FORTHEM Alliance

FORTHEM
Published
17.11.2023

Partner universities

FORTHEM in a nutshell

Funding


FORTHEM Alliance is a European Universities network, supported by the European Commission. The Alliance started as one of the pilot alliances in 2019. In November 2022, the Alliance moved to the second funding period, until October 2026. Read more about European Universities Initiative

Governance Structure


A centralised administration, called the General Secretariat, has been set up. It will make the transfer of knowledge, information and best practices easier, support alliance-wide decision making, centralize certain services, such as communication, IT and law for the whole alliance and increase the visibility of FORTHEM beyond the alliance. FORTHEM Presidency, Steering Committee and Coordination Commission are chaired with a rotation system involving all nine partner universities. The change of the chair takes place every year in January. This will give each university the opportunity to take an important role in managing the activities of the alliance and provide representation at the highest levels. 
 

Missions 



FORTHEM Alliance activities are based on five missions, and each of them has a Mission Board. The University of Jyväskylä is in charge of the Skills & Competences mission.

The JYU representatives (and their deputies) in the main governance bodies of the Alliance

  • FORTHEM Presidency: Rector Jari Ojala
  • FORTHEM Steering Committee:  Vice Rector Marja-Leena Laakso (Director of Student and Academic Services Mari Ikonen)
  • FORTHEM Coordination Commission: Project Manager Sanna Väisänen (International Coordinator Laura Laamanen)
  • Skills and Competences Mission Board: Director of Movi Peppi Taalas (Professor Maija Nissinen)
  • Labs and Co-Creation Mission Board: University Lecturer Tamás Péter Szabó (Professor Tarja Nikula-Jäntti)
  • Service to Society Mission Board: Director of Student and Academic Services Mari Ikonen (Career Specialist Reija Häkkinen)
  • European Campus Mission Board: Professor Anne Pitkänen-Huhta (International Coordinator Auli Pitkänen)
  • Research, Innovation and Transfer Mission Board: Vice Rector Pasi Raiskinmäki (Senior Specialist Timo Taskinen)


In addition, in the Internal Advisory Council, JYU is represented by Development Director Jarkko Pirkkalainen. In the External Advisory Council, Mayor Timo Koivisto and Project Manager Nina Rautiainen are members.

The representatives in the FORTHEM Student Council are Eemeli Takanen (1.1.2024-31.12.2025) and Siiri Liimatainen (1.1.2025-31.12.2026)

In the FORTHEM General Secretariat, Career Specialist Reija Häkkinen acts as General Assistant.

University of Jyväskylä is in charge of the Skills & Competences Mission, where Päivi Kananen acts as Mission Board Manager and Päivi Kousa as Task Manager. Peppi Taalas is the chair of the Mission Board.

FORTHEM steering group at JYU

Rector of the University of Jyväskylä has appointed an internal steering group at the University of Jyväskylä, to support our participation in the Alliance and to make sure the activities are in line with JYU strategic development.

  • Vice Rector Marja-Leena Laakso, chair
  • Director of Student and Academic Affairs Mari Ikonen, vice chair
  • Digijohtaja Ari Hirvonen, Digipalvelut
  • Vice Dean Anne Pitkänen-Huhta, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
  • Development Director Jarkko Pirkkalainen, Division of Policy & Planning
  • Vice Rector Pasi Raiskinmäki
  • Senior Lecturer Tamás Péter Szabó, Department of Teacher Education
  • Director Peppi Taalas, Movi
  • Student Union representative
  • Project Manager Sanna Väisänen, secretary of the Steering Group
     

Contacts

FORTHEM