International week
Human Minds in an AI World: Curiosity and Critical Thinking in the Digital Age.
As artificial intelligence becomes an increasingly powerful part of education, business, and everyday life, the ability to think critically and stay curious has never been more important.
Our 2026 International Week explores the role of human intelligence in a digital world — encouraging us to question, reflect, and engage beyond easy answers and automated solutions. In an age shaped by algorithms, how do we preserve creativity, independent thinking, and meaningful human connection?
South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Sciences, Xamk, is pleased to announce that our traditional International Week will take place at the Kouvola campus on 23–27 November 2026. We warmly welcome all our partners to join us.
The registration deadline for visiting partner lecturers and staff is August 15th. Please fill in the registration form here: https://link.webropol.com/s/InternationalWeek2026.
The theme of the week is Human Minds in an AI World: Curiosity and Critical Thinking in the Digital Age. We will update our programme to this website in the autumn, but there is a lot of important information available below.
The international week will be organised on Xamk’s Kouvola campus on 23–27 November 2026 by the Departments of Business and Culture, and Internationalisation Services unit.
Read more about Xamk Kouvola Campus.
The purpose of the International Week is
- building international competence for different stakeholders
- lectures and workshops
- networking opportunities
- fostering the international community at campus
- introducing opportunities for internationalisation for students
- enhancing international competences of university staff
- international food tasting event
- and
- enjoying traditional Finnish winter activities
The International Week begins on Monday evening with a welcome dinner. The official programme starts on Tuesday morning and lasts until Friday afternoon.
Registration
Guests are invited to give lectures on their own area of expertise or research. We would wish the lectures to be connected to the main theme or the subthemes of the International Week and hope (but not limit) the teaching to be more practical, i.e. that it would be arranged in a form of a workshop, group work or other methods.
Please, describe the method of your teaching (lecture, workshop, group work, etc.), wishes for room conditions, materials you would need as well as the preferred group size in your abstract. Our normal group size is between 20-40 students. In addition, please, describe how you wish to divide your teaching hours (e.g. 2 hours of lectures and 4 hours in a form of a workshop, group work, etc. = a total of 8 hours, which is the minimum amount in Erasmus+ teacher exchanges STA). Our lessons consist of 45-minute sessions, i.e., for instance, 1.5 hours is calculated as two full teaching hours.
You may also participate in the international week programme as a staff member through Erasmus+ staff exchange STT. We would still hope that you would contribute to the programme for example by facilitating a workshop or participating in a session about exchange opportunities for Xamk’s students. For staff members there is no requirement for teaching hours. The international week is a great opportunity for networking with new international partners and discussing future cooperation possibilities (research and development, projects, exchanges, development of pedagogical methods, online courses, etc).
The deadline for registration is 15.8.2026.
Please fill in the registration form here.
Please do not make any travel arrangements before you have received confirmation information from the contact person of the international week.
Accommodation
There are a few good options for accommodation in Kouvola. Hotels are listed below.
- Original Sokos Hotel Vaakuna Kouvola (1,4 km from the campus, 1,5 km from the railway station)
- Scandic Kouvola (2,4 km from the campus, 0,2 km from the railway station)
- Turistihovi (2,7 km from the campus, 0,6 km from the railway station)
You can also book the accommodation via Airbnb or other service providers.
Travelling
Kouvola is situated some 140 km from Helsinki. The easiest way to travel from Helsinki to Kouvola is by train.
If you fly to Finland, the next step after arriving at the Helsinki-Vantaa Airport (HEL) is to go to the train station. Helsinki Airport’s train station is located under the terminal.
There is a direct elevator and escalator connection from the departures and arrivals hall to the train station. From there, you will go to the P train to Tikkurila train station and change to the long-distance train to Kouvola.
You can buy your train ticket from the vending machine at the train station or online at VR railway company. It is also quite convenient to download the VR mobile app and buy the ticket in advance from there. You will receive a ticket with 2 QR codes, one for the P train and the other for the long-distance train.
Note that you can go with an earlier P train to Tikkurila if you have a bit of extra time. The train ride to Kouvola takes (depending on the train type) about 1,5-2 hours altogether.
Weather
The temperature at the end of November in Finland is generally below 0°C. It can be freezing, windy, snowy, icy and very slippery. Good shoes & warm clothing is recommended.
Participants have a chance to experience Finnish nature on Tuesday afternoon/evening including sauna & cold-water swimming possibility. Remember to pack a swimsuit and slippers!
It is highly recommended to check the weather forecast approximately one week before arrival to Finland. The Finnish Meteorological Institute’s website gives a lot of information about the Finnish climate. You can also check the current forecasts from there.
Contact info
For inquiries related to the International Week, please contact the Internationalisation Services via international@xamk.fi.