Basic information of the minor
Code: ARTS3096
Extent: 15-25 ECTS
Language: English
Teachers in charge: Olli Varis (ENG), Saija Hollmén (ARTS)
Administrative contact: Study Coordinator Sanna Tekonen
Target group: Master level students
Application procedure: Open for all master’s students at Aalto University.
Quotas and restrictions: Lecture courses are open for all. Included studio courses have maximum quotas and therefore additional selection criteria, identified in their respective course descriptions. The used criteria varies from course to course. The course descriptions indicate to whom and how the applications will be submitted. In some courses, degree students may be prioritized according to course description.
Prerequisites: Bachelor’s degree.
Content and structure of the minor
The focus of WiT Minor is in long-term sustainable global development issues, such as UN’s SDGs, good governance, human rights, social sustainability, climate change and innovations. It explores the dilemma of development from different perspectives. It deals with cross-cultural communication, participatory practices and community engagement in vulnerable settings, and promotes culturally sensitive professional practices in architecture, design, engineering and business.
WiT Minor exploits Problem Based Learning (PBL) and Human-Centered Design (HCD) methodologies with links to industry, civil society and academia. The WiT Minor emphasizes interdisciplinarity and mutual and reciprocal peer learning.
Learning outcomes
After completing WiT Minor, student will have holistic understanding of the global development related issues, regardless of their own disciplinary background. They are prepared for advanced studies in the thematic area and for further work life opportunities on the field.
Transferable skills – such as teamwork, critical thinking, judgement and decision making, communication project design, research methods, adaptability – are core learning objectives, preparing the students’ expertise and knowledge to move from situated (context related) to transferable, scalable and applicable in complex professional situations.
In addition to disciplinary and context related learning outcomes, the minor aims at providing the students with an understanding in the diverse linkages and relations from technology, innovations, design and entrepreneurship to socio-culturally, economically and environmentally sustainable development. The Minor educates professionals capable of strategic spatial problem solving, planning design-led solutions for longer-term recovery, adapting to cultural variations, and coordinating and managing projects in vulnerable communities, using participatory planning methods.
Structure of the minor
WiT Minor consists of prerequisite courses on global development issues, followed by studio courses (see selection criteria) including a field trip, provided by Aalto School of Arts, Design and Architecture and School of Engineering.
The core courses are Interplay of Cultures (IoC) Studio and Sustainable Global Technologies (SGT) Studio, with a selection of theme related electives. In previous years, the field trips have taken Aalto students to countries such as Senegal, Benin, South Africa, Mozambique, Tanzania, Rwanda, Kenya, Uganda, Lebanon, Greece, Nepal, Cambodia, Taiwan, Philippines and Mexico. The field trip costs are (usually) on the students’ responsibility.
The minor also offers courses that do not require attending a field trip. Students are also free to compose the minor from additional and optional courses only.
Code | Name | Credits (ECTS) | Selection Criteria | Prerequisites (in addition to BA degree) |
Prerequisite and compulsory courses | ||||
State of the World and Development L | 2 | open for all | ||
Sustainable Built Environment L | 5 | *) some limitations | ||
Alternative Studio courses | ||||
Sustainable Global Technologies | 10 | *) some limitations | ||
Interplay of Cultures Studio | 12-18 | *) some limitations | ||
Additional and optional courses | ||||
Sustainable Tools for Building Designers | 3-6 | *) some limitations | ||
Water and Governance L | 5 | *) some |
| |
Interplay of Cultures, Research and Theory | 3-6 | *) some |
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How to Change the World – Innovating toward | 6 | *) some | ||
Sustainability in Business | 6 |
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Sustainable Entrepreneurship | 6 |
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Sustainability and global value chains | 6 | *) some |
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Accounting for | 6 | *) some |
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Urban Economics | 6 |
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Land Management | 6 | *) some | ||
Environmental Law | 6 |
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MNGT-E1002 | Market-based Development in the Global South | 6 | Preference given to students in (1) Creative Sustainability, (2) Management and International Business, (3) Entrepreneurship | None |
MEC-E9130 | Social Acceptability with Varying Content V D | 4-7 | ||
MEC-E6005 | Engineering Materials Seminar D | 5 | ||
all UniPID Virtual Courses (organized min. 3 years in a row: check | ||||
Introduction | 5 | open for all | ||
Migration, Development and Human Rights | 5 | open for all | ||
Concepts of | 5 | open for all | ||
Global Context of | 5 | open for all | ||
Other UniPID virtual | 5 | open for all |
*Selection criteria applies. Students from the responsible / organizing master program have priority.
(Check the minimum scope of the minor studies in your own program.)