The School of Business’ approach to sustainability in business education stands out in Europe

Aalto University School of Business has deep expertise in sustainability topics. ‘Just within the last year, our researchers have won multiple top-level awards for their work in sustainability-related topics. At the same time, we embed sustainability issues in everything we do, which helps students take these issues into consideration, regardless of their interests or major,’ Dean Timo Korkeamäki says.

Senior Advisor in Sustainability Paula Schönach tells that since 2024 new over-arching learning goals have been in place for the School’s Master’s programmes, with a strong emphasis on sustainability related objectives. ‘We also actively engage in further developing our education, e.g. through collaborations within the PRME* network (*Principles of Responsible Management Education). As a Champion member of PRME we are committed to work more diligently to advance sustainable development and responsibility,’ she says.

Sustainability – a natural part of coverage of each subject 

Paula Schönach tells that the goal is that sustainability is not a separate topic that gets pasted to a corner of courses but covered rather naturally as a dimension of each subject. Pedagogical support is provided for teachers who wish to develop their teaching towards sustainability integration. ‘Additionally, we collect data on coverage of sustainability topics, and questions related to the area are also included in our teaching evaluation form for all courses.’ 

Dean Korkeamäki continues that we also have programmes that have a specific focus on sustainability, such as the MSc programme on Creative Sustainability, which is attracting a growing number of international applicants as well. ‘In the last few years, we have collected information from the exchange students who choose Aalto University. Sustainability is a common motivation for choosing Aalto.’

Multidisciplinary collaboration

Aalto University was founded on the premise of combining business expertise, technology, and arts & design. This multidisciplinary premise allows the faculty members to contribute to sustainability challenges. 

‘Recent examples include collaboration between other Aalto schools: the Schools of Chemical Engineering and Arts and Design on circular economy in the clothing industry, and cooperation between our researchers and faculty in the Aalto School of Electrical Engineering on issues related to the energy markets.’ 

‘Our close cooperation with other Aalto schools also allows our students to expand their expertise beyond the traditional boundaries of a Business School. I am pleased to tell that the School of Business prepares its students well to tackle global sustainability challenges while maintaining business competitiveness,’ Dean Korkeamäki says.