1: Arctic and Nordic Perspectives on Sustainable Development (5 ECTS)

Content

This course explores sustainable development and its different dimensions (economic, social, environmental) in the Nordic countries in the Arctic utilizing multidisciplinary approaches. The focus is on communicative and collaborative learning through a combination of lectures, discussions, group work and studying of research literature.

Learning outcomes

Upon completion of the course, students will be able to identify and explain special issues concerning sustainable development in Arctic and Nordic contexts from different viewpoints. Students will be able to apply key concepts and critically evaluate the interrelated and contradictory dimensions of Arctic and Nordic sustainable development. Students will have developed their argumentation, presentation, and collaboration skills.

Study Methods

Lecture participation, a learning diary and group work

Teaching Methods

Contact teaching.

Primary Teaching Language

English

Person in charge

Tanja Riekkinen

Marja Sivonen

2: Global Citizenship Education (5 ECTS)

Contents:

During the course, students will be introduced to the concepts of Global Citizenship Education (GCE) by exploring the different dimensions and philosophies of GCE. Besides discussing the theory of GCE, students will also take a closer look at practical examples of GCE in different countries around the world.

Learning Outcomes:

Students will be able to:

• Discuss global citizenship education (GCE) and understand how it relates to other educational areas such as development education, intercultural education, sustainability etc.

• Identify different definitions and approaches of GCE and their underlying philosophies and ideas.

• Evaluate different practical examples of GCE assessment and GCE lesson plans.

• Explore different critiques of GCE practices.

Teaching method:

Because the course will have many students with different backgrounds, it will use a very student-centred approach based on reflection and collaborative learning. Besides the lectures, students will have plenty of opportunities to share their perspectives and questions and learn from each other’s different backgrounds and experiences.

Primary Teaching Language

English

Person in charge

Andreas Rogler

3: (Eco)critical Sustainability (2 ECTS)

Contents:

• What does it mean to think critically about sustainability?

• What assumptions underlie environmental, social & economic sustainable development?

• How human-centred are current sustainability narratives?

• What might genuinely transformative sustainability education look like?

These are just some of the questions we will explore in this course, where participants will be introduced to posthuman, multispecies and more-than-human approaches and how they can be applied to sustainability. Participants will also distinguish power relations within sustainability narratives and reflect on their own positionality. Topics for discussion will include comparing anthropocentric with ecocentric approaches; whether there is a need to decolonise sustainability thinking; and what ecocritical sustainability might mean in practice.

The course contents will include:

• A brief introduction to critical thinking & how it applies to sustainability.

• The three pillars of sustainability (environment, social & economic): critical tensions and assumptions.

• Anthropocentrism in sustainability: ecocritical, multispecies, relational and more-than-human approaches to sustainability narratives and human-nature discourses.

• Western modernity & decolonising sustainability: decolonial critiques of sustainability and the reproduction of power inequalities in sustainability discourses.

• Transformative/critical sustainability: putting transformative sustainability ideas into practice; transformative sustainability education.

Learning Outcomes:

On completion, participants will have:

• Critically examined the concepts of sustainability and sustainable development and underlying assumptions.

• Contrasted and compared anthropocentric and ecocentric approaches to sustainability.

• Reflected on their own positionality, and how that relates to and affects their approaches to sustainability.

• Developed their criticality, argumentation and presentation skills in this area.

• Collaborated critically with students from diverse backgrounds on a group project on critical sustainability.

Teaching method:

The course is participatory and student-centred. Teaching will be in-person and activity- and discussion-based.

Primary Teaching Language

English

Person in charge

Joffy Conolly

4: Sustainability assessment, 5 ECTS

Learning outcomes:

Student is able to explain the concepts of sustainability and sustainable development in all its dimensions with up-to-date knowledge, explain the general concept, limitations and potential of sustainability assessment, and more specifically the following tools: LCA (life cycle assessment), S-LCA (social life cycle assessment), LCSA (life cycle sustainability assessment), life cycle cost analysis and MCA (multicriteria analysis) methodologies, and assess the major aspects in realm of sustainability in a case study.

