Socially Sustainable Societies

Ideas and building blocks for wellbeing and health — from the past and present — are examined from the perspective of designing and building socially sustainable societies of the future. We define social sustainability as the social dimension of sustainability and in terms of how societies function with emphasis on resilience, equality, and inclusion. A key focus of the programme is to introduce the Nordic perspective to social sustainability, welfare states and intersectoral action.

A unique combination of social and health sciences

In this programme you will tackle topical questions related to socially sustainable societies:

• How to ensure that sustainability is achieved through socially sustainable policies?
• What is the role of welfare states for sustainability?
• What does social sustainability imply to social and health protection and security?
• How to promote universal access to health and social protection as part of public policies?
• How to address different types of social inequalities such as those related to economic status, gender and ethnicity?
• What are the social determinants of health in national and global contexts?

Studies are structured around topical research

The courses and teaching are built upon the topical research conducted at the faculty. You can also choose free-choice studies from other degree programmes and thus enjoy added opportunities to learn about crossover themes from several study programmes.

The programme prepares students to continue their studies in master’s programmes. In fact, all accepted students are automatically given the right to continue their studies in the Master’s Programme in Social Science Research. The programme offers various specialisations, such as:

• Global and Transnational Sociology,
• Public Policy Analysis,
• Comparative Social Policy and Welfare,
• Gender Studies.

Tampere University also offers several other suitable English language master’s programmes in social and health sciences, as well as multidisciplinary programmes such as Sustainable Digital Life.

Become a professional in designing and building socially sustainable societies of the future

Graduates will have a solid knowledge base and the necessary methodological skills needed to become professionals in designing and building socially sustainable societies.

Our students will develop competencies to critically assess and compare different models of welfare states and social and health protection options. Moreover, they will gain understanding on the means to reduce social and health inequality, methods of assessing social and health impacts and intersectoral action, as well as understanding historical roots and wider politics of social and health protection and security.

Wide range of career opportunities from public to private sectors

Whether you are interested in building your career on local, regional, national, international or global level, this Bachelor's Programme equips you with the necessary knowledge and skills to begin your journey. The combined bachelor’s and master’s studies train generalists and prepare students for positions e.g. in the public sector as civil servants, in companies, as well as in civil society in NGOs and INGOs.

The Master’s Programme in Social Science Research aims at improving students’ academic credentials and in enhancing their career prospects as highly qualified analysts and applied researchers. The students will acquire the skills needed for possible doctoral studies.