Thursday 3rd November
1. Accessibility of research and higher education – a win-win for both society and the university
Organizers: Maija Hirvonen (TAU), Camilla Lindholm (TAU), Markku Turunen (TAU), Elisa Sinikallio (TAU)
Schedule: Thursday.
Room: Päätalo D216
Live, online, or hybrid: Hybrid.
Language: In Finnish or English depending on participants.
How many participants accepted: around 30
Description: As accessibility and inclusion, i.e., the equal participation of all people in all areas of life, are taking root in higher education (HE) and society overall, the time is ripe to ponder on the implementations and implications of these developments by and large. Analysing the status quo, how are accessibility and inclusive measures coming into effect in HE institutions in Finland? Looking forward to the future, what consequences do these measures have, in the short and long run? While accessibility and inclusion require more financial resources to be invested in research and education, they also pay back in terms of more well-being, equal opportunities, more HE graduates, and, finally, new human resources for society and research. This workshop serves as a think tank for ideas regarding the above-mentioned topics.
2. Sustainable everyday working practices at universities: Travel and academic internationality during the climate catastrophe
Organizers: Zsuzsanna Millei (TAU), Kirsikka Kaipainen (TAU), Sirkku Kotilainen (TAU) and Sustainable Tampere Universities Network Travel Group
Schedule: Thursday–Friday
Room: Päätalo A06
Live, online, or hybrid: Hybrid.
Language: English
How many participants accepted: 30 live + online no limit
Description: Work-related travel at universities includes travel to and from the workplace and between campuses, travel for meetings and teaching, and travel to events, such as conferences. In carbon calculations, flying accounts for a significant part of academic organizations’ carbon emissions while at the same time other types of travel are not always accounted for. Reducing the need for work-related air travel such as flying to conferences is low-hanging fruit for universities aiming at carbon neutrality. Flights formed 37% of the Tampere Universities’ total carbon footprint in 2019, for example. However, attending international events is a part of university work and which many of us also enjoy. In Tampere Universities’ carbon footprint calculations, commuting emissions i.e. travel to and from work, and emissions that were produced by traveling between campuses or to meetings and teaching have so far not been included. However, the number of employees and students traveling every day amounts to significant carbon emissions. In whose carbon calculations should this travel be accounted for, the university or the city?
Decisions about carbon calculations and reductions are complicated and also fraught with conflicting interests. It seems COVID forced us to adapt to remote ways of working and collaborating, thus reducing travel-related emissions. How can we refrain from going back to how we traveled before COVID, and how can we utilize the lessons learned about academic internationality with minimum travel? In this workshop, we will discuss these dilemmas and the concrete actions that HEIs can take toward sustainable travel. We give examples from the work of the Sustainable Tampere Universities Network (STUN) grassroots community composed of expert researchers, passionate colleagues, and students. We present the White Paper on Travel Policy and the Sustainable Travel Decision Aid that the STUN’s Travel Group has developed and give an overview of the results of our travel survey. The Travel Group aims to bring broader cultural change to the university around travel, but what can be done to change social norms within HEIs to make it easier for academics, administrators, and students to travel sustainably?
3. Pedagogical solutions
Organizers: Eveliina Asikainen (TAMK)
Schedule: Thursday–Friday
Room: Päätalo A1
Live, online, or hybrid: Hybrid
Language: In Finnish or English depending on participants.
How many participants accepted: around 30 (This working group reached full capacity)
Description: This is a practical working group on describing learning outcomes and developing assessment criteria for sustainability key competencies and choosing pedagogical tools facilitating learning of the chosen competencies. Come with the description of your course or degree. The workshop will provide you with tools and procedures to operationalise vague and conceptual general competencies into more specific learning outcomes and to find ways to describe the level of competency on different levels of excellence i.e. define assessment criteria.
The workgroup will also collect participants’ experiences on the methods for further development. The Working group is facilitated by Eveliina Asikainen from the School of Professional Teacher Education, Tampere University of Applied Sciences
4. Towards nature-positive and carbon-negative HEIs.
Organizers: Ulla Helimo (JYU), Elina Ruoho (Aalto), Aliisa Wahlsten (UTU), Liina Korkiamäki (JYY), Krista Pokkinen (JYU), Sami El Geneidy (JYU), Veera Vainio (JYU)
Schedule: Thursday–Friday
Room: Päätalo A08
Live, online, or hybrid: Live.
