Previous projects: Futures conscious culture and learning
Climate University (or more fully, Multidisciplinary digital learning in sustainability challenges – flexible study paths to the working life) is a collaboration project bringing together eleven Finnish universities to share education and scientific expertise. It explores possibilities for digitalization and open education to address urgent Climate Change and sustainability challenges.
This project encompasses the development of courses on important aspects of Climate Change and sustainability at various levels, workshops for university teachers, and efforts to build a network for collaboration between schools and with working professionals. Funding for the project comes from the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture, Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra, and the participating educational institutions.
Finland Futures Research Centre, alongside other collaborators from University of Turku, is participating in the development of two courses that will be offered through Climate University beginning in the later part of 2020:
- SystemsChange.Now
- Sustainability.Now
Further information on Climate University: Anna Kirveennummi, Morgan Shaw & Sari Puustinen
https://blogs.helsinki.fi/climateuniversity/
See also: Puustinen, Sari & Kirveennummi, Anna (2019) Innovations in education for sustainable future” in Turku 7.5.2019.
The focus of this project is building up the career guidance and counselling competencies of guidance personnel in multivocational public guidance services and educational institutions.
The aim is to increase co-operation in the long-term guidance processes especially in transition phases both into and within the educational system from 1st to 3rd tier education and work life in order to guarantee high-quality guidance to everyone in need regardless of age or educational background.The development work will be carried out in cooperation with different actors (VET, public guidance services, project personnel, end users).
The project partners:
- Finland Futures Research Centre, University of Turku (co-ordinator)
- Häme University of Applied Sciences
- Oulu University of Applied Sciences
- Foundation for studies and education research (OTUS)
- Raahe Vocational Institute
- Sedu Education
- Vocational College Lappia
Further information: Johanna Ollila & Sari Miettinen
Access to modern energy services has direct implications on every aspect of sustainable development. Lesotho is one of the world's Least Developed Countries (LDC) where many households do not have access to electricity (less than 50% have access to electricity, roughly 10% in rural areas 2019). In the electrified areas, the demand for electricity is growing at a fast pace, but the supply has not been able to catch up. Lesotho has an abundance of techno-economically exploitable renewable energy resources such as hydro, solar and wind.
Application of renewable energy resources and adoption of energy efficiency measures can provide sustainable energy solutions and reduce the effect of increasing energy demand on greenhouse gas emissions. One of the major barriers hindering sustainable energy use and production in Lesotho is the lack of knowledgeable and skillful human resources.
The collaboration project DEPLOY is carried out between the National University of Lesotho (NUL), University of Turku (UTU) and Aalto University (AU).
The main objectives of the project are to enhance internationalization activities between partner universities and to engage in capacity building at NUL to develop the quality of futures resilient sustainable energy education through the training of trainers approach.
Project activities focus on
- developing sustainable energy study content from a holistic perspective that incorporates supply and demand side considerations with a systemic lens;
- improving pedagogical expertise for the provision of high-quality, problem-based and digital sustainable energy education; and (3) enhancing internationalization activities, enabling the formation of long-term partnerships between NUL, UTU and AU through student and staff mobilities, research collaboration and networking.
The project also aims to disseminate and promote thematic knowledge on sustainable energy to industry, public sector, and to civil society, building a foundation for long-lasting collaboration between all major stakeholders.
An overarching challenge that the project addresses is the existential risk imposed by climate change. By promoting futures-resilient sustainable energy education in Lesotho and the internationalization between universities focusing on sustainable energy issues, the project addresses local educational needs, influences growth of green jobs in the sustainable energy sector and promotes mitigation responses to climate change
Funding: Finnish National Agency for Education EDUFI, 2022-2023
Further information: Osku Haapasaari
The general objective of the Entrepreneurial Skills for a Modern Education in Albania (EntrAL) project is to increase entrepreneurship in Albanian educational institutions (universities and schools) to support the skills of graduates so that they meet the demands of the labour market and modern society.
The project aims to promote an entrepreneurial mindset at the university and school levels by encouraging entrepreneurial teaching methods, nurturing students' entrepreneurial behaviour, and supporting student start-ups. Teachers are supported by the university's structure and mechanisms (LLL, staff activities); students receive better support and guidance from their teachers in relation to entrepreneurship and related skills, thus enhancing their employability after graduation.
University of Turku coordinates the three-year project that was launched in December 2021, involving following partners:
- The University of León, Spain,
- Technological University Dublin, Ireland,
- Albanian Ministry of Education, Sports and Youth, and
- eight Albanian universities:
- Sports University of Tirana,
- Aleksandër Moisiu University of Durrës,
- University Aleksander Xhuvani Elbasan,
- University Eqrem Çabej Gjirokaster,
- University Fan S. Noli Korce,
- University Luigj Gurakuqi Shkoder,
- University College Pavaresia Vlore, and
- University Ismail Qemali Vlore.
The project is part of KA2 Capacity building in the field of Higher -financed by Education of Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union.
Project website: https://entralproject.eu/
Leading futures and education institutions launch project to promote Futures Literacy education in the Nordics
Fremtenkt, CIFS, FFRC, NLA and VIA are happy to announce the launch of Futures Literacy in Teacher and Professional Education in the Nordics – a joint project between Nordic futures and teaching institutions, funded by Nordplus.
