Research and education to support the integration of healthcare, social welfare and care & education sector

Sote Academy, hosted by the University of Turku, assembles interdisciplinary scientific expertise as well as healthcare, social welfare and care and education authorities working towards more accessible services. We are committed to creating a collaborative operational culture where evidence-based information is effectively translated into practical solutions.

Sote Academy brings together all eight faculties and their stakeholders to close cooperation around the multiform questions of the integrative service system. We promote and produce interdisciplinary higher education, research and societal interaction, especially from the perspectives of:

• children, youth and families
• working age population and elderly
• management and law
• environments and culture

Our activities are guided by the following cross-cutting themes: interdisciplinary competence, development and reform of health and social services and education, welfare and health promotion, and sustainable development. Click here to see the theme figure.

Education

Sote Academy organizes and coordinates education for university students as well as for Open University. At present, our study offerings comprise over 20 courses and over 80 ECTS. The courses are provided by all eight faculties, which ensures that our studies provide not only social, health and care & education sectors’ viewpoints, but also e.g. legal, economic and cultural aspects to the developing of a client-oriented service system.

We invest in open and continuous learning possibilities, thus many of our courses and educational materials are open to public: we produce for example MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses), podcasts and videos. Many of our courses are made in cooperation with different partners outside the university, for example third sector organizations and other higher education institutions. At present, we have courses planned and built together with experts from the following organizations:

Research

Sote Academy organizes open interdisciplinary forums and seminars for researchers and experts from working life. These forums focus especially on services for children and families as well as evaluative research supporting the national health and social services reform.

We also coordinate and participate in research and development projects, together with various partners inside and outside the university. In 2022, Sote Academy coordinates or participates in three ministry-funded network and research projects: LASTU, LANUPS and TEKOS. In the funded projects, we aim to combine research and education, that is, to include the research results in teaching and onwards into the field. Moreover, we supervise theses and dissertations and disseminate the research carried out in our network.

Societal interaction

Together with our expert network, Sote Academy has reached the status of an influential interdisciplinary academic operator by determinedly building societal interaction. Our experts are widely involved in the health and social services reform and the developing of higher education on both regional and national levels. Sote Academy actively cooperates with working life organizations in both research and education.