A project to promote sustainable aviation in Africa
The Triple A project funded by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Finpartnership (2022–2024) will create a centre of excellence for sustainable aviation in Namibia, Africa, which will provide a wide range of aviation training covering everything from pilots and mechanics to air traffic controllers, airport logistics and more. Another aim is to promote the adoption of new sustainable technologies, such as non-fossil fuels, digitalisation and unmanned drones, in civil aviation
Tampere University is leading the project, which is partnered with the Finnish AiRRhow aviation alliance, the members of which include Patria, Fintraffic and Sitowise. The person in charge at Tampere University is Docent Mika Kautonen. At present, the African parties involved in the project are Namibia’s most important aviation authorities and aviation companies operating in Southern Africa.
Civic aviation will grow rapidly in Africa over the coming two decades. It is possible to steer this growth in an ecologically and economically sustainable direction.
The project also contributes to the following SDGs: 7, 8, 9, 13, 17.
Tampere University involved in mobilising Pirkanmaa’s LUMO strategy
As the first region in Finland, Pirkanmaa has gained a regional biodiversity programme (LUMO) and a related action plan. Tampere University is involved in mobilising the LUMO strategy at Kangasala schools with other partners, such as local organisations (local branch of the Finnish Association for Nature Conservation), schools, a museum and Ahlman Institute’s environmental studies. The programme and action plan were jointly prepared by Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment for Pirkanmaa and the Council of Tampere Region. The programme aims to combat the loss of natural biodiversity by utilising existing knowledge and expertise. The broad range of operators involved focus on solutions and cooperation.
The project also contributes to the following SDGs: 11, 17.
Read more about the LUMO strategy (in Finnish).
An increased understanding of consumerism through the ‘Escape from the Consumer Society’ project
During the 2022–2023 school year, the Faculty of Education and Culture is working with the Finnish Labour Museum Werstas to develop the ‘Escape from the Consumer Society’ (Pako kulutusyhteiskunnasta) escape game where the fate of the world and its societies is placed in the hands of school children. The players are tasked with solving challenges brought about by industrialisation and the consumer society as well as environmental issues.
The game, which is aimed at children attending their fifth–seventh year of school, takes advantage of the museum environment to demonstrate the brief life span of the consumer society, people’s intertwined roles as consumers and producers of consumer goods, and the global scale of the production activities. The game also challenges children to thing about what a sustainable society could look like. A printable version of the escape game will be designed that can be played in school classrooms. As part of the project, an environmental education week will also be organised for parents and educators in the spring of 2023. The funding for the project was gained through the environmental education support of the Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment for Central Finland.
The Escape from the Consumer Society project also contributes to the following SDGs: 10, 11, 12, 13, 16, 17.
Read more about the project (in Finnish).
European universities support the transition to a carbon neutral society through sustainable architecture
Tampere University participates in ARCH4CHANGE, a collaborative undertaking between a number of European universities and associations that is funded under the EU’s Erasmus+ programme. The project seeks to co-create an architectural ‘climate emergency’ curriculum that supports the transition to a carbon neutral society.
The ARCG4CHANGE project also contributes to the following SDGs: 13, 17.
Read more about the ARCH4CHANGE here.
Closing the knowledge gap through international knowledge exchange
The ARCH4FUTURE project supports the transition to a carbon-neutral society by creating opportunities for the exchange of knowledge and expertise between Finland and China. The goal is to diversify access to information and tools through a digital platform. In addition, the project seeks solutions for addressing skills gaps between students and teachers in the two countries.
The ARCH4FUTURE project also contributes to the following SDGs: 10, 13, 17.
Read more about the ARCG4FUTURE here.
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.
The Data Archive also contributes to the following SDGs: 3, 5, 8, 10, 11, 12, 16, 17.
Read more about the Finnish Social Science Data Archive.
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.
The TUNI EXAM pilot also contributes to the following SDGs: 9.
Read more about the pilot (in Finnish).
Environmental education trials increase the understanding of educational diversity
The course on environmental education trials supplements Tampere University’s course selection during spring seasons. Environmental education trials are methodologically informed projects that are planned, executed, assessed and reported on by students individually or in pairs or groups. The projects are carried out with practical partners.
The purpose of the environmental education projects is to help students grasp the diverse range of environmental education, identify various forms of critical environmental education, strengthen connections to working life and encourage the sharing and public visibility of personal expertise. The trials are also utilised develop stakeholder cooperation around environmental education in a persistent manner. The project results are openly available through the Mappa.fi material bank or other open channels.
The environmental education trials also contribute to the following SDGs: 10, 11, 13, 17.
Read more about the environmental education trials (in Finnish).
Integrating sustainable development themes into the education of visual journalism
Sustainable development has been an overarching theme on many visual journalism courses at all levels of university education. Since 2018, students of Journalism have conducted at least one practice shoot a year on the topic of sustainable development. In the context of intermediate studies, students have created short videos on sustainability since 2019. As many as three extensive courses on sustainability have been integrated in the master’s degree studies: one of the subjects of the portraiture workshop held during the first autumn term is related to sustainable development. In the spring, too, the students create a sustainability-related piece during the video course and use some of the subject matter for the Katse magazine. The first print issue of Katse themed around sustainable development was published in spring 2022. This has provided students with a more extensive grasp of sustainability themes during their studies in Visual Journalism.
Integrating sustainable development into the education of visual journalism also contributes to the following SDGs: 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13.