NORDTEK, technical universities network, which up until recently was having members only from five Nordic countries, signed cooperation agreement with BALTECH, which has Kaunas University of Technology (KTU) among its members. “Networking helps to expand mindset and to find new forms of cooperation”, says Peter Göranson, Secretary General of NORDTEK.
The 31 NORDTEK universities are collaborating in the fields of study, research and innovation; the network is encouraging common European projects and contributing to increasing competitiveness of North Europe and Baltic countries in global context of education and research.
“Even if they have great links with business, universities have to cooperate with each other and share good practice and knowledge in order to develop”, says Göranson.
He is convinced that belonging to different networks provides different benefits – some networks and consortiums are focused on pursuing political goals, some are concentrating their efforts in assisting in cooperation with business and local governments. Small networks (consisting of 3-4 members) are capable of solving concrete, practical issues, whereas for large networks this might be complicated.
“NORDTEK, as a network of technical universities is constantly changing, improving and renewing itself, therefore I invite KTU to contribute to its development by supplementing ideas and suggestions, by actively participating in common activities”, encourages Göranson.
He reveals the secret of the high quality of education in Nordic countries: “First of all, student is the central focus of education. If to use market terms: student is the product, which the university provides to the society. Therefore, it is important to understand the challenges of contemporary society, which, in turn makes us understand the importance of an engineer in today’s context”.
Peter Göranson, Secretary General of NORDTEK emphasises the universities’ role in society – they need to respond to the societal needs, by providing solutions for the most relevant issues of today.
