The member colleges of MPO, which have cooperated in several national projects, wanted to start an international project in order to get training for themselves, to get to know potential future collaborators, and to deepen and expand the areas of expertise among their staff. For a long time, one of the central tasks of the MPO district has been to organize staff training for the staff of its member colleges, and the consortium project included an international approach to cooperation for the first time. Oulu-opisto's example of a very successful Erasmus+ project was an inspiration to start a joint project. The main purpose was to get tools from international trainings to increase and create common practices between MPO member colleges. -> PRINCIPALS AND OTHER ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF The second goal of the project was to improve customer service by strengthening English language skills. -> OFFICE STAFF The third goal was to both strengthen and expand competence in one's own subject. -> TEACHERS Overall, the purpose of each person participating in the mobility was to try to create international contacts which the Meri-Pohjola school district could cooperate with in the future in the entire MPO district.
There are 19 civic colleges in the Meri-Pohjola school district (=MPO) and we are geographically in the region of North Ostrobothnia and Kainuu. Some of the members of the college district have been involved in MPO's activities throughout its 50-year history, so most of the member colleges know each other well. Several colleges in the region are very small in terms of staff (the size varies from 1 to more than 30 full-time employees), and individual colleges do not have the resources for international cooperation. Among the colleges in our region, the only one with experience in previous projects is also the largest college in our region, Oulu University. Minna Hukkanen, the language teacher who applied for and managed Oulu-opisto's Erasmus+ projects, told the MPO district about the Erasmus+ project in an online meeting. Nine colleges decided to join the consortium, and based on the previous experience, Oulu-opisto became the leader of the project. Without the consortium application, several MPO member colleges would not have been able, known or thought about applying for an Erasmus+ project. Community colleges in the MPO region have previously cooperated in several national projects, so starting a consortium project together felt safe and secure with with familiar partners, i.e. MPO members. Erasmus+ and international relations in itself was new to everyone except for the project manager Oulu-opisto.