International activities

The Kvs Foundation is not only an expert in liberal education and lifelong learning in Finland but also internationally. Through its international networks, the Kulkuri School of Distance Education and various projects, the Foundation promotes co-operation and learning across borders.

Online schools working together to develop distance education

The Kvs Foundation has had international activities for several decades. For example, the Foundation belongs to several cross-border networks, such as the International Community of Online Schools, ICONS.

ICONS is a virtual, international network that promotes inclusion in education and lifelong learning opportunities, among other things. ICONS brings together online schools that offer basic education, often as the only one in their country. The community includes representatives of online schools and experts in online education from across the globe.

The Kvs Foundation maintains the Kulkuri School of Distance Education, which gives basic education online for expatriate Finnish children. Approximately 500 pupils around the world study in Kulkuri each year. Kulkuri’s Director Tuija Tammelander was appointed President of the ICONS network for 2023.

Vantage points to European adult education

The Kvs Foundation is a visible actor in international networks also as a communications and project partner of the European Association for Education of Adults (EAEA).

EAEA is an advocator of non-formal adult education and lifelong learning in Europe.

EAEA’s mission is to influence EU’s decision-making and to promote co-operation in adult education in different countries. The Association represents almost 60 million adult learners in approximately 40 countries through nearly 120 member organisations.

As EAEA’s communications and project partner, the Kvs Foundation coordinates, in Helsinki, many of the communication tasks coming from EAEA’s office in Brussels. The Kvs Foundation has also partnered in several of EAEA’s Erasmus+ projects, expanding the Foundation’s international networks.

The Kvs Foundation also publishes ELM Magazine, an English-language media on adult education. It is a free online magazine about lifelong learning and adult education. ELM Magazine is a journalistic media with a European perspective and a correspondent network that covers the entire continent. The magazine’s office is located in Helsinki.

ELM Magazine is read by adult education professionals in Europe and the rest of the world. Its readership includes educators, practical operators, advocates, decision-makers and researchers in the field of adult education.

Importing and exporting expertise

The European Union’s Erasmus+ Programme supports the transfer of expertise in Europe across the borders. The Kvs Foundation has accelerated mobility placement both east and west, especially after COVID-19.

In particular, the job shadowing opportunity has been well used. It allows the learner to get on-site to see how their foreign colleagues work and share their own experiences.

Through Erasmus, the Foundation has received visitors from the Spanish Cepa Campos del Zancara adult education centre, as well as a group of art teachers from Bursa, Turkey, for a two-week learning period to see how crafts are taught to adults in Finland. The programme included oil painting, metal printmaking and designing fabric patterns, among others.

The Kvs Foundation has also sent people to visit the European Association for Education of Adults (EAEA) and to check out the adult education of music in Oslo, to name some examples.