Pupils from upper secondary schools brainstormed courses of a new degree programme
In December, upper secondary school pupils came to Tampere University to learn about the new bachelor’s programme and to brainstorm courses and their possible implementations. One of them was Sofia Järvinen, an IB student at Tampereen lyseon lukio.
“I am very interested in climate change and sustainable development. I could talk about those topics at length, but it was great to get an overall picture of this topic,” Järvinen said.
There is a growing need for experts in sustainable urban development to engage in dialogue from different perspectives.
“Complex, global issues related to urbanisation, urban construction, mobility and, for example, security and social equality cannot be resolved from a single perspective. Multidisciplinary and interactive collaboration is playing a key role,” says Dean Antti Lönnqvist from the Faculty of Built Environment.
In addition to multidisciplinarity, the Bachelor’s Degree Programme in Sustainable Urban Development introduces a new way of learning: students participate annually in genuine urban development projects organised in partnership with companies and the City of Tampere. According to Deputy Mayor Jaakko Stenhäll, students can use data collected by the city, for example, to provide practical solutions and suggestions for different challenges.
“If this programme had existed while I was still a student, I would have chosen it,” Stenhäll says.
At the application stage, the students choose their field: technology, social sciences or administrative science. However, the students share most of the studies. After earning their bachelor’s degrees and if they wish, the students can automatically continue to the Master’s Degree Programme.
