I’m currently doing my Erasmus exchange at the Köln International School of Design (KISD). The school is incredibly design-oriented, featuring a huge range of workshops and labs to bring projects to life. One of the best parts is the variety of courses; I can choose anything from Application Design with AI, to Perfume Creation to Wooden Toy Design.
The education model here is built almost entirely around projects, seminars, and courses. Unlike back home, there is no pre-designed curriculum—students are responsible for creating their own.
Another thing that stands out is how community-driven the school is. The students actually run everything here, from the workshops to the cafeteria. You’ll even find students baking treats in the school kitchen to serve to their peers. This kind of university culture would be unheard of back home, and it’s really opened my eyes to how much a university can feel like a community.
The university also has its own dedicated social platform called Spaces. It’s essentially a Facebook-style workspace that handles everything: course selection, important announcements, event calendars, and even a marketplace. It has been a total game-changer for staying up to date with projects and the community. Comparing it to using Moodle back home is like night and day—it makes the whole experience much more integrated and accessible.
Outside of university, Cologne has so much to offer. Even though it’s a city of a million people, it feels remarkably compact and is incredibly easy to navigate by bike. It’s famous for its traditional Brauhauses, where you can get a real taste of the local food and beer culture. For sports fans, there’s the local football team, 1. FC Köln, or if you’re looking for something a bit more “Finnish,” you can catch a game by the local ice hockey team, the Kölner Haie.
The city is full of variety—you can spend a day visiting world-class museums, exploring urban, alternative neighborhoods like Ehrenfeld, or browsing one of the many flea markets that pop up every week.
Cologne’s location right on the Rhine also makes it a perfect hub for travel. You can easily reach nearby cities like Düsseldorf, Dortmund, or Bonn in no time. Even more impressive is that within just a couple of hours, you can be in France, Belgium, or the Netherlands. Coming from Finland, the ease of traveling to so many different countries and cultures by train or car feels almost unbelievable.
Unfortunately, my time here is coming to an end, but I highly recommend Cologne for everyone!
Sincerely,
Henri
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