From International Collaboration to Classroom Impact – The HEROES BIP Experience

Before joining HEROES, I had already built a solid foundation as a teacher. I have around 7 years of teaching experience at a vocational college, and I have now worked at Seinäjoki University of Applied Sciences (SeAMK) for 1 year. Practical learning has always been part of my teaching style, and I often use pair work and group assignments. However, large-scale international Challenge-Based Learning projects were still quite new in my daily work.

My motivation to join HEROES came naturally. I had participated in international cooperation projects in my previous workplaces, and those experiences were positive. “I knew what I had ahead of me before the trip on some level”. Because of this, I also felt confident in encouraging students to participate.

Getting students involved
The first challenge came even before the project started: convincing students to join. “How to get students interested about this kind of great opportunity” was not so easy. It took time to reach the minimum number of participants needed to join the BIP.

The BIP itself was the International Project Consulting on Change, focusing on why internal transformation is crucial for organizations and how change is managed in practice. Students worked with real company challenges, offering innovative recommendations to help companies seize new opportunities and thrive.

The programme brought together degree students from diverse educational backgrounds, exploring challenges from business, societal, financial, engineering, or IT perspectives, while working in an intercultural setting. Fontys University of Applied Sciences hosted 5–10 students from each partner university, including SEAMK. During the intensive week (19–23 January 2026), participants attended a kick-off at the Fontys Campus, company visits, lectures, and social activities in the region. The 3 ECTS programme took place at the Fontys University campus Rachelsmolen in Eindhoven, Netherlands.

During the project week, I worked as a coach together with a colleague from Germany. The student team tackled a complex real-life integration case: business acquisition, creating major change-management challenges across systems, processes, and cultures.

At first, I tried to guide students by sharing my own experiences of how demanding organizational change can be. Later, I realized I should not have expressed my opinions too strongly. “I should not express my opinions strongly because of my earlier experiences. Let students find out themselves.” And they did! Discovering differences in documentation, user interfaces, process descriptions, and ways of working.

Small steps toward bigger transformation
While my teaching approach has not changed overnight, taking part in HEROES BIP opened my eyes to the full potential of project-based learning. Seeing how common project-type studies are was inspiring. It highlighted how Challenge-Based Learning builds resilience: students learn to adapt, collaborate, and solve real challenges.

This experience reinforced the idea of “Learn there, apply here.” I gained new methods and perspectives from international partners and began reflecting on how to bring them into my own classroom at SEAMK.

Benefits for students, networks, and the region
Overall, I strongly feel the BIP was a valuable experience for students. They learned things no textbook can teach, e.g., how real change unfolds inside organizations and how complex decision-making becomes when multiple systems and cultures collide.

It also strengthened networks and collaboration. Working alongside international colleagues created professional connections that will last beyond the project, a true lifelong community.

Looking ahead, I plan to include more project-type teaching in my courses and increase cooperation with companies in the Southern Ostrobothnia region. “Don’t hesitate,” I would tell colleagues considering HEROES. “The week isn’t the easiest, but there is time during the week to do things and see places.” Most importantly, there is time to learn, connect, and take small steps that lead to meaningful change.