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Ab Det finlandssvenska kompetenscentret inom det sociala området

We work in Swedish in the Swedish-speaking parts of Finland. The centre of excellence is organised as a non-profit company (ltd) where the main shareholders are the Swedish-speaking and bilingual municipalities in Finland. Other shareholders are universities, polytechnics and NGO:s.

The material below is taken from the brochure "Sosiaalialan osaamiskeskukset - Sosiaali- ja terveysministeriö" printed and written by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health in 2003

Centres of excellence secure long-term development and regional co-operation

No branch is successful without continuous and long-term development work based on multifarious connections between education, research and practice. In addition to the continuous development work, regional co-operation between municipalities is necessary in the social welfare sector. Many municipalities are too small to maintain diversified know-how in social welfare, and therefore efficient practices are needed to convey expertise to where the client in need of services and assistance is.

Nine centres of excellence throughout the country

The centres of excellence of social welfare started their operation on a permanent basis at the beginning of 2002, when the relevant legislation entered into force and permanent state financing was allocated to the centres. There are eight centres of excellence for regional population and one for the Swedish-speaking population. The centres of excellence are limited companies, associations or corporations based on agreements formed by municipalities, universities, polytechnics and social welfare NGOs together. The geographical borders follow the division in regions so that each centre of excellence covers from one to four regions.

The centres of excellence are network organisations whose actions are based on the development needs and resources of each area. All those stakeholders that want to or believe to benefit from them can be involved. In practice it has proved that the centres have succeeded in networking the regional social actors in their area. Also clearly childhood education and care, which is closely linked to the social sector, is involved in their activities.

The task of the centres of excellence on social welfare is to secure:
1. the development and transmission of expertise needed in the social welfare sector, 2. the development of primary services and the development and transmission of special services presupposing higher expertise, 3. multifarious connections between basic, postgraduate and further education in the field, and 4. research, experiment and development activities. (Act on Centres of Excellence on Social Welfare 1230/2001)

Financing

A government grant of EUR 3 million (2003) is paid to secure the basic activities of centres of excellence, which is determined according to the population and area covered by the centre of excellence. The basic financing makes 10-30 per cent of the total financing - the rest comes directly from municipalities or in the form of project financing.

Personnel

The directors of centres of excellence have, as a rule, a degree in social sciences and most of them have, in addition, a scientific post-graduate degree. The other permanent staff consists of planning officers and office staff. The staff totals about 50 (2003).

National steering

The Government has set up an Advisory Board on Centres of Excellence on Social Welfare, with representatives of all the centres of excellence, The Ministry of Education, the National Research and Development Centre for Welfare and Health (STAKES), the Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities, the Provincial State Officers, social welfare NGOs, and universities. The Advisory Board agrees e.g. on national policies, the labour of division between and profiles of the centres of excellence, as well as arranges an assessment of their activities.

 

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The Mathilda Wrede Institute

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