Since 2020, Ülemiste City’s training credit programme has brought the business campus’ companies together with all of Estonia’s leading universities, giving the companies located in Ülemiste City the opportunity to use up a certain amount of free course credits during the year. In the new season, the doors will also be opened to foreign universities’ study programmes. 

The young people entering the job market today and those already working must understand that only one profession is not enough for their lifetime. One must be ready for continuous additional or retraining. This is also supported by the data recently published by Statistics Estonia, where it was revealed that lifelong learning has become more and more popular, and the number of participants has increased by 54% in 10 years. 

“What makes the training credit programme unique is the opportunity to enhance both Estonian and international universities’ capabilities to take into account the rapidly changing needs of the labour market and to link relevance in their studies with long-term experience and scientific achievements. I am certain that the best way to promote knowledge-rich work is to combine education and entrepreneurial experiences and to concentrate the wisdom of schools at the disposal of talents,” said Kadi Pärnits, Chairman of the Management Board of Mainor AS, which is developing Ülemiste City. “Earlier years have shown that companies and employees are deeply interested in training credit – self-improvement and continuous self-development are priorities for our business campus community,” Pärnits added.  

Eneken Titov, Member of the Management Board of Mainor AS and professor at the Estonian Entrepreneurship University of Applied Sciences, revealed that the most popular topics of recent years are related to psychology – both in the fields of self-management and conflict resolution. “Health-related topics are also popular, as well as the field of business as a whole,” she added. “A unique and convenient platform with diverse opportunities and lots of renowned educational institutions and courses all in one place is exceptional,” said Titov. A great bonus is the micro-degree programmes offered within the project, through which the employee has the opportunity to broaden their career choices. 

Cooperation between educational institutions and the business environment is becoming more critical every year 

This year, prestigious foreign universities were added to the unique programme, led by Aalborg University. The university’s professor and research fellow David Jakobsen said that the challenges between educational institutions and the business environment are nothing new but amplified by digitalization. “Since the beginning of the 12th century, the university has been at the centre of two aspects: on the one hand, the competencies in demand in the business sector must be fulfilled. However, it is also important to support the development of a critically thinking personality,” said Jakobsen. 

According to Jakobsen, a trend is deepening every year, in which less and less focus is placed on humanitarian education and more on business skills. “For example, computational thinking, where, ideally, we should develop our logic, math, and technology skills. At the same time, we cannot forget that with these skills alone, we will not solve the existential and moral problems that await us in the future,” he expressed.  

The training credit is a programme that mediates higher and vocational courses for Ülemiste City companies and their employees. The courses are free for the business campus’ employees and paid for others. There are 400–500 various courses available per year on the platform www.koolituskrediit.ee. The campaign begins on 16 August. Among others, courses can be found in eight different Estonian educational institutions (the Estonian Entrepreneurship University of Applied Sciences, Tallinn University of Technology, Tallinn University, the Estonian Academy of Arts, Tartu University, Tallinn School of Economics, Tallinn Healthcare College, Tartu Vocational College). Kazimieras Simonavicius University in Lithuania, Aalborg University in Denmark, and Vilnius College will also join the programme. Kanazawa University in Japan and the Arcada University of Applied Sciences in Finland will participate in the programme from January.