Climate change marches on, and universities are unwilling to stand aside and watch these dramatic developments unfold. For example, degree programmes in technology – and university communities as a whole – have started going green.
“The principle of sustainable development is now visible at every university,” says Sirkku Linna, Director General at the Ministry of Education.
“At the ministry, we have not compiled any data on the matter because universities have autonomy over their degree programmes. However, the titles of the programmes often point to sustainable development as a theme that permeates the education.”
Talking to technical universities backs up the Director General’s point. The green transition seems to play a central role in strategies. Many universities have also developed degree programmes around the green transition.
Oulu is in on the trend
Jukka Majava, Education Dean of the Faculty of Technology at the University of Oulu, emphasises that the strategy reflects the dominant teaching trends.
“Ours refers to digitalisation, sustainable development and the green transition.
“In the field of technology, we have offered environmental engineering as a part of degree programmes for a long time. The green transition is also part of the course content of other degree programmes. It is a focal point within the subjects we teach.”
According to Majava, the University of Oulu reviews its curricula annually and selects its themes to be developed for the next period. These include generic skills that involve sustainability and accountability.
“When new development projects are planned, they are often linked to the UN Sustainable Development Goals.”
Majava has noticed that students are interested in the green transition and sustainable development. For example, sustainable development is available as a minor subject. This involves studying several modules from different subjects.
“When we prepare curricula in the field of technology, one challenge we face is that Bachelor’s degree programmes in technology offer relatively little room for elective subjects, so we cannot offer very wide-ranging entities as part of a Bachelor’s degree.”
Majava can list the main aspects of the University of Oulu’s strategy by heart: 1) Mitigating climate change and safeguarding biodiversity, 2) A resilient and secure society, 3) Digitalisation, artificial intelligence and data at the service of humanity, and 4) Human health and wellbeing.
“I can confidently say that our offering of degree programmes reflects these principles effectively.”
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Lappeenranta’s strategy is in touch with our times
“Clean water, energy and air, and responsible business,” answers Jaana Sandström, Vice Rector of LUT University, when asked about the strategy of the Lappeenranta–Lahti University of Technology.
“All our specialised course offerings align with our strategy,” Sandström hastens to add.
When Sandström took up the position as Vice Rector for Education at LUT University ten years ago, sustainable development was a focus of specialised Master’s programmes. Today, the situation is different: the ideas of sustainable development are an overarching principle in virtually all the degree programmes.
“Our research has a strong emphasis on the clean transition, and our degree programmes are based on our research priorities.”
Sandström gives the example of the chemical engineering programme, which emphasises topics such as clean water and bioenergy.
“Even software development is viewed from the perspective of environmental consciousness and sustainability, demonstrating how essential these principles are to every subject.”
“Not to mention the energy and environmental engineering programmes. The clean transition is also an integral aspect of the mechanical and electrical engineering programmes.
Sustainable solutions are a cross-cutting theme at Aalto
Like the University of Oulu and LUT, Aalto University’s degree programmes take climate change very seriously.
“Sustainable solutions, an entrepreneurial mindset, and radical creativity are the overarching themes of our degree programmes,” says Elina Kähkönen, Cross Cutting Areas Officer at Aalto University.
According to Kähkönen, the principles have become a meaningful part of all teaching, research, and societal impact.
“We have created a university-wide Bachelor-level minor subject called Sustainable Use of Natural Resources (Luonnonvarojen kestävä käyttö). It was prepared by professors and lecturers from the Schools of Electrical Engineering, Engineering, Chemical Engineering, and Science.
Kähkönen says that it is important that the university’s graduates are capable of tackling today’s complex sustainability challenges.
“Sustainability problems are resolved even before graduating. Our education aims to help students identify the connection between their field and sustainable development. This is a marathon, not a sprint: it demands time and hard work.”
Green building technology is studied in Tampere
Tampere University has read the signs of the times and, as the first in Finland, launched a master's degree program in building technology this August. The programme takes two years for people who already hold a Bachelor’s degree or a university of applied sciences degree in engineering.
The studies in building technology include carbon neutrality, system integration and life cycle understanding. They all support the green transition and sustainable construction.
According to the people who wrote the curriculum, graduates may be employed in management roles in fields such as building technology design, contracting, equipment manufacturing, and project management.
“We received a lot of applications for this programme. Clean building technology solutions clearly interest students,” says Piia Sormunen, Industry Professor at the University of Tampere.
The intake is 20 students.
“The role of housing technology in construction is growing, justifying an increase in the offering of education in the field. Students may also be interested in the topic because of the shortage of skilled building technology designers and managers. The green transition is imposing new demands on building technology. Finding employment is as certain as it can be in this uncertain world.”
Photo: Tampere. Tampere University was the first in Finland to launch a master's degree program in building services engineering.
Photo: Jonne Renvall, Tampere University.