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FUTURE PERSPECTIVES OF FINNISH-RUSSIAN COOPERATION IN NON-FORMAL ADULT EDUCATION
V. Torvinen
Finland and Russia - reliable neighbors. Finland and Russia share long common history and significant international learning process having led life together and apart - and since 1917 as independent neighbors. We have developed valuable trust and mutual understanding while having big cultural diversities. Russian citizens are visiting Finland more and more often and these well-paying tourists play prominent role in Finnish regional economics. Allegro train has shortened distance between Helsinki and St. Petersburg into 3.5 hours. Finnish enterprises make good business in Russia which is an encouraging signal in the times when Finnish economy is seeking for better future perspectives.
We should overcome our cultural barriers and start working together as a real team. Taking into account our common path in history and lessons learned Finnish-Russian cooperation could go deeper and make socio-cultural progress reaching a new qualitative stage. In global world and intensifying competition we should overcome our cultural barriers and start working together as a real team - in order to release the hidden creative potential of our national characters. We should discover our cultural differences as an strategic asset for future.
The tensions in the society should be channeled into constructive dialogue. We share same kind of political challenges as to sustainable civic society development. For example we should reach the groups that don’t normally participate in adult education - immigrants, retired, unemployed, small business entrepreneurs, men in the agricultural areas, and groups in the danger of social exclusion or with learning difficulties. The tensions in the society should be channeled into constructive dialogue and cooperation for the benefit of the whole community - by means of innovative adult education methods.
Global change process affects the role of teachers and the culture of educational institutions. Educational needs of our both societies are affected by demographic changes, globalization, new communication technology and changes in economic structures and the public sector, posing a challenge for civic society development and citizen education system. The change goes beyond geographic boundaries, administrative and organizational reforms.
We need a creative team in order to design a common strategy. What we need here is a common will to create together a new learning culture established on new cultural interaction. We need a creative team in order to design a common strategy, which strives for new non-formal education culture including citizen education and citizen value assessment and new moral value assessment and new moral code community development.
Moral code and social welfare. The strategy should cover citizen value assessment and new moral code. It would mean redesign of current non-formal educational institutions, new role of state, designing of new financing system, municipal level contribution. All major institutional stakeholders (authorities, political
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parties, religious organizations) should participate and give their contribution to this strategy design and further implementation process. The project could be carried out simultaneously in Finland and Russia.
Moreover, Finland and Russia could meet the future economic and social challenges much better by cooperating also at civic society development level. We could learn from each other. For example creativity is strength of Russian nation and Finnish society is famous for the tradition of how to care for the individuals and people.
Human life and dignity are the main priority. Nowadays when values are changing harder and humanity is put to the test we should be striving for the foundations of a society where human life and dignity are the main priority. This is where can learn from each other. As we all know, a nation cannot survive without a national philosophy or ideology or rather a system of values. We also know that active, constructive civic society is a precondition for prosperous, sustainable economy as well.
Challenge of realistic social vision and strategy. There is a risk that intellectual communities in our both countries lack a realistic vision and strategy how to find a way to balanced social welfare. We should acknowledge that it seems to be more and more difficult to cope with negative social phenomenon like racism and political extremism. There could be something to be done here, also by educational means, in the field of lifelong and non-formal learning.
Towards new adult educational innovations and institutions. Bearing in mind that social life is more and more complex and there is evident need for sincere dialogue between citizens and authorities - this poses once again a challenge and chance for lifelong education and citizen education. We have in both countries a free flow of information with active social media and people have gotten used to acting on their own as individuals.
Being independent countries and reliable neighbors on Earth we can acknowledge our strengths and shortcomings and create new cultural energy by intensive team wok which could lead into new models of citizen and community education. This kind of strategic cooperation could open new visions and create new social culture with innovations and institutions..
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