It has been another glorious sunny day in Tampere and today we were also honoured with an increase in temperature. The weather was fully embraced by the Tampere residents evidenced by the busy streets tonight as they basked outside the bars and cafes.
Day 2 of Erasmus began with a tour on TAMK's new sports facilities. Sport is very much integrated into student wellbeing at the University, students can choose from a range of activities, from, wall climbing to spinning, and can also get taster sessions of sports they have not tried before. TAMK is now also looking into why some students are not engaged in sports and incentives to improve their participation.
During the latter half of the morning we were given an overview on TAMK's digital strategy. With a focus on, flexible learning, research and development, analytics and skills development, I could see commonalities with the digital transformation work currently being undertaken at Staffordshire. A progressive strategic initiative is students working on authentic digital projects for the University. One of the projects is the development of the Smart Campus, using data and narratives illustrating how students expect the campus to develop in the future. All student project outputs become an integrated part of the University infrastructure and students receive accreditation for this. The intention of these projects is not only to develop students' creative skills but to also enable students to become change agents. The University also has a network of staff digital mentors who have volunteered to work with other staff to develop their digital skills, similar to the digital champions network that is about to be established at Staffordshire.
In the afternoon we visited Tamper University of Technology, known as TUT and their new library. TUT is Finland's second-largest university in engineering sciences. The sleek light rearrangeable furniture was similar to that in TAMK's library, together with the glass engraved door panels. The descent to the library from the refectory is a Lloyd Wright-esque nod to MOMA. With open learning spaces, bean bagged group study rooms, mobile phone booths, 3 D printers and a virtual reality suite, the library is a combination of practical facilities to suit student needs and innovative experimentation, evidencing its ambition to make the library an adaptable space to enhance the student learning experience.
We concluded the afternoon with a visit to a museum dedicated to someone who some may argue was a contributing architect of modern politics, Lenin, although the museum provides a lot to reflect upon regarding this. Established in 1946 by the Finland–Soviet Union Society, today it is run by the The Finnish Labour Museum Werstas, it was the first museum dedicated to Lenin outside the Soviet Union. Located in the Tampere Workers' Hall. Built in 1900, the building hosted underground meetings of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party in 1905 and 1906. At the 1906 meeting, Lenin met Josef Stalin in person for the first time. It has a permanent exhibition with material related to Lenin's life and the history of the Soviet Union. A highly recommended cultural stop for anybody visiting the city and a satisfying conclusion to our 2nd day, in the city where the sun is still setting at 11pm.
