Sustainability

Chemical Engineering Meets Sustainability: Aalto's Collaborative Approach

Utilising support tools such as workshops, teamwork, curriculum mapping, and cross-cutting theme expertise, the Aalto Co-Educator team facilitates course and competence development, led by the teachers themselves. 



One such example of this process is the collaboration with the School of Chemical Engineering to clarify and strengthen solutions for sustainability within its compulsory first-year bachelor’s degree course, Teollisuuden toimintaympäristöt ja prosessit (Lead Teacher: Marjatta Louhi-Kultanen.)
Students pull a bicycle apart
Photo: Teollisuuden toimintaympäristöt ja prosessit students dismantle a bicycle together.

This collaboration between the Aalto Co-Educator (ACE) team and the School of Chemical Engineering is an example of the successful strengthening of sustainability themes into an existing course. The collaboration was spearheaded by motivated teachers who stepped up to co-create and thoughtfully refine existing material. The ACE team's aim was to facilitate the conditions for an existing course to undergo new thinking and development.

The process began with individual interviews with the five members of the teaching team, followed by comprehensive whole-team curriculum mapping workshops. The interviews and workshops offered a holistic view of who was teaching what, allowing the team to see how all the pieces of the puzzle interconnected. Upon reflection, the team recognised that while sustainability was incorporated, there was room for deeper exploration of the themes.

One of the co-lecturers, Eero Hiltunen, reflects: “This Co-Educator project organized busy people together (on several occasions) and facilitated a mindset to modify the course. The team helped us to further clarify the goals of the course. We also analyzed what subtopics are most relevant - in a more systematic manner and with a more open mindset than previously.”

TYP students dismantle bike together

With support from the Aalto Co-Educators, the teaching team stepped beyond a theoretical approach and integrated a segment of the course about the life cycle of a product, where students (literally) get their hands dirty while reflecting on sustainability solutions. 

Now, consider the humble bicycle. You might wonder what a rusty bicycle has to do with first-year chemical engineering studies, but teachers wanted to encourage students to reflect on their future roles as chemical engineers and consider the broader decision-making processes beyond individual projects. 

In groups, students were assigned the task of dismantling a specific part of the bicycle. Each group took their part back to workstations and disassembled it into as many smaller components as possible. This task required teamwork, strategic thinking, and physical effort.

After students dismantled their portion of the bicycle into as many components as possible, they critically analyzed the materials, design, and recycling potential of each component. Why were particular materials chosen? How can they be reused or recycled? These questions form the foundation of discussions and reflections that take place throughout the course.

Three students around bike.

Jerika Hagberg, a Bachelor of Chemical Engineering student commented, "I had the impression that Aalto has thought about sustainability in general, and this course aligns with that vision."

Freddy Asplund, another student, stated, "This lesson gives us a good opportunity to visualize a supply chain."

Pihla Nikula adds, “In the context of chemical engineering, dismantling the bike allows us to think about all of the different materials and their impact.”

Via co-creating a course that fosters a deeper understanding of sustainability through hands-on experiences, Aalto University equips its students to become future leaders in creating solutions for a more sustainable world. 

The Aalto Co-Educator team supports teachers and lecturers to integrate solutions for sustainability via a lens of radical creativity and entrepreneurial mindset in easy and functional ways. We have 8 dedicated, curious, and expert team members ready to support you. 

Please contact project lead Elina Kähkönen at [email protected] to discuss potential collaboration.

Read More about Aalto Co-Educator Collaborations and Support here:

Students sitting around a table with laptops and discussing.

The Aalto Co-Educator Team

All Aalto graduates should have the capability to analyse and tackle complex sustainability challenges especially related to their own field, and to grasp opportunities for making a change.

For personnel – highlights and support for your work
Nanoelectronics board

Integrating Aalto’s Cross-Cutting Themes into Leading Tech Programmes

Discover how solutions for sustainability, entrepreneurial mindset and radical creativity have been integrated into the NanoElectronics programme. 

Sustainability
Image of working with a laptop

Aalto Co-Educator for Programme Directors

Our aim is to facilitate curriculum development process together with programme directors.

For personnel – highlights and support for your work
Teachers working together to build new competencies.

Aalto Co-Educator for Teachers

We collaborate with teachers to integrate sustainability, radical creativity and entrepreneurial mindset into courses.

For personnel – highlights and support for your work
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