The joint course for top executives titled "Executive Academy in Leading and Designing Transition" by the Estonian Academy of Arts and Estonian Business School is the first of its kind in Estonia. The program's goal is to help leaders and entrepreneurs better handle transformative future scenarios and develop solutions for new challenges.
The ten-month program combines guidance from EKA designers and EBS business experts, intensive practical learning, and study trips to transforming companies in Estonia and Germany. The objective is to learn how to change industries and lead companies using modern design principles, adapting to today's in many ways imperfect business environment.
Together, EBS and EKA hope that Estonian leaders will be able to create foresighted and impactful visions in transformative conditions. The program's philosophy focuses on developing authentic and sustainable leadership skills, enabling participants to increase their impact and maintain a balance between their personal and professional lives. The program invites top executives and business owners to develop a purpose-driven sustainable business model and financial transformation plan, focusing not only on profit.
"This new program in collaboration with EKA is a natural step for EBS, as entrepreneurship is primarily an art that requires imagination and creativity. It's about experimenting and approaching management challenges in new ways. This helps avoid entrenched ways of operating and cognitive dependency on well-trodden paths," said Meelis Kitsing, Chairman of the Board and Rector of EBS.
Ruth-Helene Melioranski, Dean of the Estonian Academy of Arts: "By collaborating with EBS, we are launching a new macro-degree at EKA, which has appealed to us because, from a distance, what seem like two very different worlds, business and culture, can inspire each other fruitfully. While the fields of Estonian Business School and Estonian Academy of Arts are different, design is increasingly applied in management today. Together with EBS, we aim to bring design and design thinking more broadly into Estonian management."
The cooperation program kicks off on May 10 at the Estonian Academy of Arts with a morning coffee session addressing the question, "How can culture lead in transformative conditions?" The panel discussion will feature long-time top executive Kaarel Suuk, Dean of the Faculty of Fine Arts at the Estonian Academy of Arts Kirke Kangro, Dean of the Faculty of Design at the Estonian Academy of Arts Ruth-Helene Melioranski, and EBS Product Development Manager and discussion moderator Marko Rillo.
Estonian Academy of Arts
Founded in 1914, the Estonian Academy of Arts is the only public university in Estonia providing higher education in fine arts, design, architecture, media, visual studies, art history, and conservation.
EKA strives to be among the leading international innovation centers in the field of visual culture. Currently, the Academy has more than 1,100 students, many of whom participate in exchange programs with international partner universities. In addition to active teaching and research activities, the Estonian Academy of Arts also offers continuing education through its Open Academy. The Estonian Academy of Arts cooperates with more than a hundred top-level art, design, and architecture universities worldwide and is a member of several international higher education networks. Its academic staff are professionals in their fields, internationally recognized.
Estonian Business School
Estonian Business School (EBS) is the oldest private business school in the Baltic States, founded in 1988. As an independent private business school with university status, it is part of the SA Estonian Business School (a non-profit foundation). EBS's mission is to inspire and support our main stakeholders to achieve their potential in co-creating value. EBS offers undergraduate, master's, and doctoral programs in business and administration. EBS currently has 1,400 students and partnership agreements with more than 70 universities in Europe, America, Australia, and Asia.
Photographer Eiko Lainjärv.
