiring discussions about internationalisation in higher education

Universitets- och högskolerådet 2013  5

Networking session and exhange of experiences During the afternoon session, the participants had the opportunity to network with other professionals. The participants had earlier on written questions and topics for discussion on notes which were placed in black hats - The question in the hat - with each hat representing a certain region and a certain topic. The participants where divided into groups based upon what region and what topic they had an interest in due to their ongoing projects in the programmes Linnaeus-Palme, Minor Field Studies and the Youth Trainee Programme.

6  Universitets- och högskolerådet 2013



Networking session and inspiring discussions about internationalisation in higher education

Universitets- och högskolerådet 2013  7

Entertainment After an intense first day, the participators had a chance to mingle to the sounds of Brazil. Teachers and students from Örebro University, University of the State of Rio de Janeiro (UNIRIO) and University of Brasilia, presented live music to the joy of everyone at the seminar. Incredibly talented musicians!

8  Universitets- och högskolerådet 2013



The question in the hat: What challenges do you see in having an international exchange in your region/field/discipline?

Universitets- och högskolerådet 2013  9

The Swedish Council for Higher Education Ulf Melin, Director General, The Swedish Council for Higher Education, informed the participators about the resonsibilites that the agency holds since the merger. Having grown considerably, Melin believes that the Swedish Council for Higher Education will be even more efficient when it comes to questions regarding higher education and felt sure many positive effects from the merger will be found in the future. Ulf Melin also talked about Erasmus+, the new education programme within the European Unionen which will start in 2014.

10  Universitets- och högskolerådet 2013



News about Linnaeus-Palme and Minor Field Studies were presented during the seminar

Universitets- och högskolerådet 2013  11

Student insurance Erland Törngren, Head of Section and Liselott Hollman, Area Manager, the Swedish Legal, Financial and Administrative Services Agency (Kammarkollegiet) talked about different options and solutions regarding students involved in exchange programmes. A number of questions concerning group insurance, personal insurance and rights when being abroad where asked and answered. Daily allowance for Palme-teachers The Swedish Tax Agency had been invited to answer questions and to define regulations and rules for teachers involved in teachers exchange connected to the Linnaeus-Palme programme.

12  Universitets- och högskolerådet 2013



The staff at the Swedish Council for Higher Education wishes to thank everyone involved in this years seminar. We hope to see you next year again!

Universitets- och högskolerådet 2013  13