Less than a week left before the International Week “Collaboration for the Future: from Technology to Person” begins. The event will held online from March 29^th to April 2^nd and will bring together the academic community and representatives of the business world. We invite you meet participants of this year’s International Week, actively participate in the event, attend workshops and develop and strengthen international relations.

“Importance of internationalizing and collaboration”
March 29^th 10.15

Noora Kahra works in International Services at Tampere University of Applied Sciences, Finland. She is a Senior Adviser, concentrating on the international strategic partnerships of TAMK. N. Kahra has a long background in international affairs of higher education, working to promote internationalizing within the community of university of applied sciences.

“I want to encourage staff members, both lecturers and support staff to engage into international activities. I strongly believe that by doing this, our students benefit from it in many ways. Internationalising can be so much more than exchanges and possibilities are endless, especially when co-operation is followed by collaboration. But it needs to involve us all. Internationalising fosters collaboration and the value of both is not only in the outcomes but in the impact both can create,” says N. Kahra.

“Technologies Today. What Happens Next?”
March 29^th 10.50–11.30

Mr. Elijus Čivilis currently leads LTG Digital at the largest railway group in Baltic states with responsibility to drive digital transformation at the front seat. In his previous role he was vice-minister at the Ministry of Economy and Innovation leading national “Digital Agenda”. Previous to that, he spent more than twelve years at IBM.

In his presentation Mr. Čivilis will demystify technology phenomena explaining the concept of digital transformation and role of emerging technologies. You will be given some real use cases on how technologies shape companies and countries. Finally, practical advice on how to survive in the ever changing world.

“Technology now takes a central role in disrupting business and economies. Many of those like AI, Blockchain or Cloud come in with big hype and you never know if it is yet another fashionable keyword or a real tsunami,” says E. Čivilis.

“Promoting the Creativity and Storytelling Skills of Pre-School Children”
March 30^th 9.30–10.00

Agrita Tauriņa is an associate professor at the University of Latvia and works in the Preschool and Primary Education Department of the Faculty of Pedagogy, Psychology and Art. Her research work relates to issues connected to the development of speech of preschool children, the promotion of children’s responsibility, autonomy and creative activity. In cooperation with pre-school educational institutions and students of the University of Latvia, she participates in the evaluation and development of experience materials.

Tija Zīriņa, Dr. Psych., professor, Faculty of Pedagogy, Psychology and Art, University of Latvia. She will be giving presentation with A. Tauriņa. T. Zīriņa is working in pre-school teacher training for 25 years. Her subjects are educational and developmental psychology. T. Zīriņa is also involved in the research about children language acquisition for native and bilingual speakers. She has a long term cooperation in “Erasmus+” projects with different academic institutions in Europe including Kaunas University of Applied Sciences.

“To promoting the creativity and storytelling skills of preschool children it is essential to deal with problem solving situations. These activities facilitate the development of personality, self-esteem and self-confidence, promote abilities of children,” says speakers.

“The new pre-school education approach has reduced the number of items, but more attention is devoted to the growth of a child’s personality, the development of the environment and implementation of child’s autonomy, responsibility and humanitarian values. We think that experimental pedagogies, open-air pedagogies and socialisation and education theories can provide answers to the international questions of modern teacher practitioners by introducing the new competence approach,” says A. Tauriņa and T. Zīriņa.

“Emotional intelligence”
March 30^th 10.10–13.00

Psychologist Andrius Šmitas will talk about emotional intelligence. “During this International Week, I will talk briefly about emotional intelligence, emotional and social competencies, which are important in various professions,” says A. Šmitas, who is currently studying for a Ph.D.

“Why should you hear this message? Because emotional and social competences (such as self-control of emotions as one of them) are important in communicating with people from different cultures,” reveals A. Šmitas.

Workshop “Responsible food consumption”
March 31^st 12.20–13.05

Irina Koscelkovskienė is a lecturer in the Faculty of Technologies at Kaunas University of Applied Sciences. She will give a presentation, during which the problems of food consumption and its waste will be discussed and solutions will be presented.

“Today, sustainable production and consumption are particularly relevant on a global scale, as they are closely linked to climate change, water, air and soil pollution, rising CO2 emissions and irresponsible consumption. The future of our planet and the well-being of our children depend on all these factors,” says I. Koscelkovskienė.