Innovations and Creativity in Climate Education

Watch the recordings of Mon 2.3. program (lectures in Lumituuli auditorium): 

Morning session    Afternoon session 1    Afternoon session 2    Afternoon session 3   

“Innovations and creativity in climate education” seminar will be hosted in Otaniemi in March 2020 as a part of the Climate University project. The aim of the seminar and Climate University as a whole, is to further develop Finnish universities´ climate education. The open seminar will showcase Aalto University’s current experience in climate education, especially highlighting innovations, entrepreneurship and arts. The second day will be allocated for course development, the main focus of Climate University. In addition, the seminar will provide excellent possibilities for networking and sharing practices.

The seminar is primarily aimed at faculty and university and high-school teachers. However, anybody interested is welcome to join. The Otaniemi seminar programme is now published (see below). 

About Climate University
Climate University is a collaboration project of eleven Finnish universities, and Aalto is among the members. The purpose of Climate University collaboration is to create multidisciplinary digital learning solutions for the education of sustainability challenges, as well as establish a collegial network of teachers to support the teaching of climate change and sustainability in university education. The Climate University project builds on previous courses made in collaboration between universities and the Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra.

In addition to universities, the project has two high schools (one of them in Otaniemi) as partners. The project is funded by the Ministry of Education and Culture and the Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra, and its duration is 2018-2020.

More information on Climate University

Courses on climate change and sustainability
Within the Climate University project there are currently three courses under development:

1. Sustainable.now (a basic course on sustainability)
2. Solutions.now (a project course on solutions to climate change with industrial collaboration)
3. SystemsChange.now (climate change as a systemic problem). Aalto (Systems Analysis Laboratory, SCI) is one of the main contributors.

All course materials will be open for anybody and will be available via DigiCampus platform by the end of 2020.

The following courses are already available and open for all:

1. Climate.now (A basic level course on climate change. Available both in English and in Finnish.)
2. Circular.now (A basic level course on circular economy. Available both in English and in Finnish.)
3. Leadership for sustainable change (A masters level course on leading the change. Available in English.) 

Programme

Monday 2.3.2020, Dipoli, Otakaari 24, Espoo

Watch the recordings of Mon 2.3. program (lectures in Lumituuli auditorium):

Morning session    Afternoon session 1    Afternoon session 2    Afternoon session 3   

8:30 Registration, morning coffee and snacks
9:00 Welcoming speeches

• Greeting from Aalto School of Science, Ari Koskelainen 
• Welcome to Climate University, Laura Riuttanen 
• Climate education at Aalto University, Sanna-Liisa Sihto-Nissilä 
• Sustainability at Aalto University, Meri Löyttyniemi

9:45 Can entrepreneurship change the world?, Minna Halme
10:00 Aalto climate anxiety groups and student perspective, Sanni Saarimäki
10:30 Parallel workshops

1. Awareness-based climate education and co-creation, Kirsi Hakio & Meeri Karvinen 
2. Coping with climate anxiety, Sanni Saarimäki & Jaana Suviniitty 

3. 1,5 Degrees Lifestyle Puzzle, Michael Lettenmeier & Salla Lahtinen

11:30 Lunch
12:30 What makes me happy? - An exercise for reflection: decoupling happiness & consumption, Angelina Korsunova
12:45 Arts-based, multidisciplinary teaching during the eco crisis, Anniina Suominen, Rasmus Vuori, Tatu Marttila & Jasmin Järvinen
13:45 Co-teaching & ethics panel – a teaching demonstration, Elina Kähkönen & Håkan Mitts
14:30 Coffee break and snacks
15:00 Aalto showcases

• Tvättstugan & SDG labels in Aalto’s course palette, Meri Löyttyniemi
• Creative Sustainability Masters Programme, Mikko Jalas 
• EIT Climate-KIC - Empowering and building capacity so that innovation can be climate action, Hsiao-Pei Liao
• Aalto Ventures Program – Enterpreneurship education and SDGs, Lauri Järvilehto
• Sustainability Literacy Test (www.sulitest.org), Meeri Karvinen 

16:15 Aalto Online Learning experiences and best practices, Tomi Kauppinen
16:35 Start. Stop. Continue. Change. - Wrap Up exercise: top takeaways of the day, Angelina Korsunova
16:45 Closing of day 1
17:00 Campus tours

1. Energy on Campus, augmented reality and visit to Test site, Tuomas Paloposki
2. Leaning by experimenting and co-creation, visit to Aalto Design Factory,  Serpil Oğuz & Kalevi Ekman
3. Lab visit: Ioncell-fibre from cellulose, Herbert Sixta
4. Lab visit: Solar cell research by New Energy Technologies group, Sami Jouttijärvi & Ghufran Hashmi

18:00 Dinner at Fat Lizard restaurant, Otaniemi

During the day climate challenge videos are recorded. Read more and prepare to make your own challenge! 

Tuesday 3.3.2020, Dipoli, Otakaari 24, Espoo

8:30 Registration, morning coffee and snacks

9:00 Parallel workshops

1. Climate University Coordinator meeting
2. Climate and sustainability board games for university teaching (Meeri Karvinen &Jon-Erik Dahlin, Snowflake Education)
3. Climate action in High Schools: visit to Otaniemi High School and Aalto Junior (Kirsi Haapamäki & Aki Saariaho, Otaniemi High School)

11:05 Piloting Climate University course materials

1. SystemsChange.now
2. Solutions.now
3. Sustainable.now
4. Climate.now for high schools (in Finnish)

12:00 Lunch with greeting from Juhani Järvensivu & Julius Särkkälä Fiksu Ruoka
13:00 Course development workshops

1. SystemsChange.now 
2. Solutions.now with introduction from Mikko Jalas: Project courses – learnings from Creative sustainability from 2010-2020
3. Sustainable.now
4. Climate.now for high schools (in Finnish)

14:30 Coffee break and snacks
15:00 Discussion and summary
16:00 Closing of the seminar

Organisers

Sanna-Liisa Sihto-Nissilä, Climate.now course teacher and Climate University project coordinator, Aalto SCI
sanna-liisa.sihto-nissila(a)aalto.fi

Meri Löyttyniemi, Senior Advisor, Sustainability, Aalto Sustainability Hub
meri.loyttyniemi(a)aalto.fi

Emma Sairanen, Trainee, Aalto Sustainability Hub
emma.2.sairanen(a)aalto.fi