Our process for developing a brand new, multidisciplinary sustainability course at the University of Helsinki has reached the next stage – creating teaching materials and content, or the actual substance of the course. As advertised before on this very blog, the learning objectives and core contents of the course have been chosen, and to build on from that, we need you, the students and staff of the university. 

During autumn semester 2020, we will be establishing small groups of interested students and staff to brainstorm and produce content for the course over teaching periods 1 and 2. This could be anything from text, video, activating exercises, ideas for student projects, to evaluation criteria for when the course launches. The registration for these groups is now open and will continue until September 6, 2020.  

There are altogether eight groups – or thematic hubs, as we call them. They will each cover a segment of the course and work on producing materials that correspond to their topic. The following groups will launch this fall: 

1. The Introductions-hub: Sustainability as a concept, the complexity of sustainability challenges and systemic approach. 
2. The solutions hub: Solutions to sustainability challenges – students as future experts, individuals and citizens.  
3. Thematic hubs:

A) Global environmental commons
B) Human well-being and capabilities
C) Sustainable and just economies
D)Sustainable food systems and healthy nutrition
E) Energy decarbonisation with universal access
F) Urban and peri-urban development 

The core contents of the course – the thematic hubs – are based on the United Nations 2019 report on entry points for sustainability transformations. You can read more about them on our previous post here. 

We have several roles for both staff and students within these hubs: 

• Developing teaching materials (staff) 
• Group leader (staff) 
• Developing teaching materials (Master’s students) 
• Testing teaching materials (Both Bachelor’s and Master’s students)

We will kickstart the work on week 37 in September with an event for everyone who signed up to the hubs. After that, the groups should meet every two weeks or so, either over Zoom – or in person given the situation with coronavirus allows for it. The groups can work and produce content in Finnish, Swedish or English.  

As the work is spread throughout the autumn semester, the participants can choose if they participate either in both periods, or just one of them. The goal is to finish the first version of the course by the end of the year, but it is likely some development work will continue in spring 2021.  

The participating students can receive a certificate of their role in the process. If you wish to, you can check with your degree programme whether or not this could be counted towards your degree studies in a suitable study module. If there are more enthusiastic students registering than we are able to accommodate, priority will be given first in order of registration, unless it is necessary to weigh other factors in order to ensure hubs are as multidisciplinary as possible.  

You can sign up for the groups here. Registration will remain open until the 6th of September 2020. When signing up, you can indicate which group you would like to work in and tell us when you would be available to join us. You can also describe your field of study/research and interests, if these are something you would like to utilise in the development work.  

Welcome!  

In Finnish below! 

A lot has happened in May and June on the course-development front. The development team hosted a workshop at the Vice-rector’s summer meeting for the University of Helsinki pedagogical network (more on this later) and presented a proposal of the core contents and learning goals to the Academic Affairs Council. The proposal is based on expert interviews, student survey results, staff workshops and literature.  

The meeting of the Academic Affairs Council ended up being very encouraging, as the steering group’s proposal received positive feedback, which ultimately means that the planning can continue in the fall. This feedback will also help with refining some of the learning objectives and will be helpful for the development process in the future as well. Some vice-deans voiced their worries on student workload, which is a concern in the planning of a course such as this one – however, this will be kept in mind going forward.  

You can read the proposal in full on University of Helsinki Onedrive. To give you the long and short of it, though, the proposed course has the following learning objectives for students to:  

1. Understand the complexities involved with sustainability and the multidisciplinary and the philosophical and ethical dimensions of the subject matter
2. Understand their own role as an expert, as an individual, and as a member of a society in solving sustainability challenges
3. Have the ability to discuss sustainability-related questions in an empathetic and constructive manner, and to understand alternative viewpoints 
4. Understand the changes, and the related processes, phenomena and potential solutions to sustainability challenges 
5. Have the ability to apply sustainability-related knowledge in a multidisciplinary project 

The course itself would be based on six steps (see picture above), during which the student would familiarize themselves with sustainability as a concept, the complexities involved with sustainability questions, multidisciplinarity, and systems-thinking (1). The student would also think about their role as an expert, as an individual and as a member of society in solving sustainability challenges (2). During later stages of the course,  students would examine the changes (3), underlying processes and phenomena (4) as well as solutions (5) related to sustainability challenges through six cross-cutting multidisciplinary thematic modules (A-F, see picture above). The student will study some of these themes more in depth.  

During the course, the student will complete a project together with a group of students from different disciplines. The project will be evaluated by peers. The ethical and philosophical questions on sustainability will be integrated across the course, not as a separate element. The course structure and modules A-F are based on the sustainability course workshops, the student survey, expert interviews and the United Nations proposal on the six key transformations needed to achieve the sustainable development goals (United Nations, 2019, see pictures below).  

