Movi's summer school strengthened skills and created unforgettable memories
Europe Forum is a project for FORTHEM Alliance students, where students meet and work in virtual sessions four times a semester in a specific language. Each session includes a responsible teacher from one of the FORTHEM universities who introduces the students to the topic, and co-teachers from other FORTHEM universities to assist and moderate small group work and discussions in breakout rooms. The focus of the meetings is on students’ virtual multicultural small group according to the theme and the tasks assigned, and on joint discussions and presentations - always in the language in question.
After starting, it was realised that, in addition to the virtual sessions, students and also teachers needed to meet physically. The Europe Forum project team got down to business looking at possibilities. A physical meeting in German to support the virtual German language sessions for the calendar year 2023 was held at Johannes Gutenberg Universität Mainz in spring 2024 as FORTHEM Collective Short Term Mobility. The English language physical meeting supporting the 2024 English virtual sessions took place at the University of Jyväskylä in June 2025 as an Erasmus Blended Intensive Programme mobility.
Movi, the Centre for Multilingual Academic Communication, which coordinates the Europe Forum at the University of Jyväskylä, organised a physical meeting as a summer school on 9-13 June 2025. Only 40 students could be selected for the physical week, but there were little over 200 applicants for the summer school. In the end, 35 students and eight teachers from eight different FORTHEM universities arrived in the cool early summer Jyväskylä.
Strengthening skills for the future
The Europe Forum's main theme is to promote intercultural dialogue and raise knowledge and awareness of European values and languages. From the students' perspective, the main learning objectives are to develop and strengthen their interaction skills in a foreign language and to gain experience of intercultural communication and working in multicultural groups. In turn, through co-teaching, teachers develop their professional skills by learning new pedagogical practices and tools from each other.
The theme of Movi's summer school was Stronger for Europe. The sessions around this theme focused on developing the students' own skills and community. Topics such as working life communications, preparing for job interviews and creativity were addressed. During the group work, the students' own knowledge, experiences and opinions were built up into shared views in international small groups on, e.g. the potential and importance of AI in the future working life, European values and multiculturalism, and the positioning of others in today’s Europe.
By strengthening individuals' own starting points by providing opportunities for cooperation and networking, we will together build a stronger Europe for the future. The teachers who participated in the summer school held a workshop on practical ways to strengthen and develop cooperation between the Europe Forum and teachers.
The week's activities were based on a structure of virtual sessions. The responsible teacher introduced the topic assisted by other teachers, with a focus on active small group work by students using different working methods and tools, and on different final presentations. There were long lunch breaks between the morning and afternoon sessions, so that the contacts and friendships already made in the virtual sessions could be deepened in the Finnish summer landscape.
Diana Kanaan, Europe Forum Project Manager at Johannes Gutenberg Universität Mainz, considered the Movi Summer School a great success: 'It has been really inspiring to meet face-to-face with both colleagues and students here in Jyväskylä. This physical summer school has been a great complement to our virtual sessions and plays an important role in strengthening the European spirit."
The organisers were also satisfied with the week. "The varied pedagogical solutions and the relaxed and supportive learning environment of the week contributed significantly to the exchange of opinions and the expression of ideas in English. Students and teachers alike agreed that the learning outcomes exceeded expectations and were excellent," sums up Sylvia Ylinen-Rauscher, university lecturer at Movi.
The summer school also made an impression on the international teachers "I really enjoyed working in this international setting. It was a very special atmosphere of ideas, optimism and open-mindedness, both from the teachers and from the students. I am thankful to take all this inspiration home with me, along with lovely memories of Finnish food, lakes and sauna”, thanks Elisabeth Poleschinski from Université Bourgogne Europe.
Experiences and friendships best part of summer school
As the Europe Forum's physical meetings were originally based on the students' wish to deepen the contacts made in the virtual sessions, the leisure programme also played an important role in Movi's summer school. In addition to group work and co-teaching, students and teachers were able to get to know Finland and summer Jyväskylä through various activities. The programme included a tour of the campus and a treasure hunt, a cruise on Lake Jyväsjärvi, sauna and swimming, nature walks and tasting local food. Students from the University of Jyväskylä also introduced the international students to the city and its nightlife, and the students also organised independently excursions to the surrounding area and to the city's museums and landscapes.
Students Leonora Bertini from Johannes Guteberg Unversität Mainz, Gunita Aboltina from the University of Latvia and Zuzanna Dudajek from Opole University attended Europa Forum sessions to improve their language skills and/or meet students from other countries and gain new experiences of working in international teams. The summer school that followed the virtual sessions was a pleasant surprise all round. "I thought it would be a more traditional summer school with lectures and group work, but it turned out to be a very varied, professional and inspiring workshop every day. I developed enormously both professionally and personally during this week - I am stronger in every way," says Leonora.
Gunita also stresses the importance of the friendships that were deepened during the week. "The week was great. I needed this to believe in the goodness of people again in the current state of the world. There was no competition or judging during the week, just working together and supporting each other. We were and are one team," Gunita concludes. For Zuzanna as well the summer school far exceeded all expectations.
Finland, Jyväskylä and the Finns also made an impression on the trio. Finns, stereotypically thought to be reserved, turned out to be relaxed, friendly and very fluent in English. The greenery and cleanliness of the city and campus, as well as the good infrastructure, were praised. "Everything seems to work and be safe in a beautiful natural environment - fantastic!" the students say almost in unison. However, there is one minor criticism - the bright summer nights that disrupt the daily rhythm. "However, it offers a great opportunity to study, and especially to network, around the clock," the trio laughs.
The summer school also provided an opportunity for University of Jyväskylä students to network and internationalise at home. "During the sessions and free time, it was a pleasure to see people genuinely getting invested into in different tasks and helping, supporting and encouraging others. It was a pleasure to see that there was such an atmosphere of trust in the lessons that students dared to share their own personal and sensitive experiences. In addition to this, the great spirit of sharing was also evident during free time - during karaoke, which was part of the evening activities, students from different countries were enthusiastic about performing karaoke hits from their home countries”, says Jenni Mannila, who participated in the summer school and assisted the international students.
"Participating in the project gave me a good basis for working as an international tutor in the coming academic year and strengthened my confidence in tutoring. I also got to know new friends in Finland and around Europe. Experiences like this remind me that each individual has a unique story to tell, and I really enjoyed listening to them. Meeting different people and learning from other participants were the most important experiences of this course for me," Jenni sums up.
Movi will continue to invest in internationalisation studies for the students in the future. Summer courses as short mobility courses are being continued and Movi is also considering organising other similar events. In addition, Movi will offer more opportunities for internationalisation at home, i.e. internationalisation in one's own home country, when the new curriculum period starting in the autumn semester of 2024 will include a study module on multilingual and intercultural interaction skills. "The purpose of the module is, among other things, to make visible the international experience that has been acquired through other means than participation in a traditional long student exchange and to help students reflect on and articulate what kind of international skills they have acquired through this experience," says Juhani Moisio, expert in Movi.
