The University of Lapland and Lapland UAS reinforce their language and communication education. By 2028, the universities form a joint, strategically led communication and language unit and create a service and study path concerning international degree students and international studies. The universities’ joint Centre for Multilingual Communication started operating on 1 August 2026.

By creating the language and communication unit the universities will achieve the objectives concerning all Finnish universities. These include increasing the number of international degree students and advancing linguistic, cultural, and communication skills through top-quality education in support of internationalisation. Cooperation makes it possible to address the changing competence needs more efficiently than before. The joint unit supports pedagogical cooperation, the planning of cross-university solutions, and the development of expertise together with other language and communication professionals.

This cooperation brings forth a relevant, high-level, and evolving supply of communication and language studies in terms of degrees and students’ personal expertise. The renewal will not ignore the special features of two different universities and degree programme requirements: things will increasingly be done together and in unity. However, the special language requirements of a particular discipline, professional field, etc. will continue to be considered in the future.

The unit strives to bring out the joint supply of studies to students more comprehensively and, for instance, the opportunity to participate in preparatory language courses is offered more clearly to everyone. The cooperation also ensures a sufficiently extensive selection of languages and a supply of courses corresponding to various proficiency levels.

”Building the Centre for Multilingual Communication is an effort that requires the input of all members of the unit,” notes Ville Jakkula, the director of the Centre.

The Centre unites a considerable number of experts in languages, cultures, and communication, who play a major role in the core operations of the universities of Lapland. In addition to degree-related communication and language studies, the experts are involved in continuous learning applications, national and international projects, publications, and various networks.

The Centre for Multilingual Communication employs more than 50 experts in languages, cultures, and communication. Ville Jakkula, the director of the Language Centre of the University of Lapland, has already earlier been invited to lead the new unit. Jakkula is highly experienced in university–UAS cooperation and in national and international networking. Minna Väyrynen, a senior lecturer of languages at Lapland University of Applied Sciences, has started as the deputy director of the unit as of the beginning of August. Väyrynen has a 30-year career in teaching multiple UAS fields, and she is actively involved in the nationwide UAS network of languages and communication. In particular, the deputy will be responsible for the pedagogical development of instruction in languages and communication.

At the beginning of the autumn term, the unit’s functions have been consolidated by selecting four cross-university team leaders from among teaching staff. The actors of the unit participate in the various autumn events of the university community, and the unit’s operations will be presented in discussions arranged on all university campuses.