The development of course content will begin in August – we will keep you up to date here on our blog and our mailing list (instructions on joining here).  The idea is to gather thematic groups to work on the different elements of the course, with representatives from different disciplines. You can also keep up with the course planning on our Teams-area. Joining is easy – just follow this link. You are welcome to join the planning and creation of the teaching materials for the MOOC – more information will be coming in August. In the meantime, we wish you a warm and relaxing summer.  

Osaamistavoitteet ja ydinsisällöt kestävyyskurssille – seuraavat askeleet ja kurssin valmistelu syksyllä 

Kurssin suunnittelu on edennyt touko- ja kesäkuussa vauhdilla. Kurssia on esitelty muun muassa vararehtorin ja yliopiston pedagogiikkatoimijoiden kesätapaamisessa. Lisäksi opetusvaradekaanit käsittelivät ehdotusta kurssin oppimistavoitteiksi ja ydinsisällöiksi opintoasiainneuvoston kokouksessa.  Ehdotus on laadittu avointen työpajojen, haastattelujen ja opiskelijakyselyn tulosten sekä kirjallisuuden pohjalta. 

Opintoasiainneuvosto otti kurssin vastaan positiivisesti. Saimme kuitenkin opetusvaradekaaneilta palautetta, joiden pohjalta kurssin oppimistavoitteita pystytään vielä tarkentamaan. Tämän lisäksi opintoasiainneuvosto toivoi, että kurssin suunnittelussa pidettäisiin huolta siitä, että työtaakka ei muodostu opiskelijoille liian raskaaksi. Nämä asiat pyritäänkin huomioimaan kurssin suunnittelussa.  

Opintoasiainneuvostolle esitellyt materiaalit voi lukea kokonaisuudessaan täältä – linkki aukeaa Helsingin yliopiston Onedriveen, joten tarvitset yliopiston käyttäjätunnuksen. Kurssin oppimistavoitteet ovat seuraavanlaiset: 

Opiskelija… 

1. Ymmärtää kestävyyskysymysten kompleksisuutta, monitieteisyyttä sekä kestävyyden eettisiä ja filosofisia ulottuvuuksia.
2. Ymmärtää omat roolinsa asiantuntijana, yksilönä ja yhteiskunnan jäsenenä kestävyyskysymysten ratkaisemisessa. 

3. Osaa keskustella empaattisesti ja rakentavasti kestävyyskysymyksistä ja ymmärtää toisten ihmisten näkökulmia. 

4. Ymmärtää kestävyyshaasteisiin liittyviä muutoksia, niiden taustalla olevia prosesseja ja ilmiöitä sekä mahdollisia ratkaisukeinoja. 

5. Osaa soveltaa kestävyyteen liittyviä tietoja monitieteisessä projektityöskentelyssä.

Kestävyyskurssi rakentuu ehdotuksessa kuudesta vaiheesta (ks. yllä oleva kuva), joiden aikana opiskelija tutustuu kestävyyteen käsitteenä, kestävyyskysymysten kompleksisuuteen ja monitieteisyyteen sekä systeemiseen lähestymistapaan (1). Opiskelija pohtii kurssilla omaa rooliaan kestävyyskysymysten ratkaisijana tulevana oman alansa asiantuntijana (suhteessa muiden alojen opiskelijoihin), yksilönä ja yhteiskunnan jäsenenä (2). Globaaleihin kestävyyshaasteisiin liittyviä muutoksia (3), muutosten taustalla olevia prosesseja ja ilmiöitä (4) sekä ratkaisukeinoja kestävyyshaasteisiin tarkastellaan kuuden läpileikkaavan monitieteisen temaattisen modulin kautta (A-F), joista opiskelija keskittyy tarkemmin osaan (esim. 1-2 teemaan perehtyminen tarkemmin). 

Kestävyyskurssin aikana opiskelija laatii monitieteisessä ryhmässä projektityön, joka vertaisarvioidaan. Kestävyyden eettiset ja filosofiset kysymykset integroidaan kurssin kaikkiin osiin läpileikkaavana teemana. 

Kurssin rakenne ja modulien teemat perustuvat kestävyyskurssin kehittämispajoissa, haastatteluissa ja opiskelijakyselyissä nousseisiin teemoihin sekä YK:n esitykseen (Yhdistyneet Kansakunnat 2019, ks. kuvat alla) tiedeyhteisön kokonaisnäkemyksestä kuudesta tärkeimmästä systeemitason painopisteestä kestävyysmuutokseen, joihin keskittymällä YK:n kestävän kehityksen tavoitteiden saavuttamista voidaan vauhdittaa. 

