University Board discusses challenges and outlook with Aalto community at annual event

The Aalto University Board invited the Aalto community to discuss the university's long-term development and future direction at the community event on 23 November. The annual discussion forum is an important part of the university's living strategy and annual planning. The event was organised as a hybrid event, and more than 250 members of the community participated. 

Chair of the Aalto University Board Mikko Kosonen opened the event by thanking the community for coping and by emphasising the importance of well-being: 

‘Let me start by thanking you all for the extraordinary work and great accomplishments during yet another very difficult year. At the board, we are fully aware of the very high workloads and growing stress levels in the community, and the topic is really important. The well-being of the community is the foundation for the success of the university.’

According to Chair Mikko Kosonen, the Aalto University Board is responsible for the decisions on the strategic direction of our university and for ensuring that we as a community are at the forefront of building the change towards a sustainable future. 

At the event, the future foresight included two introductions: Professor, Associate Vice President Antti Ahlava brought up perspectives on the role of campuses in the digital world and suggested that Aalto University's campus could serve as a good platform for post-pandemic experiments. Research Director Hertta Vuorenmaa and Professor Markku Kuula in turn offered points of view on the future working life, hybrid work and self-direction. 

University Preview gathers observations about the operating environment

The strategy published by Aalto University at the beginning of 2020 is being implemented according to the living strategy principle. This approach makes it possible to react to the continuous changes in the operating environment, which are examined with the whole community at the end of every year.

The joint event held between the Board and the Aalto community is part of this University Preview in which changes that have been observed together and perceived as important will be taken into account in our planning for the following year. 

At the event, the members of the Board answered questions collected in advance from the Aalto community and received during the event. The questions from the community concerned the future of university funding, safeguarding students' language skills, the changing working methods after the pandemic, the internationalisation of Aalto and cooperation between universities. In addition the questions covered topics such as supporting young researchers during the post-pandemic period, improving communication between the community and the university’s management and Aalto's role in stopping the climate change. 

As part of the University Preview, observations on the changes in the operating environment were also collected in October 2021 with a survey that was open to stakeholders and the community. The responses from the survey brought new signals from previously recognised global trends affecting Aalto University's operations. Issues related to hybrid work in particular have a strong impact on the activities of the community. All community feedback received from the event and collected in advance will be taken into account as part of the University Preview towards the end of the year.

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Sign in with your Aalto ID to watch the recording of the event and the Board's responses to the topics that were not answered at the event due to the lack of time.