Language: In Finnish or English depending on participants.
The optimal number of participants: 20 (This working group reached full capacity)
Description: Finnish higher education institutes have all set their carbon neutrality targets. Some have also set targets for no net loss of biodiversity. In this 2-day workshop, we will get to know concrete examples of the work required for achieving these targets, including strategy work and calculating the biodiversity footprint. We will discuss what it means to become carbon neutral and how we compensate for our negative impact on climate and biodiversity. We will hear about future trends and research on carbon offsetting and how to use university campuses to increase the biodiversity handprint. This workshop is meant for people from any background who is interested in discussing and innovating new ideas to make our organizations and campuses carbon negative and nature positive. Welcome!
5. Societal interaction and impact
Organizers: Eeva-Liisa Viskari (TAMK)
Schedule: Thursday–Friday.
Room: Päätalo A05
Live, online or hybrid: Preferably live, hybrid can be considered if there is demand for it.
Language: In Finnish or English depending on participants.
How many participants accepted: 25
Description: Finnish Higher Education Institutions, i.e. universities and universities of applied sciences have by law the mission to interact with society and create impact and through education, research and development. Universities Act (558/2009) defines that when carrying out their mission in terms of research and educating students to serve their country and humanity at large … the universities shall promote lifelong learning, interact with the surrounding society and promote the social impact of university research findings and artistic activities. Universities of Applied Sciences Act (932/2014) in turn states that these institutions should promote the industry, business, and regional development and regenerate the industrial structure of the region.
There is a need for monitoring societal interaction, impact, and regional development. All these also need to be implemented in a sustainable and responsible manner. Certain indicators have been used already for a long time. For example number of publications, media hits, number of graduates, employment rates, etc. are ways to measure the outcomes of our actions, but how well do these actually indicate the interaction, impact, and development and how do they indicate sustainability? In this workshop, the need to develop indicators and monitor societal interaction and impact is discussed. Case examples are presented to demonstrate actions in creating interaction and impact. As an outcome of this workshop, preliminary recommendations for interaction and impact measurement are produced.
6. Kestävän kehityksen johtamisen työpaja korkeakoulun johdolle
Vastuuhenkilöt: Väitöskirjatutkijat Meri Löyttyniemi (JYU Kauppakorkeakoulu, Corporate Environmental management -tutkimusryhmä, opintovapaalla Aalto-yliopiston kestävän kehityksen erityisasiantuntijan tehtävästä) ja Valtteri Aaltonen (JYU Kauppakorkeakoulu, Johtamisen laitos).
Aikataulu: Torstai–Perjantai.
Tila: Päätalo KH1
Kieli: Suomi, English if needed.
Läsnä, etä vai hybridi: Pääasiassa läsnä, mutta hybridia harkitaan kysynnän mukaan.
Osallistujamäärä: Huomioi, tähän työryhmään osallistujat kutsutaan. Jokaisesta Suomen yliopistosta yksi (tai kaksi) johdon edustajaa, jolla vastuullaan kestävä kehitys. Henkilöt kutsutaan työpajaan pyytämällä korkeakouluja nimeämään edustajansa.
Kuvaus: Suomalaiset korkeakoulut nostavat kestävän kehityksen korkealle strategioissaan. UNIFI ja Arene ovat marraskuussa 2020 julkaisseet kestävän kehityksen teesit ja ohjelman joihin jäsenkorkeakoulut rehtoreineen ovat sitoutuneet.
Työpajassa perehdytään suomalaisten korkeakoulujen johtamisen ja organisoitumisen malleihin kestävän kehityksen näkökulmasta. Työpajan vastuuhenkilöillä on vireillä väitöskirjatutkimuksia johtamisen aineesta, jotka perehtyvät Suomen korkeakoulusektorin kestävän kehityksen toimeenpanoon, johtamisen keinoihin sekä työn edellytyksiin ja haasteisiin. Alustuksena annetaan katsaus nykytilaan ja esitellään UNIFIn kestävyys ja vastuullisuus -työryhmän sekä tutkijoiden keräämiä aineistoja vuosien 2019-2022 aikana. Työpaja on osa väitöskirjojen empiiristä aineiston keruuta.
