Lithuanian Nordic Cooperation: Life-long Learning Experience and Common Values 23 February 2011 in the Presidential Palace (S. Daukanto a. 3, Vilnius, Lithuania) Antra Carlsen Nordic Network for Adult Learning Nordic Lithuanian cooperation in a lifelong learning perspective A.C. is a Head-coordinator of the Nordic Network for Adult Learning (NVL) since 2005. The network has been established by the Nordic Council of Ministers (NCM) and unites national representatives from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, and contact persons from autonomous regions Greenland, Faroe Islands and Aaland Islands. NVL works according to the strategy documents of the Nordic Council of Ministers and ensures the exchange of experience, innovative and good practice in the Nordic region within the following priority areas: quality development and competence development within adult learning, recognition of prior learning, and guidance counselling. 1995 2005 Antra has been a Project leader for Nordic Baltic cooperation projects and Northwest Russia development projects under the NCM. Training for adult education practitioners, civic society development, and partnership building between the NGOs and local and national governments have been her fields of responsibility. Antra is the Editor in chief for a regional adult education web-publication DialogueWeb, and leads the editorial board with representatives from 8 countries/autonomous areas; and the member of the editorial board of LLiniE (Lilelong Learning in Europe) magazine. I would like to share my 10 years experience with NO-BA cooperation in adult education, point out the success factors and give some examples of good cooperation and development work. I will touch upon the Nordic value system (Norden som vinnarregion 2005) as the basis of mutual understanding and also grounds for cooperation with other countries. Finally, I will indicate some essential LLL areas that with very good results could be further developed in cooperation between the Nordic countries and Lithuania, as well as the other two Baltic states.
Dovilė Šakalienė Human Rights Monitoring Institute The Concept of Human Dignity. Let s Change. Dovilė Šakalienė is the Programme Director at the Human Rights Monitoring Institute, in charge of programme development, communications, advocacy and awareness raising campaigns. She received her B.S. in Psychology at Vilnius University, and M.A. in Criminal Psychology at Mykolas Romeris University. Mrs. Šakalienė incorporates her business consulting (at Mercuri International) and teaching (at MRU) experience in active human rights work since 2004. Professional and academic interests include children s rights, rights of vulnerable groups, violence in close relations, ethics and value systems, cognitive information processing, extremely violent behaviour. Support for civil society in the context of the strategic Nordic-Baltic cooperation: importance, experience and status quo. Common values, content of democracy and human rights. NGO/State partnership: gaps and possibilities. Ideas for optimization of the learning from Nordic countries process. Gintaras Steponavičius Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Lithuania Lithuanian Nordic cooperation in the field of education and science http://www.smm.lt/apie_ministerija/ministras.htm
Indrė Makaraitytė Journalist, weekly Atgimimas, TV3 (Lithuania) moderator She has been working as the editor of the political weekly Atgimimas for the past ten years. From 2009 she works as the host of the program Weekly Commentaries on TV3. moderator Ivar H. Kristensen Nordic InnovationCentre Innovation as a driving force for green growth Ivar H Kristensen Managing Director, Nordic Innovation Centre E-mail: i.kristensen@nordicinnovation.net Ivar H. Kristensen (43) is the Managing Director of Nordic Innovation Centre (NICe). He holds a Masters degree in Business, with specialization on internationalisation of businesses, and has extensive experience with innovation, entrepreneurship and business development. Before entering NICe, Mr. Kristensen was Head of Advisors in a Norwegian IT solutions company, where he also was responsible for introducing the company into the Nordic and European markets. As the Managing Director of Nordic Innovation Centre, Mr. Kristensen is deeply engaged in NICes mission to stimulate Nordic businesses innovation capabilities and create sustainable growth. Thus, he is a widely known speaker in different innovation forums, conferences and seminars. Nordic Innovation Centre Nordic Innovation Centre (NICe) is an institution under the Nordic Council of Ministers facilitating sustainable growth in the Nordic economies. Our mission is to stimulate innovation, remove barriers and build relations through Nordic cooperation. We encourage innovation in all sectors, build
transnational relationships, and contribute to a borderless Nordic business region. We work with private and public stakeholders to create and coordinate initiatives which help Nordic businesses become more innovative and competitive. Nordic Innovation Centre is located in Oslo, but has projects and partners in all the Nordic countries. Read more at: www.nordicinnovation.net Short explanation of who are and what we do at the Nordic Innovation Center Explain and describe the broad approach to innovation and why it is important to innovate Focus on why innovation is the key driver to green growth. What are the opportunity and strongholds for the Nordic region when it comes to innovation? Why do we need more corporations in our region and what are the added value. Karl-Johan Lehtinen NEFCO Nordic-Baltic Environmental Cooperation Senior Manager Environmental Affairs Describes various means that have been used to improve understanding and technological deficiencies with new environmental technology in the Baltic states in the 1990 until present.
Kastytis GEČAS Lithuanian Innovation Centre Linking research and business balancing the supply and the demand for innovation Since 1995, Dr Kastytis Gečas is Director of the Lithuanian Innovation Centre, the leading institution in Lithuania that provides innovation support services to SMEs and research laboratories. Dr Kastytis Gečas has an extensive experience in innovation development, in particular, in organising innovation support services and also innovation policy development on regional, national, and supra-regional level. He has participated in more than 50 European and Baltic Sea Region-wide innovation support initiatives. He advises Lithuanian public institutions and businesses on innovation and research-industry links, and also acts as an international expert in the EU, Croatia, and Belarus. Innovation is about exploitation of knowledge in favour of commercial success and economical development. Innovation capacity of companies should be balanced with the access to relevant and appropriate knowledge. Research, Development, and Innovation is the complex area where the companies may find business and market opportunities created by researchers. Economic development in the Nordic has been driven by strong publicprivate partnerships involving larger firms working with governments (national and local), research centres and universities and clusters of smaller firms. This triple-helix' model has been essential in strengthening Nordic competitiveness based on the creation and diffusion of knowledge. It also serves as a lead practice being transferred to our country, Lithuania, too.