The FLiTaPE Nordic project will develop and test a training module aimed at future teachers and professionals, designed to provide them with the theoretical insight and practical skills they need to promote Futures Literacy among their students and colleagues.
Futures Literacy as an essential skill
Coined by UNESCO, Futures Literacy denotes the capacity to understand how images of the future influence our perceptions of the present, and the ability to generate novel images of possible futures to explore alternative courses of action.
In the face of unprecedented global crises, Futures Literacy has emerged as an essential skill. The future of humankind hinges on the decisions we make today, and Futures Literacy allows us to challenge the dominant “business as usual” narratives, create alternative visions of the future, and discover new opportunities for action towards a truly sustainable society.
International research show that Futures Literacy education stimulates imagination, increases interdisciplinarity, and creates optimism, new perspectives, and new forms of agency. As yet, Futures Literacy oriented teaching is a novel phenomenon in the Nordics. This project aims to promote Futures Literacy education by joining the forces of three futures-oriented organisations and two University Colleges who are each leaders in their field in their respective countries.
Project members
- Fremtenkt, Norway (Coordinator)
- The Copenhagen Institute for Futures Studies (CIFS), Denmark
- Finland Futures Research Centre (FFRC), University of Turku, Finland
- NLA University College, Norway
- VIA University College, Denmark
The project has received a EUR 70 000 grant from the Nordplus Horizontal program, and will run from June 2024 through June 2025.
Project website: flitape.org
Further information: Sari Miettinen, FFRC
Erasmus+ project, titled "THE BIG GAME: Immersive and Multidisciplinary STEM Learning through A Cooperative Story-Driven Digital Game 2021–2024" is built upon the widely acknowledged necessity for the advancement of STEM education (STEM = Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) across Europe.
This initiative introduces an innovative teaching model tailored for 11–16 year-olds, aiming to address environmental issues through interactive games and digital storytelling. Furthermore, a key focus and objective of the project is to promote the digital revolution in schools. This is achieved by enhancing the diverse digital skills of both teachers and students, thereby fostering a more technologically adept educational environment.
Further information: Mikko Grönlund, Finland Futures Research Centre
The Erasmus+ partnership project, Inclusive Digital Learning (Dig-2-Inc), aims to enhance the academic skills of students across various educational levels, including secondary education, university of applied sciences, and those transitioning to higher education.
By addressing the needs of students from low socio-economic backgrounds, the project strives to mitigate educational inequalities. It focuses on developing academic skills, easing the transition into higher education, and ultimately reducing dropout rates. This international initiative brings together partners from Romania, Bulgaria, Italy, and Germany.
Further information: Mikko Grönlund & Ira Ahokas, Finland Futures Research Centre
Vocational education and training (VET) in Finland is undergoing a change towards personalised studies and degrees. This means also identifying and acknowledging of previously acquired skills. The importance of skills is growing in work life and both students and staff in vocational education institutions need tools in organizing studies to support the development of valid personal skill sets.
OSATA project produces understanding of the development of skill-related identities needed in the changing work life. The results will be used to build future-oriented tools and pedagogical models to support the students in becoming future professionals.
Further information: Sari Miettinen, Johanna Ollila, Anne Nieminen & Anne Arvonen
The project focuses particularly on producing easily approached and practical educational materials for gender and culture sensitive career guidance. The aim is to raise awareness, and to transform the awareness about the gender and culture bias in career guidance into good practices to counteract it. The results of our development work will be disseminated in educational institutions and in guidance services nationally.
In this project, segregation is approached via an intersectional approach, taking into account the people’s multiple social differences and how they jointly constitute social positions. Educational and vocational choices differ even based on age, ethnic background and social class. In order to combat segregation, there is a need for a holistic gender and culture sensitive approach to career guidance. Our perception of gender is diverse, taking into account gender minorities.
The project will be carried our during 2019–2021 and is partly funded by European Social Fund via Ministry of Social Affairs and Health.
Potential is created by
- Finland Futures Research Centre/University of Turku (coordinator)
- Häme University of Applied Sciences
- Oulu University of Applied Sciences
- JAMK University of Applied Sciences
- Finnish Youth Research Society
Foundation for studies and education research (OTUS)
Further information: Sari Miettinen, Johanna Ollila, Anne Nieminen & Anne Arvonen
https://www.potentiaalihanke.fi/
The REFORD Project refers to “research-based and future-oriented curriculum review and development for teacher education” at the University of Nairobi and Strathmore University, Nairobi, Kenya. It aims to support students to acquire skills needed in 21st century life and the labour market.
Competency Based Curriculum (CBC) was launched for basic education in Kenya in 2017. The current focus is on rolling out CBC in higher education institutions and teacher education. The research to be conducted under the proposed project will specifically strengthen the designing of curricula, improve the quality of delivery of teacher preparation programmes, and thus, strengthen the preparedness of the higher education institutions to implement the CBC.
The future horizon is changing constantly. Education in the Global South must meet aspirations of sustainability. To expedite the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4), educational structures need to provide relevant competences, models, and a future-oriented mindset that sustains our 21st century lives.
This project received funding under the Spring 2022 GINTL Project Funding from the University of Helsinki.
Further information: Joni Karjalainen