Joensuu ( “mouth of the river") is a city in the west of Finland. It’s not an old city because it was founded in 1848 by the Czar Nicholas I of Russia. The population of Joensuu is 77,000. As is typical of cities in Eastern Finland, Joensuu is monolingually Finnish. Throughout the centuries the region have plied the Pielisjoki River. The river has always been the lively heart of the city. Joensuu is a lively student city. The University of Joensuu (now part of the University of Eastern Finland since January 2010) has, in twenty-five years, expanded to eight faculties. The University of Joensuu is one of the mainstays for the vitality of the city and so for all North Karelia. Diversified international cooperation in science, industry and commerce benefits the whole region. The European Forest Institute, the University and many other institutes and export enterprises such as Abloy and John Deere give Joensuu an international flavour. Why the course. Our school is located in a small village in the south of Madrid. Some of our families work in their farms and we have some problems with students that don’t want to keep studying. As a member of the leadership team I’m interested in learning different experiences in order to reduce school truancy and encourage these students with other career options, such as vocational training opportunities. It will be very useful to know experiences with schools working together with social and health care services to handle bad situations for pupils ( violence, drugs, unsocial behavior, crimes). This course could be interesting to minimize absenteeism, which has a strong negative effect on the student progress.