Kazimierz Musiał University of Gdańsk, Dept. of Scandinavian Studies Nordplus programme as a tool for creating common values in education in the Nordic-Baltic region Academic In the summer 2010 a series of interviews was carried out in order to evaluate the Nordplus programme that encourages cultural and educational exchange between the Nordic and Baltic countries. As a member of the evaluating team that primarily consisted of Norwegian scholars from NIFU I was responsible for conducting interviews in three capitals of the Baltic states where both the coordinators and beneficiaries of the programme participated. Through the interviews much insight was gained to contribute to a better understanding of the Nordic-Baltic relationship and partnership. On this basis a number of examples is given in the presentation to demonstrate progress and challenges experienced in the cooperation based on educational exchange between the Nordic and Baltic partners. Now the evaluation work has been finished it will be presented to the Nordic Council of Ministers very soon and without revealing the eventual conclusion of the report, the presentation gives an account of views from both the Nordic and the Baltic stakeholders on the structure and content of the cooperation. Furthermore, engaging in the cooperation and exchange has led to the emergence of a certain community of values that has a great potential for the common Nordic-Baltic future in the field of education.
Mindaugas Jurkynas Institute of International Relations and Political Science Summing Up Dr. Mindaugas Jurkynas works as associate professor at the Department of European Studies. He has been teaching and publishing on issues of cooperation and conflict in the Nordic-Baltic region and has political experience as former foreign policy advisor to the Prime Minister of Lithuania. Summing Up the Conference Ramūnas Vilpišauskas Institute of International Relations and Political Science, Vilnius University Stocktaking of Nordic-Baltic cooperation: interests, values and learning Prof. Dr. Ramūnas Vilpišauskas is a Director of the Institute of International Relations and Political Science, Vilnius University, since September 2009. He worked for five years (2004-2009) as the Chief Economic Policy Advisor to the President of Lithuania H. E. Valdas Adamkus and the Head of Economic and Social Policy Group at the President s Office. He is also a Professor at the Institute. The main areas of his scholarly interest include European economic and political integration, regionalism and globalization, international political economy, public sector reforms and policy analysis. He studied and did research in a number of institutions including Vilnius University, Lancaster University in Britain, European University Institute in Florence and Columbia University where he stayed as a Fulbright Scholar. In 2002-2003 he was a Visiting Fellow at the EU Center, Global Affairs Institute, Syracuse University (USA) where he taught a course on EU Enlargement. He also gave lectures as a visiting fellow at Carleton University, Toronto University, Creighton University, etc. In 2003-2004, he has been a President of the Lithuanian Political Science Association and a member of the board of the Open Society Foundation and the Civic Society Institute. Currently he is a member of different governmental forums such as the Progress Council, Sunset Commission, High Education Council and others. The presentation focuses on the main economic trends and policies in the Baltic and Nordic countries in the run up to the financial crisis and in
responding to it in recent years, the main comparative indicators of competitiveness, innovation, economic openness and others, possibilities for further economic integration and policy transfer as well as key values dominating in these countries. Rasius Makselis Ministry of Culture Culture as a Catalyst for Creativity and Competitiveness Rasius Makselis is currently the head of strategic planning division at the Ministry of Culture, an author of a number of publications on cultural policy and Creative Industries. Speaker will cover several aspects of culture as a catalyst for creativity and competitiveness. He will also discuss culture as a medium, in which expression and interaction of common values of the Baltic Sea region take place. The speaker will suggest a perspective on culture and creativity as a possible background for future international cooperation in the region.
Susanna Sepponen NordForsk Nordic-Baltic cooperation in the field of research: Towards common research space? Susanna Sepponen works as Senior adviser at NordForsk with the development of NordForsk funding activities and with the Nordic Toplevel Research Initiative within Climate, Energy and Environment. NordForsk was established by the Nordic Council of Ministers in 2005 with the aim of strengthening Nordic research cooperation, and thus promoting the development of the Nordic research and innovation area in Europe and globally. The organisation is funded by the Nordic Council of Ministers and has strong organisational links to the national research funding agencies through its Board. NordForsk facilitates cooperation in research when this adds value to work being conducted in the five Nordic countries. NordForsk identifies important research priorities and supports these financially together with national research financers. NordForsk gives policy advice and creates dialogue between Nordic research and poliy communities. In accordance with the Nordic Council of Ministers guidelines for cooperation with Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, NordForsk supports the establishment of Nordic-Baltic cooperations based on equal priorities and equal involvement. As an example of this, two joint funded Nordic-Baltic researh and innovation programmes were established in 2010, one with the Research Council of Lithuania. The largest joint Nordic research and innovation venture so far is the Top-level Research Initiative on Climate, Energy and Environment, which involves all central Nordic stake-holders within research and innovation and is jointly managed by the three institutions NordForsk, Nordic Innovation Centre and Nordic Energy Research. The initiative has gained great attention in Europe as a model for cross-border financing and governance of research cooperation.