Kurssin kehittäminen jatkuu elokuussa kurssin rakenteen pohjalta koostettavissa teemaryhmissä. Tavoitteena on, että monien eri tieteenalojen edustajia saataisiin mukaan kurssin suunnitteluun ja opetusmateriaalien rakentamiseen MOOC-kurssia varten. Suunnittelutyötä on helppo seurata esimerkiksi kurssikehittäjien Teams-alueella, jolle voi liittyä tämän linkin kautta. Lisäksi tiedotusta voi seurata täällä blogissa, sekä sähköpostilistallamme. Toivotamme kaikki kiinnostuneet mukaan kehitystyöhön, ja tiedotamme asiasta lisää elokuussa. Lämmintä ja rentouttavaa kesää kaikille!  

The last week of the student survey is here! So far, our survey has received altogether 700 responses with respondents from every faculty at the University of Helsinki. There is time until Friday, so if you have not done it already, go ahead and fill out the survey here!

Even though proper analysis is still pending, it seems that the majority of the respondents (74%) are female. This is maybe less surprising considering the majority of the students at UH are female  (64% in 2018). Furthermore, whilst reading answers to our open-ended questions, I noticed many respondents mentioned the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic as an important moment for them in thinking about sustainability. It also seems that many students identified the Australian bushfires and the decision made by Unicafe to remove beef from its menu as impactful sustainability-related experiences for them in the past academic year.

Once the survey is closed, we will begin a more careful analysis of student responses. I hope that we will be able to tell you more about the results soon, but until then, thank you to everyone who responded – this information is vital to the project!

Last week started a set of four parallel workshops. The workshops were open to all staff members. The aim was to explore the university community’s perceptions of what kind of knowledge or skills a student graduating from the University of Helsinki should have about sustainability. The first two workshops were organized last Monday and Tuesday via Zoom.  

Despite the exceptional times and the fact that every event – also the workshops – have been moved online, the developing of the sustainability course has not stopped or been delayed. The course developer Rami Ratvio has with the help of the HELSUS trainees Lotta Ruippo and Arttu Jokinen continued the development work even if meeting people in person is not a possibility for the moment.  

The first two workshops have now been organized and the next two will be organized on Wednesday 6th and Tuesday 12th of May. In total, there are 62 people registered for all the workshops. The first workshops highlighted students ability to deal with multidimensional environmental problems which requires multidisciplinary thinking and the understanding that there might be several ways to approach and solve an environmental problem. There were also discussions about the ways to teach students these abilities in just one course since the course aims were put quite high.  

The workshop participant raised several aspects which should be fulfilled during the course. Not only should it offer facts about environmental problems but also the ability for the students to see their expertise in relation to others expertise. The workshop participants thought that understanding others way of thinking is at least as important as the environmental facts itself.  

The participants were also asked how the course should end and how the knowledge and skills of the course should be summarized. Most of the participants thought that a group project could be a way to do it. There were thoughts that a group project that is shareable online could be a functional solution. Also here the multidisciplinary approach were present. The workshop attendees thought that the group work should be done in groups with students from several degree programmes, not only with students from their own programme.  

Altogether it has been great to notice that university staff members with all kind of backgrounds are interested in participating in the course development. The knowledge they offer is priceless information for the course development and will bring us one step nearer to carry out the sustainability course for all students!  

 Amidst the slight change of plans brought on by the global COVID-19 pandemic, we have been working on a student survey with plans to launch it in April. Having an idea of what students think of sustainability and sustainability education is very important to us.  

Once the survey goes live, students will be invited to fill out the classic e-lomake survey – we’ll announce things over e-mail, in Flamma and through social media channels. And here on the blog, of course. So stay tuned!

The UN Sustainable Development Goals are underpinned by the notion of inclusion, so it wouldn’t be great if we didn’t at least try to include students in the course development process. That’s exactly what we’re aiming for with the survey – we want to know what the students think so we can drive our course development based on their experiences.  However, the survey won’t be the last chance for students to get involved – more on this later!

 Photo by Sofia Lavaste 

Things don’t always go the way you plan them. Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, and the consequent actions taken by the Finnish government, we will suspend our plans for hosting campus workshops, at least for the time being.

So instead, we will do remote workshops for everyone who wants to participate, likely in late April. We also want to encourage any interested parties to join our course planning Teams area. Joining is easy – just drop a line to uhsustained-team@helsinki.fi and one of our team members will add you.

Things are not entirely clear as of right now, and we will do a trial run of the workshop before official invitations go out. For now, we hope you take care of yourself and those at risk.

All the best,

Course coordinator team

Photo by Sofia Lavaste