Osallistujille työpaja antaa hyödyllistä tietoa muiden korkeakoulujen tavoista lähestyä strategista teemaa sekä siitä mitkä tekijät edistävät ja toisaalta hidastavat kestävän kehityksen työtä korkeakouluissa. Työpajassa on tarkoitus myös identifioida työn painopisteitä ja saada kokonaiskuvaa strategisista lähestymistavoista, työn resurssoinnista ja suuntaamisesta.
7. Addressing war anxieties in university communities
Organizers: Anitta Kynsilehto (TAU, TAPRI) and Vadim Romashov (TAU, TAPRI)
Schedule: Thursday.
Room: Päätalo A07
Live, online, or hybrid: Hybrid.
Language: English.
How many participants accepted: 25
Description: The ongoing war in Ukraine and the related informational environment has triggered grave feelings of anxiety within higher education institutions in Finland. Their culturally diverse community members are drawn into difficult conversations and cope with grim emotions regarding the war. The members of university communities react to the proximity of this war and its diverse ramifications beyond the actual site of the war in various ways. The varied reactions in some cases have undermined and in others helped to preserve the coherence of multiple communities within universities. Different universities have addressed these issues and implemented the governmental regulations prompted by the state-level decisions in different ways, with some universities and departments acting in more nuanced ways than others. Some psychological support has been provided at the institutional level and peers support at the communal level, yet many university members, including students, have been left alone to deal with their heightened emotions and aggravated social relations in and beyond the university spaces.
The workshop will address these issues by identifying the wide-ranging effects of war on university communities in Finland, analyzing the reactions of their members to these effects, evaluating the measures undertaken by different universities, and mapping out the best practices and approaches to deal with war-related anxieties in universities. The participants will be researchers, teachers, and students. As the main outcome of the workshop, participants will draft together a proposal of the most effective ways to support university communities indirectly affected by war. The working group will also generate ideas of how university communities can substantially support those directly affected by war and at the same time ensure the core university value of equal treatment of all its member
8. Offsetting game
Organizers: Nina V. Nygren (TAU)
Schedule: Thursday.
Room: Päätalo D12
Live, online, or hybrid: Live.
Language: In Finnish or English depending on participants.
How many participants accepted: 4-12
Description: Welcome to play Kompensaatiopeli – The offsetting game! To get the full experience, you can join for the whole session and get immersed in the role of a developer building their projects, or of a conservationist trying to protect the natural area under development. Or, you can pop in and play for a while, or watch others playing.
You can get acquainted with the game by watching the tutorial video (subtitled in English and Finnish): https://youtu.be/9Q3ek1mwAkU
Friday 4th November
The working groups that continue are:
1. Accessibility of research and higher education – a win-win for both society and the university
2. Sustainable everyday working practices at universities: Travel and academic internationality during the climate catastrophe
3. Pedagogical solutions
4. Towards nature-positive and carbon-negative HEIs.
5. Societal interaction and impact
6. Kestävän kehityksen johtamisen työpaja korkeakoulun johdolle
Working groups starting on Friday:
9. Keskustelutilaisuus: Opiskelijat kestävän tulevaisuuden rakentajina: mitä korkeakoulut voivat tarjota heille?
Järjestäjä: NYT!-tutkimushanke, yhteyshenkilönä Mari Pienimäki (TAU).
Aikataulu: Perjantai.
Tila: Cafe ja Aula Toivo
Läsnä, etä vai hybridi: Läsnä, mahdollisesti striimi ja mahdollisuus kommentoida chatin kautta.
Kieli: Suomi.
How many participants accepted: n. 30
Kuvaus: Tilaisuuden osallistujat pääsevät keskustelemaan siitä, mitä korkeakoulut voivat tarjota nuorille kestävän tulevaisuuden rakentamisen taitojen oppimiseksi. Keskustelun teemat nousevat NYT!-hankkeen luontoleirikouluissa tehdyistä havainnoista ja hankkeen alustaviin tuloksista.
Tilaisuus jatkaa perjantain Aktivismiaamun annista ja mukana keskustelussa ovat Ellen Ojala ja Benjamin Pitkänen.