Connecting students through Intercontinental collaborations : A Novia UAS story
The column has been published in Vaasa Insider 17.1.2025.
Cynthia Söderbacka, Project Leader at Novia UAS, writes about the Novia students experience in Zambia on a joint project between Novia and two universities in Zambia.
The year 2024 started excitingly for now 3rd and 4th yr Electrical Engineering students Kristoffer Julin and William Mattsson, they were going to Zambia, Africa! With the world transitioning towards global sustainable solutions, international collaborations have become the norm. Novia UAS , has partnered with two Zambian universities, the University of Zambia (UNZA) and Copperbelt University (CBU) on a Team Finland Knowledge funded two-year project- Potential of Nano Grids as a Source of Affordable and Clean Energy for Zambia The project’s objective is knowledge and cultural exchange through staff and student mobility, with project teams from both countries visiting each other.
In May 2024, Project Leader Cynthia Söderbacka, in the company of Lecturer Hans Linden, Research Assistant Raili Häggblom and the two students headed to Zambia for one week, with UNZA hosting both Novia and CBU teams. The week was packed with guest lectures from both Cynthia and Hans. Hans gave a lecture on IoT in Energy Systems and Cynthia gave on Biogas as Fuel in CHPs, company visit to Zambia’s largest meat producer Zambeef Plc and a site visit to one of the solar powered hammermills that has been a case study on the project.
Peer-to-peer collaborations was the working style for the students, enabling the students to work on the same case and share ideas across borders. The students that initially started on the project and participated in cycle 1 already graduated. In cycle 2, the approach was to enable the students to interact with each other in a more natural way. as classmates, exposing them to a multi-cultural setup that has become part of the global workforce. The students from UNZA acted as hosts to the students from Novia and CBU and assisted their peers to navigate the everyday life of a UNZA student, which mostly involved going to class and some social time outside the classroom.
William and Kristoffer with their Zambian "classmates"
When asked on their thoughts about the trip, the Novia students had the following to say:
“About life in Zambia, since I did not have a clue how it was there. I think it is not as different from home as I expected, but of course people were more social and talkative as expected.”, said William Mattsson.
“What I liked the most about the lectures was the fact that the groups had a whole other level of motivation compared to what we’re used to,” said, Kristoffer Julin
The project teams from both countries have had an opportunity to visit each other. Appreciating the different ways of doing things and learning from each other, a quality that is needed in co-creation, especially when we look at sustainability from a global perspective. At the core, the challenges are the same.
The project may be coming to an end, but for both the Finnish and Zambian teams the memories will live on. Initiatives such as the one run by TFK are a big propeller for Finland to penetrate the international platforms. For me, what was beautiful to see was how the students did free-fall in the situation, there were no prior meetings with the teams in Zambia, it was one week, everything happening so fast and they just went with the tide! As someone who understands the differences between Finnish and Zambian cultures, I know that it can be overwhelming for Finns who are more used to personal space and if the students felt it, they carried it well and I am proud of them.
It wasn't all work, Kristoffer & William join Ngoni warriors!
