My name is Iina and I will soon graduate as a Bachelor of Logistics Business. I did my thesis to the Climate University project in cooperation with Päivi. Together we worked for four months among an important subject that has also been our interest for a long time. The sustainable development and the responsible entrepreneurship are themes which define the lines of the economic operation to an increasing extent. The companies and organisations must take into consideration the demands of the responsibility in everyday functions and also at the strategy level.
The educational institutions must respond to the know-how needs of the labour to produce skilled enough labour to solve the responsibility challenges in companies and organisations. “By doing” according to an old phrase, one learns and therefore it would be good to be able to try the skills needed in working life already during the studies. Working life-oriented education and project courses are the form of the learning which has become common during the last decade in the second degree education. It is an excellent way to increase cooperation between the universities and the companies; in a realistic context the students are able to practise the necessary skills needed in the working life in the future.
The thesis was implemented as a part of the development of the Solutions.now course which is a part of the Climate University project. The purpose of the thesis was to make a report about the significance of the cooperation between the universities and companies and other organizations. The subject of the study was the direct advantages produced by the course to the principals taken part on the course in the present and demands for the future workers’ know-how. We carried out an interview study and got to interview seven of eight principals.
Sustainability is experienced as extremely important and wide subject in the organizations. To carry out the principles of sustainability in all three sectors the organizations needs the expert skills, global approach and inventiveness. New ideas and thinking outside of the box are expected from the students. When the principals were asked what kind of benefits they had gotten, the answers obtained was for example new useful ideas for solving problems, material suitable for example orientation or training for employees and a boost into lonely working. The time that the students were able to use for the research or such as the principal describes, “rummaging” was valuable. In the middle of the hurry such time would not have been found on the principal’s own staff. Furthermore, it was experienced that the course was also a good learning experience to the principals for the future.
We collected ideas and thoughts which hopefully are useful in the future when a course is arranged again. Loosening the schedule and strictly informing about it and other information in advance is what the principals desired. It is easier to the principals to frame the challenges on a right level and to be more exact when they know for example the students’ skills level and other available resources. In the beginning of the course it is important to make clear the expectations and objectives not only in the project group but also between the group and the principal.
Link to our thesis (in Finnish):
http://www.urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2020061018165
Päivi Kallio ja Iina Nortunen
Turku University of Applied Sciences