Abstract:

RDI projects have increased in higher education institutions in recent years. One of the challenges in higher education is to engage students in the project. Despite the challenges, RDI project integrations are possible by good planning. Integration of RDI projects and education requires good cooperation between RDI experts and teachers and the commitment of each stakeholder. One critical point is focusing on courses competence validation and planning how to combine the tasks of the project and the Competence Objectives of the students. RDI projects are one way to offer and challenge students by developing projects in business.  

This article's insight presents ideations by two RDI-cases of Laurea University of Applied Sciences and their project integration in higher education studies. The CAITO, Meta-cluster for attracting the Japanese tourism market, project expanded and strengthened the expertise of rural tourism service providers in Western Uusimaa (Finland), Estonia and Latvia to meet the expectations of Japanese tourists. Green financial statements and accountability as part of the green transition - Green responsibility project focus on expanding the range of responsible services for accountancy firm's clients.

Students have e.g., focused on mapping state of the art and clients' expectations by interviewing and doing surveys during the projects. Students involved were national and international. Students developed new and current services in cooperation with project teams consisting of consortium members. Students also participated and organised e.g., workshops that were aimed primarily at SMEs. Co-operative companies were able to enlarge their personnel competencies and implement and develop new projects on their business.

Students' involvement in project integration was vital in various areas of both projects. Considered main factors in both projects were crucial in anticipating the future of involved companies' business, such as expanding trade, evaluating and developing business, anticipating market situation and value chain, corporate social responsibility report and cultural customs.

In these projects, the integration of RDI into teaching was a remarkable success, but this is not always the case. There should be a clear plan and a unified way to integrate RDI projects into teaching in higher education institutions. The Finnish University of Applied Science has understood the importance of integrating RDI and teaching, and to make this process successful, it must constantly be developing.

Keywords:

RDI projects, higher education, project integration.