Tampere Universities have won the Hacking Higher Education competition with their Bazaar concept at Dare to Learn in Helsinki on 20 September. From the outset, the main principle guiding the development of the Bazaar concept has been joint value creation relating to the development of future expertise, such as supporting continuous learning, cooperation on skills and innovativeness. The achievement of these goals will require Tampere Universities to foster a new level of openness and maintain strong links, for example, with alumni and employers. Both internal and external stakeholders have been closely involved in formulating the Bazaar concept.
“Although we are still in the concept phase, it is already clear that we have the keys to creating something unprecedented and revolutionary. We are working to put together a concept that will support the building of lifelong partnerships in a whole new way,”
says Ilkka Haukijärvi, chief specialist at Tampere University.
What lies at the core of the Bazaar concept is an ecosystem and a digital platform that bring together demand and supply, namely people, tools and resources. The ecosystem is made up of not only alumni, students and staff of Tampere Universities but also companies and external organisations. The set of tools available for supporting the development of expertise are provided by Tampere Universities and their trusted partners. The concept challenges existing working methods and operational cultures.
“There is still much to be done to put the concept into practice but we are already well on our way. We will build a hub of expertise that combines all the development efforts that serve the implementation of the Bazaar concept and at the same time ensure that the broad-ranging ecosystem-level transformation continues moving forward seamlessly, naturally in collaboration with our stakeholders”,
Haukijärvi says.
