interview 

‘We need the same spirit that made us successful so far’

Sheela Kiiskilä is a researcher at Tampere University completely focused on Micro-Credentials, their issuance and everything related to it. At ECIU University, she works on the development and implementation of these mini-degrees.

What was the most challenging thing for you to get to where the alliance is today?

‘My focus and ultimate goal were to ensure ECIU University can issue micro-credentials for all the learning opportunities we offer. The challenge there was that no other alliance had done it before, and so no lessons to learn from others. We had to go through the learning process and figure out how to issue micro-credentials as an alliance. To do so, we worked with the European Digital Credentials for Learning (EDC),  and all our partners in figuring out a solution and then actually make it happen.’

What is the next step that ECIU University should take?

‘A natural next step is working with industry actively in identifying the future skills and competences their employees (present and/or future) need and offer learning opportunities including challenges.  I envision our next step would also include bringing in labour market needs and help our learners (regular or continuous)  identify their skills and gaps to provide effective learner guidance to narrow that gap.’

What does the alliance need to take on future challenges?

‘Same passion and spirit that made us successful so far. We are the first alliance to figure out how to issue MCs. We are also the first alliance to take advantage of features in EDC to add European Skills, Competences, Qualifications and Occupations (ESCO) to our micro-credentials so learners can over time visualize their skills and identify gaps.’