Study Guide

Objective

Upon completion of this course, the students will be able to:
-Explain the basic principles of sustainable development and justify why sustainability is important for all future business activities and processes
-Familiarize themselves with the new business models and strategies in the context of circular economy, economy, and sustainability as well as sustainable production.
-Understand the needs, benefits, opportunities, and challenges related to a circular and sustainable economy.
-Utilize the provided materials and tools to design, implement and successfully manage the actions taken in the companies, cities, and regions to become more sustainable.

Content

Introduction to sustainability and sustainable management (1etcs)
-Background and History of Sustainability
-Sustainability and Economic System(s)
-Sustainability in Organizational Context

Circular economy, economics & sustainability, sustainable production (2ects)
-Introduction to Circular Economy and its neighbouring concepts
-How to implement and assess Circular Economy in businesses
-Shared resources and business cooperation

Materials

All online learning materials provided at the platform (e.g. documents, presentations, video links) and the Dynamic Material Bank (DMB)

Reading materials from DMB

1. Material on Sustainable Consumption and Production, available on https://iccwbo.org/content/uploads/sites/3/2019/03/unea-4-icc-statement-on-sustainable-consumption-and-production.pdf

2. Interactive presentation about circularity
https://buildingcircularity.org/

Circle Economy. (2019). The Circularity Gap Report 2019
EU Action: 2030 climate & energy framework

Materials on planetary boundaries:
https://www.sanudurabilitas.ch/app/download/6234868266/201126_SD_kn1_booklet_A5_ENG_SMALL.pdf?t=1606472016
https://www.stockholmresilience.org/research/planetary-boundaries/the-nine-planetary-boundaries.html

Materials on systems thinking:
https://thesystemsthinker.com/systems-thinking-what-why-when-where-and-how/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Miy9uQcwo3U
https://learningforsustainability.net/systems-thinking/

Teaching methods

We will start in our own group and make use of both meetings in-class and the online environment. Thereafter, work will move to a fully online learning environment and multinational groups.

All the necessary learning materials will be available online or will be searched for online as the course progresses.

The types of work involved include independent reading, watching videos, taking quizzes, case studies, group coaching sessions and online tests.

International connections

Innovation pedagogy at Turku University of Applied Sciences is a learning approach based on experimentation, sharing knowledge and expertise and combining different perspectives. Innovation pedagogy is based on workplace orientation and cooperation, internationality, entrepreneurship and systemic thinking.

In the future, you will need not only the core skills you study, but also the innovation competences needed in all business sectors. You will also be expected to show creativity and initiative, but also critical thinking and the ability to work in teams and networks. You will actively practice all of these, but with a different emphasis in each course, throughout your studies.

More about Innopeda at https://innopeda.turkuamk.fi/innovation-pedagogy/

Student workload

It is divided as follows:

Introduction to sustainability, 1ects

Circular Economy, Economics & Sustainability, Sustainable Production, 2ects
Divided in three (3) units:
Unit 1: Introduction to Virtual Teamwork 10hrs
Unit 2: Self-study and Group Coaching 25hrs
Unit 3: Group Assignment 25hrs

Content scheduling

The course is mainly organised in an online environment. However, a F2F kick- off meeting will be held on 1.3 from 16 to 17. This method is for the "Introduction to" part only, which we will do independently based in Turku.

The larger part of the course, "Circular economy", will be mainly studied online in groups. It will involve international online meetings as follows:
15.03.2023-Introductory session (held jointly online)
29.03.2023-1st coaching session (held jointly online)
19.04.2023-2nd coaching session (held jointly online)
10.05.2023-3rd coaching session (held jointly online)
24.05.2023-Poster session (held jointly online)
28.05.2023-Deadline for the Learning Diary

These online meetings will start at 17.30 and finish around 19.00.


The purpose of this introductory module is to make students gain general knowledge and awareness on sustainability and sustainable management; and thereby, help them become not only responsible individuals themselves, but also change agents in their workplaces for sustainability.

The module is composed of three parts:

Part 1: Definitions; Background and History; Actors
Part 2: Sustainability and Economic Activities: New Approaches
Part3: Sustainability in Organizational Context

This course is part of an Eramusplus RDI project funded by the European Commission. The aim of the project is to deepen the knowledge and understanding of students on the importance of sustainable development in management. As this is an international project, the teaching also takes into account internationality and flexibility in learning methods.

Evaluation scale

H-5

Assessment criteria, fail (0)

1) Rudimentary and superficial; little analysis, synthesis or evaluation; little or no connections with any other material or are off topic.
2) Lack of connection to personal life
3) Obvious grammatical or stylistics errors; errors make content very difficult

Assessment criteria, satisfactory (1-2)

1) Information is thin and common place: attempts made at analysis, synthesis and evaluation; connections are limited, vague generalities posted
2) Little evidence of personal connection, many connections need further explanation or justification
3) Obvious grammatical or stylistic errors; errors interfere with content

Assessment criteria, good (3-4)

1) Substantial information; evidence of analysis, synthesis and evaluation: general connections are made, but are sometimes too obvious or not clear
2) Connects ideas and thoughts to personal life; Evidence of personal connection to learning, community.
3) Few grammatical or stylistic errors

Assessment criteria, excellent (5)

1) Rich in content; insightful analysis, synthesis and evaluation, clear connections made to real-life situations or to previous content
2) Entries are high quality consisting of personal reflections that connect between real-life, learning, and reading.
3) An occasional grammatical or stylistic error