News

On 28 November at noon, there was a ceremony of planting the cornerstone of the new learning facility of the Estonian Academy of Security Sciences in Maarjamäe, Kase 61.

Rector of the Academy, Katri Raik, claimed that the new building shall not be merely a house the Academy has been waiting for more than 20 years, instead it is a great anniversary present for the cadets, alumni and the Academy itself. “It proves that the state values internal security related education! I am sure that the new building will also bring new breathing for the Academy.”

Andres Anvelt, Minister of the Interior, noted that the Estonian Academy of Security Sciences is one of the last institutions of higher education in Estonia getting a modern building in 2019 in Tallinn and a year later in Narva. “Interest in acquiring internal security related education is high, but competition is becoming more intense. There has been a debt for improving the conditions of providing internal security related education for more than 25 years, in the coming years, however, this debt will be paid for,” the minister said. “It will definitely help us stay in competition both in the field of education and also when the future students choose their professions.”

The new building shall be made by Nordecon and it will be finished in the first months of 2019. “It is an honour for us to build a learning facility of national importance, a building that will create a foundation for better internal security in Estonia,” said Erkki Suurorg, board member of Nordecon AS. “I believe that the new building with the necessary functionalities will help the employees do their work even more efficiently and that it will create an interesting and comfortable environment for students, too.”

The cornerstone cylinder consisted of a letter with the Rector’s greetings, the story of how this building came into being with the names of those directly connected it with, and the design of the new building both on paper and on a memory stick. There was also a digital version of the book published for the 25th anniversary of the Academy. Minister Anvelt also inserted his greetings into the cylinder. In addition, there were also two first issues of the Academy’s magazine Verbis aut Re!, a miniature flag of the Academy and a badge with the Academy’s coat of arms put into the cylinder.

The most important outcome of the education sector investment project in the area of internal security is the modern learning and working environment that is especially accustomed to the peculiarities of the Academy’s learning process and the development goals of the area of internal security. The learning and working environment are important to improve the quality and organisation of studies and to increase the capacity of serving the society. The investment shall increase the competitiveness of the unique institution of higher education in Estonia and support smart specialisation. The aim of the Academy is to be a competence centre for the area-related applied research. These developments will enable to bring the content of the internal security related education in Estonia to the 21st century.

The author of the architectural design of the Academy’s new building is architecture bureau Arhitekt11. The carrying out of the project is supported by the ASTRA measure of the European Regional Development Fund. The contractual value of the new learning facility is 18.4 million euros, 13.5 million euros of which are covered with the ASTRA support.

There are almost one thousand cadets studying at the Estonian Academy of Security Sciences. The Academy is comprised of four colleges: Police and Border Guard College, College of Justice, Rescue College and Financial College. In addition to its main building in Maarjamäe in Tallinn, the Estonian Academy of Security Sciences also has learning centres in Paikuse (Police School of the Police and Border Guard College) and Väike-Maarja (Rescue School of the Rescue College). In the summer of 2020 the learning centre in Narva will be added to the Academy. The winner of the architecture competition to find a design for the Narva learning centre will be announced on 29 November in Narva.