Implementation:

On-campus teaching (coming to Oulu is mandatory part of the course) and one online session before the on-campus part. Collaborative teaching, inviting industry experts to illustrate case studies.

Teaching methods:

Lectures 24 h, project work consisting of individual and team activities 36 h, self-study 75 h.

Time schedule:

Kick-off lecture and self-study assignment Tuesday 17.6.2025 at 12.15-15.00 (Finnish time)

On-campus period at University of Oulu 4.8.-15.8.2025 (Note: Sunday 3.8 and Saturday 16.8 are travel days)

Return of the learning diary and project work 15.8.2025

Persons in charge:

University Teacher Virpi Väisänen ja University Lecturer Satu Pitkäaho

5: Summer School on AI, IoT & Digital Twin

Level of the course: Moderate

Main Module: Foundational

Duration: 2 weeks

Target groups:University Students (2^nd & 3^rd B.Sc. students)

Participation requirements: 

To be able to participate and complete the course, here are the prerequisites: 

1. Completed minimum one year of bachelor-level study in ICT-related programs (Currently in 2^nd or 3^rd year of study)
2. Openness to learning recent technologies
3. Basic programming knowledge of Python

Course content:

The course will consist of lectures & practical lab sessions. The lecture sessions will cover the fundamentals of emerging technologies (AI, IoT & DTs) and discuss their potential applications. The practical sessions will be hands-on experimental works to comprehend the concepts.

Learning outcomes:

Participants will be able to: 

1. Comprehend the evolution of Emerging Technologies & design experiments or future projects by integrating these technologies.
2. Build & deploy AI-based applications, IoT devices, and DT implementation with AI algorithms. 
3. Develop & present problem-solving skills with above-mentioned diverse techniques.
4. Plan and apply the learnings for opportunities within their future projects

Primary teaching language: 

English

Teaching methods:

Lectures 

Hackathon & Lab Sessions

Possible laboratory visit and interaction with technical lab personnel

Persons in charge: 

Lecturers Yueqiang Xu and Sarthak Achary

Credentials:

Both 2-ECTS and 5-ECTS students will get corresponding academic course credits and course participation certification.

5-ECTS Students will also be given a Capstone Assignment / Project and get Certificate of Excellence when completed.

6: Summer School on Structural Engineering in the AI Era (2 ECTS & 5 ECTS)

Level of the course: Moderate

Main Module: Foundational

Duration: 2 weeks

Target groups:University Students (2^nd & 3^rd B.Sc. students)

Participation requirements: 

To be able to participate and complete the course, here are the prerequisites: 

1. Completed minimum one year of bachelor-level study in civil or mechanical engineering related programs (Currently in 2nd or 3rd year of study)
2. Openness to learning physics-based structural engineering concepts in conjunction with recent computational technologies

Course content:

The course will consist of lectures & practical lab sessions. The lecture sessions will cover the fundamentals of structural mechanics, reliability, modern computational structural technology and discuss their applications with an arctic twist. The exercise sessions will be hands-on computer assignments to comprehend the theoretical concepts.

Learning outcomes:

Participants will be able to: 

1. Comprehend the evolution of computational structural engineering.
2. Build & deploy physics-based numerical simulation of engineering structures based for example on modern finite element technology and artificial neural networks. 
3. Develop problem-solving skills with above-mentioned diverse techniques and plan to apply the learnings within their future projects.

Primary teaching language: 

English

Teaching methods:

Lectures 

Group Work & Lab Sessions

Persons in charge: 

Professor Antti H. Niemi and Postdoctoral Researcher Rui Hao

Credentials:

Both 2 ECTS and 5 ECTS students will get corresponding academic course credits and course participation certification.

5 ECTS Students will also be given a computational project assignment and get Certificate of Excellence when completed.