Lahti University of Applied Sciences

Lahti University of Applied Sciences operates in city of Lahti which is one of the most innovative and creative region in Finland. LUAS is strongly focusing on operations in fields of innovation, environment and design. 2009 LUAS will plan and product events, research and education in area of service design.

It is a centre of expertise with over 5,000 enrolled students and approximately 200 full-time teaching staff. LUAS is Bachelor's and Master's degrees awarded, while based on theory and sciences, have a clearly pronounced occupational and applied emphasis. They are specifically designed to respond to the demands and development needs of business and industry. LUAS is an institution of higher education, and accordingly it is also active in research and development, again with a clear applied orientation and aim.
LUAS operate in the research and innovation chain near the corporate field and other economic life, which guarantees them especially good opportunities to operate as the activators of regional development. Investing in research and development as institution is the essential part of developing; specialist education, which is based on research, requires its own knowledge production for its starting point which is adapted to its purpose.
Lahti University of Applied Sciences operates currently in the following fields of study: business studies, design, fine arts, music, tourism and hospitality management, social and health care, technology and engineering, and visual communication. Students are selected by entrance examination.
Lahti University of Applied Sciences is an internationally recognised and competitive university of applied sciences, which gives the students extensive knowledge to adapt to the internationalising and multicultural working life and society. At Lahti University of Applied Sciences internationality can be seen in lectures in foreign languages, international students who come from all around the world and visiting lecturers. Research and development in the international space also gives its own contribution to the international atmosphere and improvement.
Creating new service design knowledge
LUAS, in strong co-operation with CID-LAB, IS constantly seeking transdisciplinary knowledge areas. Service design is one of the most interesting areaS, what comes to creating services in transdisciplinary way. Service design is in global growth track but still there is lack of deep understanding on processes of making service design. One of the main strategies here is to increase potential and opportunities at LUAS to create better services, and to upgrade service design competence. This is made by studying evolution of design knowledge, and focus on future orientated pilot cases. Another point of view is how service design processes are made and should be made for different kind of businesses.
CID GROUP is a transdisciplinary research and development group which operates in co-operation with Finland Futures Research Centre. CID combines crossdisciplinary research with exploratory activities. The group focuses on developing expertise in design, architecture, communications, marketing, art, media and the relevant technologies.
CID acted as a content consultant in an Interreg IIIA project Design in Tourism jointly administered by Lahti University of Applied Sciences and the Pärnu College of the University of Tartu. The project ended with the launch of a book aimed at professionals, research communities, students and SMEs. The book was published in Finnish and Estonian in December 2007.
CID and LUAS aim 2009 is research of the evolution of learning, using several research- and foresight methods and continues with development of new kind of service concepts, which are strongly bond to planning and production of the service design education. This education will be given in areas of design and hospitality.

www.luas.fi
www.cid-lab.org
www.servicedesign.tv