Research support service division
HUBS utilises an entrepreneurship-oriented life-cycle approach and cooperation model
HUBS supports sustainable entrepreneurship through an operating model that provides students and student teams with the opportunity to gain support for the development of their business ideas from the HUBS Pre-incubator, for example. Students and teams can also apply for the network’s Red Brick Accelerator. Once an idea has been refined into actual operations, the student or team in question can prepare an assignment for an HUBS course and be partnered with a multidisciplinary team of students to tackle the challenge. Students and teams can also take part in entrepreneurship competitions, such as GISU Urban Innovation and Entrepreneurship, GrowUp and the European Innovation Academy programmes – an endeavour which has often led to awards. Credits are granted for all of the activities listed above.
Sustainability is emphasised in selecting the HUBS partnerships. Our courses in 2021–2022 involved student-employer cooperation with Globe Hope in relation to textile recycling and zero wastage, and with various organisations related to developing cleantech and a local food system for village communities, for example.
Example cases of sustainable entrepreneurship at HUBS:
- From visual artist to aspiring entrepreneur
- The story behind Brightlife
- In cooperation towards sustainable development goals
- Communication – the key to a successful team?
- From a team to a company: Murrost Oy and the challenges of sustainable living
- HUBS joins forces with Globe Hope to organise the 2021 Summer Challenges
HUBS also have other activities that support sustainability and responsibility:
- Grant for sustainable entrepreneuship
- 24H Online Library for studying sustainable entrepreneurship
- SPRINT Innovation Festival – A two-credit multidisciplinary innovation week
A data archive to secure a culture of open science
The Finnish Social Science Data archive is a national service infrastructure that archives electronic research material and forwards it for the purposes of research, teaching and studying. The Data Archive has been promoting and speaking for a culture of open science for more than two decades. Its current strategy emphasises responsible open science, and its approach to science and research is ‘FAIR + open.’
The Data Archive is a CoreTrustSeal-certified reliable archive. Equality is one of the basic principles of the archive’s customer service, and the services are available to all customers in Finland and abroad, regardless of age and gender. Any researcher and students of a research organisation or university can register as users of the Aila Data Service and gain access to the archived research materials. By customer request, the Data Archive also translates qualitative materials into English. The translation service is free of charge to the customer and the party providing the material.
The Data Archive promotes the goals of sustainable development by procuring, curating and providing materials that are suitable for researching subjects related to sustainable development.
Read more about the Finnish Social Science Data Archive.
The Research support service division has also done the following actions and activities to promote sustainability:
- In charge of sustainability work and Sustainable development working group in 2022
- In charge of organizing UNIFI’s and Arene’s sustainability and responsibility seminar in November 2022
- Continuing and moving forward with new innovative sustainability projects such as Sustainable Industry X – SIX
- Building an instrument for research platforms and supporting already existing, sustainability-promoting research platforms
- The coordination of Pirkanmaa’s LUMO strategy together with the actors from the Faculty of Education and Culture. The LUMO strategy promotes biodiversity.
Education and Continuous learning service division
Continuous work toward a more sustainable world is done in the Education and Continuous learning service division. There are currently several ongoing, long-lasting projects that aim toward a situation where every student that graduates from Tampere University receives comprehensive education on how to implement and improve sustainability and responsibility in their chosen field of study.
The Education and Continuous learning service division has completed an SDG-mapping pilot on the curriculum and further work has been organized. Teaching and Learning Centre TLC has also produced material for teachers to use on how to take sustainability into account in teaching.
Information and Digitalisation service division
The management of the product life cycle of computers and phones
The processes of the computers’ and phones’ product life cycle have been developed in a way that raises the utilization rate of the products as high as possible. The devices that have reached the end of the product life cycle are sold in concentrated batches to our partners that will process the devices further. Our partners securely forward the phones and computers that can still be used (recycling) and scrap the rest to reuse the dissembled materials.
Personal phones and computers are mostly used in jointly used spaces (such as meeting rooms and lecture halls), and therefore the number of devices that are used less has been reduced.
Exams on personal computers to promote sustainability
The TUNI EXAM pilot involved providing technical capabilities for organising electronic exams remotely and in classrooms, i.e. expanding the functionalities of the existing electronic exam system to cover exams students can take on their own computers outside the EXAM facilities. The implementation was tested in practice by organising four pilot exams in the autumn term of 2022. More than 30 students participated in the exams.
Students could take the tests on their personal computers. More effectively and sustainably, they were also able to use existing EXAM facilities or regular computer during more quiet hours.
Read more about the pilot (in Finnish).
The Information and Digitalisation service division has also done the following actions and activities to promote sustainability:
- Systematic investment in electronic-based material in library collections
- Most of the scientific journals are acquired in e-form
- With books, e-books are favored over physical books and bought when possible
- TUP, Tampere University Press
- TUP publishes peer-reviewed scientific books and is also an Open Access publisher. The books are published on the internet and are available to everyone for free. This, along with the viewpoint of being better for the climate, furthers the equal distribution of information as well as responsibility.
- Producing data for the calculation of the university community’s carbon footprint and allocating the energy consumption to different actors
- Making it possible to access university softwares remotely to support independent working and to increase the productivity of activity happening on the campuses
- Competitive tendering of a new printout service and intertwining sustainability in the demands
- Enhancing the saving of power of the computers in student computer labs through centralized controlling
- Enhancing the energy efficiency of server rooms and reducing the number of rooms needed by centralizing
- Support and implementation of remote working and studying in the university community as well as in the division’s own actions
University Services service division
Tampere University raises a flag for gender and sexuality minorities
The student union TREY and Tampere University raised the rainbow flag to show support for gender and sexual minorities during Manse Pride week in 2021 and 2022.
Tampere University has a zero tolerance approach to all forms of discrimination, misogyny and harassment. The University and the student union are committed to promoting equality in all their endeavours and providing a safe environment for all the members of the university community.
By marking Pride Week, we raise awareness of and celebrate diversity.
The student union TREY and Tampere University engage in active cooperation in support of sexual and gender minorities.
The University Services division has also done the following actions and activities to promote sustainability:
- Preparation and approval of the Principles of Responsible Investments in 2022
- Development of responsible use of space through Campus Development development project and facilities programme
- Measuring the utilization rate of the facilities
- University Properties of Finland LTD’s actions to save energy in the campus facilities
- University Properties of Finland LTD’s carbon offsets
- The University’s planned energy saving actions with other lessors
- Updating the Travel Policy in 2022 by taking responsibility into account
- Implementing bicycle benefit to increase carbon-free traveling and well-being
- Making it possible to work from home, which reduces the emissions of work commute
- Reducing the amount of paper used by, for example, implementing TUNI Sign system
- Supporting the Sustainable development communications
- Creating a list of climate and environment experts for the media