Case studies 2025
Learn more about the provisional case studies for WiTProgramme 2025!
Study structure
On this page you find the structure of the WiT Programme 2024. The programme is designed to be a 5-month intensive entity so that people who already work in the professional field can find the opportunity to participate easier. During this intensive 5-month period, individuals have the opportunity to deeply engage with customized content designed for specific grassroots initiatives. Simultaneously, it allows organisations to get motivated people to work on their specific projects.
STRUCTURE OF AALTO WiT PROGRAMME 2024
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Major studies (Otaniemi Camp): 14 Credits
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Field Work: 6 Credits
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Project Work (Incubation): 10 Credits
1 credit = 27 working hours
1. MAJOR STUDIES - 14 credits
GENERAL CONTENT (obligatory for everyone):
This module engages in designing and planning human settlements in vulnerable conditions. It concentrates on processes rather than products, ranging from short-term emergency situations to long-term poverty alleviation.
Responsible teachers: Saija Hollmén & Kristjana Adalgeirsdóttir
This module examines and reshapes the way sustainability is understood and practiced addressing historical inequalities, power dynamics, and cultural biases that have shaped the field. It seeks to challenge and transform these paradigms to create a more inclusive and equitable understanding of sustainability.
Responsible teacher: Anahita Rashidfarokhi
This module has two components. Systems thinking enables participants to evaluate complex situations holistically while distinguishing general features of dynamics of change processes and understanding how individual and cultural mental models are connected to how systems and change are understood. Resilience thinking helps recognise uncertainties, change, and interconnections and seeks to offer tools and perspectives needed to navigate to a more resilient future.
Responsible teacher: Katri Pulkkinen
This module provides a framework for exploring potential future scenarios, analysing trends, and developing strategies. It aims to equip participants with the methods and tools to envision and plan for a range of possible futures and their impacts.
Responsible teacher: Anahita Rashidfarokhi
This module engages participants in designing, planning, and validating a business model from economic, social, and environmental point of view taking into consideration a multistakeholder approach to value creation and value sharing.
Responsible teacher: Hani Tarabichi
Coaching is included in the WiT Programme to give participants a more solid professional foundation for working in the humanitarian field. It focuses on aspects such as self-leadership, communication, and time management, and generally provides knowledge and skills for working in challenging conditions.
Responsible teacher: Katri Pulkkinen
CASE-SPECIFIC CONTENT (choose one track based on a selected case):
This module focuses on Disaster Risk Reduction and resilience-building within shelter and settlement responses. It will provide a comprehensive understanding of global crises within the humanitarian response system and equip participants with the capacities to identify challenges and employ interdisciplinary methods to address them in multi-stakeholder humanitarian environments.
Responsible teachers: Kristjana Adalgeirsdóttir
This module centres on tangible and intangible cultural heritage in the global majority contexts. It aims to bridge historical conservation and sustainable urban development, fostering capacity building in heritage site conservation and management. The module equips participants with the ability to combine architecture, design, and urban planning fields to enhance the protection and resilience of at-risk cultural heritage.
Responsible teacher: Saija Hollmén
This module concentrates on sustainable building materials and construction techniques. It provides participants with the capacity to explore potential techniques and materials to increase resource efficiency and circularity and to reduce carbon footprint. It also highlights the role of local knowledge and methods in achieving holistically sustainable and participatory construction processes.
Responsible teacher: Saija Hollmén
This module focuses on participatory methods and facilitation tools based on a variety of theoretical frameworks and practical applications during the fieldwork. Participants will be equipped with essential capacities to become trainers of the peer educators and mentors alike. Many of the tools are applicable also in co-design and team management processes in demanding conditions.
Responsible teacher: Matleena Muhonen
2. FIELD WORK - 6 credits
The fieldwork is a 3-week international work-life experience with partnering organisations in low & middle income countries. During the fieldwork, the participants observe and collect data, and interact with communities and professionals from the field. Throughout the field trip, participants receive mentorship and are equipped to work in challenging transdisciplinary and intercultural situations.
3. PROJECT WORK (incubation) - 10 credits
During project work, participants finalise their real-life case projects by synthesising theoretical learnings and practical experiences into tangible outcomes and channelling them into meaningful professional and personal development. This period also includes creating an individual portfolio, which serves as a dynamic showcase of each participant's development journey.
