National objectives – local strategy
SOSU Østjylland (Eastern Jutland) is a regional Danish vocational college providing education in social and health care and childcare at EQF level 3 and 4. Furthermore the college provides numerous short-term courses as well as upskilling courses for professionals.
The college is a result of a merger in 2017 between two independent colleges in the cities Silkeborg and Aarhus in the eastern part of Jutland and now covers a large part of the central region of Denmark.
The college is now one of the largest health care colleges in Denmark with more than 1100 full time students and 190 staff members.
The group of students range from youngsters at 16 up to adults in their late 50´s and includes at least 70 different nationalities.
The college has been involved in international activities since the late nineties in different programs and is currently involved in both KA1 and KA2 projects with partners from most European countries but also in other development programs in overseas countries, e.g. Ghana, Malawi and China.
In KA1 mobility projects the college has joined two similar colleges in a regional consortium.
The college is a member of EFVET and has also been an active part in the integration of EfVET in Denmark since 2010.
As a consequence of the merger a new strategy for international work has been debated and developed during 2019.
The strategy presents the college vision when it comes to our involvement in international and global activities.
The Vision
SOSU Østjyllands ambition is to make students and staff smarter on life and to strengthen their intercultural competencies
and
global outlook through international involvement.
The Mission
In addition, it is clear from the strategy that the mission of the international efforts of the college, among other things, is to meet and achieve three out of six general objectives as they are stated in
“The Law on Vocational Education and Training in Denmark”
General objective 3):
Contributing to the development of both the interest in and the ability to actively participate in a democratic society and to contribute to the personal development of the participants.
Objective 4):
Meeting the needs of the labor market for vocational and general qualifications assessed considering business and societal developments, including the development of business structure, labor market conditions, workplace organization and technology as well as for an innovative and creative workforce.
This cover, among other things, that students must acquire the intercultural competencies required to join into workplaces where many cultures must work together.
Objective 5):
Providing the students with both knowledge of international conditions and knowledge as a basis for work and education abroad.
Additionally, the strategy states that the document must help to fulfill the Danish globalization strategy "Progress, renewal and security". This document was adopted by the Danish parliament in 2006 and among other issues the document describes several “must” tasks which vocational education in Denmark must fulfill in relation to increasing internationalization and globalization of all educational programs in Denmark.
The new college strategy describes clear goals for involving both students and staff in international and global work.
- Internationalization “at home”: to make sure that all students will gain or enhance intercultural competences through:
- Increased visibility both at the college and in the classroom of the concept of internationalization and globalization as well as the international activities of the college
- Project Ghana, a development project aimed at turning students/young people into co-investors and owners of real business start-ups and operations in developing countries (Entrepreneurship, Innovation, etc.)
- Strengthen international and global education
- Mobility for students and staff:
- Increased student involvement in partnership projects
- Student and staff mobility as an ongoing core activity
- Special focus areas for international project involvement and staff mobility in 2020 – 2021:
- Dementia
- Pedagogical methodology: Simulation
- Social innovation
- Export of knowledge:
The school is already involved in the export of Danish know-how in health, care and pedagogy to other countries.
The strategic efforts are described in detail with the purpose and efforts of a supplementary document International Action Areas 2020-2023.
The strategy will be evaluated and reworked every year and added an extra year for its duration and horizon.
Navigate back to main page >>
