Kimmo Lind, DSocSci, Senior lecturer, Humak University of Applied Sciences
Pia Lundbom, DSocSci, Postdoctoral researcher, University of Eastern Finland,
Eeva Sinisalo-Juha, DSocSci, Principal Researcher, Humak University of Applied Sciences
What does societal impact mean in the context of universities of applied sciences, and what kind of expertise do they possess to generate it? This thematic issue focuses on these questions.
The societal impact in higher education is not easy to measure. Impact has often been assessed through indicators such as the number of graduates, projects, or publications, and for example citation metrics. While these indicators are important, they reflect only a rather narrow understanding of impact and how it is produced. More challenging—but arguably more necessary—would be to assess impact from the perspective of the education provided by higher education institutions and the competencies, capacities, and skills they cultivate. The major global challenges of our time call for broader understanding.
Universities of applied sciences occupy a distinctive position within the Finnish higher education system. They operate in close interaction with working life, regional actors, and civil society. Societal engagement is not a separate task but an integral part of education, research, development, and innovation activities, as well as regional cooperation and interaction. Impact, broadly understood, does not arise from degrees, projects, or immediate outputs, but from the ways in which these are translated into action, renew professional practices, and strengthen competence in working life and society more widely.
An impactful higher education institution does not merely respond to societal needs but is also capable of anticipating future challenges, developing social innovations, and fostering active citizenship. Actor-oriented and interactive approaches are essential in this work. Impact and effectiveness do not emerge randomly; they are built through deliberate pedagogical, operational, and ethical choices. Societal impact and effectiveness thus constitute a core element of the societal responsibility of universities of applied sciences.
This thematic issue examines what societal engagement and impact mean in the activities of universities of applied sciences and how they manifest in pedagogical thinking and RDI activities. The issue brings together perspectives from experts, teachers, researchers, and working-life actors on how universities of applied sciences currently put their societal responsibility into practice—and how they might do so in the future.
Across different universities of applied sciences, impact has been actively discussed and framed at the strategic level, clarifying what impact is and what it can be. In this thematic issue, readers can familiarize themselves, for example, with the experiences of Centria and XAMK. Several articles also explore how the impact of universities of applied sciences can be strengthened through pedagogical development. A key factor in reinforcing impact is seen in learning environments where students, working-life actors, and pedagogical staff collaborate and learn together. New ways of working that promote well-being are transferred into improved well-being in working life.
The close cooperation between universities of applied sciences and working-life actors is clearly visible throughout the articles in this publication. They address concepts such as partnership, actor-centredness, working-life orientation, and stakeholder collaboration. All of these are grounded in the idea that a university of applied sciences is not an isolated island but a meaningful actor that creates added value for its partners. These partners may include NGOs, small and medium-sized enterprises, global actors, and public sector organisations. Universities of applied sciences carry out their missions during everyday life.
In particular, educators in the social and health care fields have strengthened the impact of universities of applied sciences by enabling students to engage with real-life challenges faced by people in their everyday situations. In this way, students develop essential interaction and encounter skills already during their studies—skills that are crucial in their future professional lives. At the same time, commissioning organisations and their clients receive solutions to acute challenges. This, too, is an example of the impact enabled by universities of applied sciences.
Internationalisation also opens new perspectives on the impact of universities of applied sciences. A regional actor can, together with its partners, grow into a European-level change-maker. Conversely, a university of applied sciences may play a vital role in promoting integration while simultaneously addressing regional labour shortages and the challenges they entail.
The impact of universities of applied sciences is not created through talk, but through collective action.
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