TIMELINE
The programme starts in early January with a 2-month intensive “Otaniemi Camp”. This period includes a kick-off session with introduction and team building while partnering organisations will present their work and cases. During these months, we will focus on both the general and the case-specific content, according to the organisations’ needs. Before going into the fieldwork, the participants will design and finish a project plan.
For the rest of the period, the participants will be supported by mentoring sessions, and the collaboration with the organisations will be supported through coaching. The fieldwork is carried out in March, while April and May constitute the incubation period where the projects are being developed. The final projects will be presented during the final seminar at the end of May. The aim for each participant is continued collaboration with the organisation after receiving the diploma.
AIMS OF THE PROGRAMME
The aim of the Aalto WiT Programme is to provide participants with:
- Knowledge, skills and personal capacities needed to apply and combine scientific methods and practices needed in demanding humanitarian environments;
- Knowledge and skills to understand the problems and challenges of the humanitarian field from the point of view of social, technical, institutional and environmental systems;
- Knowledge and skills to perform, both independently and collaboratively, demanding expert, development and management duties of the humanitarian field;
- Interpersonal competencies needed for knowledge transfer in interdisciplinary teamwork and for international operations and cooperation.
INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOMES
WiT Programme focuses on humanitarian architecture which is at the intersection of architecture, social sciences, art and design, engineering, business and technology. Aalto WiT Programme equips participants with strategic and practical knowledge and skills that are essential to work in the dynamic fields of humanitarian architecture, emergency response and sustainable development. The programme develops holistic understanding and capacities that are increasingly demanded and valued by a variety of international organisations, public and private sectors, NGOs and academic institutions that are active in the field.
After completing the diploma programme, participants will be able to:
- Combine knowledge and practical experience in societal development in the humanitarian context,
- Acquire strategic and practical knowledge about methods, tools and procedures in multi-stakeholder environments,
- Utilise methods for planning, management, and implementation of projects in partnership with stakeholders,
- Communication and collaboration with stakeholders in identifying and responding to the needs of vulnerable communities,
- Gain capacities to enhance preparedness and resilience of societies amidst crises,
- Develop personal competencies in transdisciplinary and intercultural collaborations
EDUCATION CONTENT
The key focus of the WiT Programme is advancing the resilience of human settlements in low & middle income countries. It aims to promote a holistic understanding of forces of change affecting our societies by bridging the gap between theory and practice by combining scientific methodologies with practical experience.
The WiT Programme is structured to begin with the provision of general content. The general content of the programme consists of modules in humanitarian architecture, decolonising sustainability, systems/resilience thinking, futures studies, and business modelling of social enterprise. The general content aims to establish a strong foundational understanding of the concepts, methods and principles that are essential for progressing further in the programme and enable students to make informed decisions about their specialisation or areas of interest as the programme unfolds.
Through the studies, participants will be guided by mentors with experience from both practice and academia. In addition to mentoring, the programme includes coaching sessions to support the personal and professional development of the participants.
Aalto WiT Programme teaching is advanced by applying new interdisciplinary theoretical and practice-based pedagogical methods, including problem-based and transformative learning approaches in real-life case studies. The case studies are designed in collaboration with partner organisations and communities globally. The participants will choose one of the parallel case-specific modules of either cultural heritage, humanitarian response, or sustainable built environment. The case-specific content allows the in-depth exploration of specialised theme.
The WiT Programme facilitates participants to pursue a career in the humanitarian field by providing a possibility for international work-life experience with partnering organisations, which entails fieldwork and project development. During the fieldwork, the participants observe and collect data, and interact with communities and professionals from the field. Throughout this experience, the participants will be equipped to work in challenging transdisciplinary and intercultural situations.
In the final stage of the programme, the participants move into the incubation period. The aim of this period is to finalise the project, synthesise theoretical learnings and practical experiences into tangible outcomes and channel them into meaningful professional and personal development. The incubation period also includes creating an individual portfolio, which serves as a dynamic showcase of each participant's development journey.
CONTACT
E-mail: [email protected]
Visiting Address: we reside in Väre, Otaniementie 14, 3th floor
Mailing Address: WiT LAB PO Box 31000 FI-00076 AALTO FINLAND
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