Aalto University pedagogical training for faculty
Are you looking to develop your skills as a teacher? Participate in Aalto's pedagogical training!
Sustainability in Teaching (3 ECTS), pedagogical training, spring 2026
Are you a teacher at Aalto University or a partner university of Unite!? Are you hoping to find ways to integrate sustainability themes into your teaching, and discussing the topic with like-minded colleagues? This course equips you with theoretical knowledge of sustainability education and practical examples to help you discover your unique way of embedding sustainability in your teaching. Take advantage of the opportunity to expand your teaching toolkit with practical sustainability integration strategies in an international and multidisciplinary setting!
About this training course
The course will be organised for teachers at Aalto University and in partner universities of Unite! Teaching is conducted in online format.
During this course we will discuss sustainability education from multiple perspectives, including the concept of sustainability and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). You will explore the role of different disciplines in promoting sustainability, key sustainability competencies, and how to design teaching and learning activities. We will also reflect on values and emotions in sustainability education.
The course includes interactive individual and group assignments during the teaching sessions and individual pre- and post-assignments connected to each teaching session. Teaching and study methods include dialogic teaching, peer discussions, reflection tasks, group exercises and working in a virtual learning environment.
Intended learning outcomes
After this course, you will be able to:
- relate sustainability/sustainable development and sustainable development goals (SDGs) to your own specific subject field
- identify and apply different approaches to integrate sustainability into teaching on course or programme level
- reflect on how sustainability key competencies can be utilised in developing teaching and curriculum in your own disciplinary context
- design and apply learning objectives, and teaching and learning activities for integrating sustainability in your own disciplinary context
- consider the role of values and emotions in your own sustainability-related teaching
Teaching sessions in spring 2026
Note that all times are presented in Finnish time which means UCT+2
- Friday March 6th 2026 at 14:15-15:00 UCT+2, online
- Friday March 13th 2026 at 12:15-15:00 UCT+2, online
- Friday March 27th 2026 at 12:15-15:00 UCT+2, online
- Friday April 10th 2026 at 12:15-15:00 UCT+2, online
- Friday April 24th 2026 at 12:15-15:00 UCT+2, online
- Friday May 8th 2026 at 12:15-15:00 UCT+2, online
- Friday May 22nd 2026 at 12:15-15:00 UCT+2, online
Who can participate?
You can register for this course if you are employed by Aalto University or by a partner university of Unite! and you teach at the university.
Approximately 30 participants can be accepted to this course, from which max. 10 from Unite! universities. Participants are selected based on their teaching responsibilities described in the application form. In case there are more applicants than can be accepted, the priority is given to people on tenure and lecturer tracks.
The completion of the course requires participation in all of the teaching sessions. Please check before registering that they fit into your schedule. Also, make sure to allocate time for independent work between the teaching sessions.
All applicants will be informed about acceptance via email 3 weeks before the course begins.
Prerequisites
An introductory course in pedagogics before the course starts. If you haven't taken a course before please complete "Quickstart for University Teaching" -microcourse (link below). If you have taken a course elsewhere than Aalto or you are a qualified teacher, contact the course teachers.
Course teachers
Maria Svanström, sustainability specialist, A! Co-Educator Team, and Tiina Pylkkönen, pedagogical specialist
E-mail: maria.svanstrom@aalto.fi, tiina.pylkkonen@aalto.fi
Please note that if you have general questions about the course you may also contact MyTeaching Support service.
Quickstart for University Teaching micro course
A continuous online micro-course that takes 2 hours to complete.