Internationalization is one of the priority areas as outlined in the Development Plan of the Estonian Academy of Security Sciences. Cooperation and exchange of best practices with universities and other educational institutions abroad have always been highly valued by the staff, professors and students of EASS. According to our vision, by the year 2020, the
EASS will be an innovative and internationally recognized learning, research and development centre in the field of internal security.
The objectives upon successful achievement are:
-Activating, promoting and facilitating student exchange. In year 2015 the mobility should be 10% out of all students (both
long-term and short term mobility),
- Activating, promoting and facilitating the exchange of lecturers and administrative staff. In year 2015 the mobility should
be 5% out of all staff. Among staff the short term mobility is already 30%.
a) The aim of EASS is to increase the institutional capacity and competency flow through strengthening cooperation and establishing new agreements of cooperation with national and international Security and Safety agencies and organizations including local community and stakeholders. Internal security institutions are rather closed and international cooperation
can be more difficult as in comparison to other areas (for example economics).
b) Our goal is to have fruitful cooperation partners from different parts of Europe. We highly evaluate the strong cooperation with our close neighbours: Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Finland.
The EASS has become one of the promoters of international aid and assistance. With non-European states we currently have cooperation with Georgia, Kosovo, Moldova and Afghanistan. In the future we wish to strengthen and deepen the cooperation.
c) The objective of EASS is to increase the mobility of teachers as well as the mobility of students in the first and second
cycle. As the Estonian Academy of security Sciences is offering applied higher education, we do not have studies in the third cycle.
EASS will guarantee the highest quality in the organisation of student mobility, whilst ensuring equal academic treatment and services to home and Erasmus students.
As EASS is applied higher education institution, internships are an important value. We wish to implement further internship possibilities for our students.
Our aim is to have wide-ranging mobility (studies and internship) from all of our colleges: College of Justice, College of Finance, Rescue College and Police and Border Guard College.
An important aim is to increase the number of incoming students from all of our main teaching areas: police and border guard, rescue, correction and tax and customs.
The same principles apply for our academic staff. The opportunity to take part in teacher exchanges is important for the personal development of EASS staff. Teacher exchanges are valued and encouraged as part of the EASS’s policy to continue to develop bilateral and multilateral partnerships. EASS also welcomes visiting academic staff and the contribution
they make to its teaching programmes.
In order to avoid national, gender, religious and racial discrimination the conditions of the competition of students and lecturers have been developed for providing everyone with equal opportunities for participating in the program. Joint programmes are regarded as a means to deepen and intensify existing collaboration to next level.
The Estonian Academy of Security Sciences in cooperation with FRONTEX is designing a joint master’s degree with Malta, Ireland, Netherlands, Latvia and Romania. Spanish Police Academy and Guardia Civilian Academy is supporting institutions and Finland and Bulgaria are supporting countries. The main aim is to contribute to the harmonization of border guard education and training at EU level. The joint master’s degree will be launched in year 2014.
For the purpose of development of the Curriculum and increasing its international dimension, activities of the European Social Fund-supported project “Knowledge-driven Security” has been taken place. As the project is ending in year 2013, EASS wishes to implement a new joint degree under the Program. We wish to invite our former partners and new partners from the third countries (Kosovo, Moldova). Our aim in this project is to increase the level of quality in education and training.
Institution's strategy for the organisation and implementation of international (EU and non-EU) cooperation projects in teaching and training in relation to projects implemented under the Programme
Long-term plan is to establish a network with other internal security area higher education institutions, in order to be able to apply for cooperation projects implemented under the Programme. The network will consist of higher education institutions from European Union as well as from the third countries in the area of internal security. The main aim of the project is the counselling of students and professors.
EU partnerships are further strengthened in the same key activities, the focus being in the quality of mobility and accessibility of mobility for all learners and staff. We wish to increase the mobility numbers of students and staff. Also, our aim is to host international students and staff from European countries as well as from the third countries.
The Estonian Academy of Security Sciences has been awarded the Grand Prix of Nordic quality competition "Quality Innovation 2012". The award was given for integration of modern simulation technology into teaching methods at the Academy and for the effect thereby achieved for the quality of education. For further information about the Centre for Innovative Applied Learning Technologies (CIALT) can be found here: http://www.sisekaitse.ee/eass/cialt/
We would like to provide competencies, support and knowhow for non- European Union countries and European Union countries within the interest of European and national mandate.
Expected impact of your participation in the Programme on the modernisation of EASS
1. According to our vision, by the year 2020, the EASS will be an innovative and internationally recognized learning, research and development centre in the field of internal security. The objective of the EASS is, through internal security related academic education, research and development activities, and also through the training of honest and competent public servants, to create a secure state and conditions for stable development across the state of Estonia and therewith contribute to the security of the entire European Union (EU). Therefor only Estonian citizens with high physical abilities can apply for the studies at EASS. For the increasing attainment levels to provide the graduates and researchers Europe needs, EASS can support the aim with training honest and competent public servants so that Estonia and European Union in general would be more secure.
2. For improving the quality and relevance of higher education, we wish to share and learn from external practices. EASS has developed and will continue to do so a learning, research and development centre. EASS wishes to obtain created excellent opportunities for successful academic work, conducting applied research, professional self-development and cooperation with organizations for its lecturers and students in Estonia and in foreign countries. The EASS publishes research papers and other internal security and public service-related educational resources.
3. To increase a competency flow and mobility between national and international stakeholders for providing better services for society in terms of internal security, we wish to create a network with other internal security area higher education institutions. The network will consist of higher education institutions from European Union as well as from the third countries in the area of internal security. EASS promotes staff mobility by covering the additional travel expenses that the Erasmus scholarship does not cover. For the non-academic staff the additional cost will be covered if the staff member has received
an extra task from the employer. For students we offer several self - budget scholarships for shorter term mobility.
4. The strategic objectives of EASS are regarded as the measures for achieving the objective of the development plan in the area of government of the Ministry of the Interior "Development of the contemporary internal security related study, research and development centre". This ensures us that we will be contributing to the regional development.
5. As EASS is a government budget institution, the main investment to our institutions public investment. Public investment
is the basis for sustainable higher education. For promoting the program, EASS finances staff mobility by covering the additional travel expenses that the Erasmus scholarship does not cover. Additional, for students we offer several self - budget scholarships for shorter term mobility.