News

School as a Service (SAAS) wins its 7th award

School as a Service, developed by Antti Ahlava and colleagues, redefines learning environments through shared spaces, digital tools, and collaboration, earning global recognition for innovation and sustainability.
Logo with text: 2019 Human City Design Award, and Korean script below. Geometric shapes with blue and grey colours.
Logo of a stylised tree with roots and branches, a house in the middle. Text: School as a Service, Roots in local resources

School as a Service has received its 7th award, and 2nd international award since its creation in 2015. The Human City Design Award by the Seoul Design Foundation, has selected School as a Service as a winner.

The idea of School as a Service (SaaS) was developed by Antti Ahlava, Jarmo Suominen, Fernando Nieto, Natalia Vladykina, Saana Rossi, and Mia Hertsberg, from the idea based on Service-Dominant Logic, where students are seen as active participants of the learning processes, and goods (as buildings) have instrumental value to support learning. SaaS solution is based on digital technologies, new methodologies for learning and services designed to support network of resources rather than independent buildings. SaaS focused on developing and designing new ways of learning, increases the joy of learning, strengthens communality and opens the school doors to doing things together and networking. It also makes for more efficient use of space when the facilities are flexible and the rest of the environment is utilised in teaching.

Prizes awarded to School as a Service:

2016 _ Mayors Award for Innovation

2016 _ National Award for Innovation

2016 _ Espoo Medal for Innovation

2017 _ International Innovation Award

2017 _ Best Learning Community, Espoo (Haukilahti School & Aalto University)

2018 _ Espoo Medal for Innovation

2019 _ Human City Design Award, Seoul Design Foundation

“The School as a Service pilot project is a concrete example of thinking in a different way and boldly trying a new approach. The project tackles many challenges relating to the physical organization of teaching, pedagogical operating model and user-oriented development in a fresh manner. It has multidimensional effects. The results can be seen from the viewpoints of social, ecological and economic sustainability alike.” –mentioned on Espoo Medal for Innovation 2016.

“The School as a Service demonstration project challenges the concept of a conventional learning environment and points the way for new kinds of learning conditions, pedagogy, and school operating culture. The operating model has already received plenty of positive feedback and aroused international interest,” says Sampo Suihko, Director of Espoo Education and Cultural Services.

  • Updated:
  • Published:
Share
URL copied!

Read more news

Line chart 2003–2021 shows leasehold flat prices falling from near zero to about 10% below freehold values.
Press releases, Research & Art Published:

Study: Helsinki's land rent increases showed up in housing prices – but only after about a decade

Researchers tracked Helsinki apartments in blocks of flats whose land lease contracts were renewed in 2021.
Rakennustyömaa
Press releases Published:

Study: Finnish law allows construction emissions more than 30 times higher than the sustainable limit

Researchers at Aalto University have, for the first time, established a carbon budget for construction in Finland. Their calculations show that construction in Finland is currently permitted to generate a carbon footprint dozens of times higher than the sustainable level.
Magneettikuvauksen aikana osallistujat katsoivat videoita, joissa toinen henkilö kertoi henkilökohtaisia tarinoita ja sai niihin palautetta. Matti Ahlgren, Aalto University.
Press releases Published:

Inside the narcissistic brain: fMRI research sheds light on the narcissist’s struggle with empathy

Interested in the relationship between empathy and grandiose narcissism, neuroscience researchers from Aalto University used functional MRI (fMRI) to investigate how narcissistic traits influence brain activation in a situation mirroring everyday life. The findings showed that narcissistic brains were less in sync with​ one another​ during moments where people usually experience a sense of shared embarrassment.
Aerial view of a curved brick campus building with paths, trees and a lake in hazy light
Appointments, Press releases, University Published:

Recruitment to begin for position of Aalto University President

Aalto University is more than a workplace. It is an open community,  building a sustainable future for the coming generations.