American and Finnish universities collaborate to advance the Sustainable Development Goals

Last month, the Finnish-American Research and Innovation Accelerator (FARIA) network, jointly coordinated by Aalto University and the University of Helsinki, hosted a Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)-themed Staff Training Week in Finland.

The FARIA network is a strategic U.S.-focused collaboration platform that integrates and supports joint actions between Finnish member institutions and American partners. The Staff Training Week, held from June 3 to June 7, brought together 19 academics and researchers from prestigious U.S. institutions to collaborate with their Finnish counterparts to discuss transatlantic efforts to foster innovation and address global challenges through sustainable practices. Learn more about the event below from three of the eight participants who represented the University of Washington at the Staff Training Week.

Seung-Jin Lee, Ph.D.

What inspired you to participate?

Much of my teaching and research involves environmental sustainability. In particular, I developed new content on the SDGs in my Sustainable Engineering and Design course this past quarter. With Finland being one of the pioneers in the SDG community, I did not hesitate in wanting to learn from Finnish administrators, faculty and researchers and to potentially collaborate with them to develop mutually beneficial opportunities for our institutions.

Did you learn about any new or innovative best practices for integrating the SDGs into university strategies and teaching?

Aalto University’s work in integrating the SDGs into their curriculum and course development is something I’d like to help replicate at UWT and UW overall. With the overall goal of supporting students’ ability to contribute to a more sustainable world, I believe the focus on understanding linkages and interactions of the SDG targets is highly beneficial. Students at UW would find the implementation of sustainability labels in course descriptions useful. The various opportunities through the Fulbright program can foster numerous collaborations for students and faculty alike. I personally would love to pursue a fellowship in the future.

What are you key takeaways from the experience?

I was particularly impressed with LUT University’s passion and enthusiasm for prioritizing the SDGs in various programs, including those that traditionally don’t consider it much in the U.S. I felt there was much for our U.S. institutions to learn that it is very much possible and important.

How do you plan to collaborate with your Finnish counterparts moving forward?

I plan on engaging with the UW participants as well as my colleagues at UWT to discuss developing exchange programs for graduate and research students and study abroad programs for our undergraduates.

Hiwot Zewdie

What inspired you to participate?

I was interested in participating to learn more about SDG implementation to improve as a researcher and to contribute effectively to urban health research in line with global objectives. I thought that it would provide an ideal opportunity for networking and developing potential collaborations, which would be valuable at my stage of training as a doctoral student. I also thought that this training would align well with my overall career objectives, as I intend to continue working alongside transdisciplinary and multi-country teams that are similarly committed to addressing complex urban health challenges.

Did you learn about any new or innovative best practices for integrating the SDGs into university strategies and teaching?

Yes, we were introduced to SDG activities that encouraged us to think about the interdependence of the SDGs. Specifically, these exercises helped us think through potential conflicting impacts of achieving the SDGs in our own efforts. I thought this was a valuable exercise to critically engage with the SDGs, allowing us to better understand how to minimize unintended consequences, and where it was not possible, where there is opportunity for innovation. I found this approach to thinking holistically about SDG implementation to be informative and practical.

What are you key takeaways from the experience?

My key takeaway was the impressive commitment of Finnish universities to integrating the SDGs as a framework guiding their institutional efforts. This includes teaching, research, campus design and infrastructure, and even investment decisions. Learning about their comprehensive approach was inspiring and demonstrated what is possible with shared commitment and collaboration towards a common goal. This experience has broadened my perspective on the role academic institutions can play in catalyzing positive change, particularly with respect to sustainable development.

How do you plan to collaborate with your Finnish counterparts moving forward?

I plan to collaborate with my Finnish counterparts primarily through research initiatives. Learning about financial mechanisms, such as the Research Council of Finland-National Institutes of Health Partnership Program, was particularly exciting. These mechanisms can significantly amplify the scope of our research projects. I am eager to explore these opportunities and work together on projects that address urban health challenges, leveraging the strengths, expertise, and existing partnerships of both teams.

Lindi Rubadiri-Mujugira

What inspired you to participate?

A major part of my role is partnership and program management. The responsibilities under this category are provision of oversight and coordination of the WA MESA STEM curriculum for grade-level MESA Programs. In addition, I am required to lead continuous improvement efforts to refine systems and processes, and address gaps in partnership support services. I meet regularly with our directors to share information, solicit input and address needs.

This past year I have been pulling together a resource base and curriculum to help them support their teachers and students as they prepare to engage on a national platform. My goals for the year include engagement with our 18 directors (including site visits to the MESA centers) in my endeavor to develop a program repository. In one portion of my work, the comprehensive build-up to showcase the Washington MESA standards and goals operates through the signature National Engineering Design Competition (NEDC) is held every June. All MESA states participate in this event. The current theme is “Designing for Equity Locally to Affect Sustainability Globally”. This buildup is not limited to the event but engages students comprehensively through the year using our logic model as they engage in academic enrichment, high-impact STEM practice, mentoring, STEM career exposure etc. through in-class instruction and after school programs.

Per the mission, the NEDC asks students to identify an individual or group who experiences an inequity (i.e., a user). Then, using a coding element as the main component of their design, employ human-centered design practices to engineer a solution. Students must also align their projects to the SDGs in an effort that leads to meeting the mandated theme. The SDGs are embedded in the requirements every year. Teams must use the SDGs in a community-centered capacity for their project. In my role, I am required to plan and oversee our WA MESA state competition and support the students that proceed to the national event.

My intention for attending the Staff Training Week in Finland was to expand on our curriculum reach. I planned to return with tools that we could add to our resource database. WA MESA Crosscutting Activity also requires the development of a WA MESA Resource Library – a collection of resources to help centers implement programs and services that will be available on the digital platform. Our MESA College Prep Logic Model (Program Toolkit) requires, “high-quality STEM integration problems that promote inquiry and problem solving, incorporate technology and provide students with multi-cultural and multi-perspective viewpoints”. My goal was also to add this global perspective that will ultimately help our MESA students extend their exposure to global solutions in their curriculum offerings.

Did you learn about any new or innovative best practices for integrating the SDGs into university strategies and teaching?

I learned a lot about best practices for integrating the SDGs into university and also pre-university strategies and teaching. The Finnish Universities “live and breathe” SDG goal-implementation and this is evident in the design and operation of facilities and in their educational structure. The SDG focus is woven into their programs and courses in an intentional and structured manner. One example is the tagging of courses that address specific SDGs and make it easy for students to select SDG-themed courses in the registration system. Professors infuse the SDGs into their courses in a way that flows and shows their application seamlessly.

I also loved hearing about the collaborations between other universities (some of them in Africa). They relate to the researchers outside as equal partners even as they lead the world in SDG implementation. The project examples were very practical and community-oriented. It was interesting to see how the Junior University functions at LUT – Lappeenranta. Since one section of our MESA program provides pathways for students from the K-12 system into the post- secondary domain, it was good to be able to see how they do outreach and share the framework of our MESA program. The Jamie Hyneman Prototype lab was also very inspiring among several other initiatives across the campuses. The invitation for students to be creative in this environment and this build skills outside the classroom is similar to our UW MILL (McCarty Innovation Learning Lab). It was great to see the prototype lab there initiated by a world – famous scientist.

What are you key takeaways from the experience?

In a nutshell, Finland has a lot to showcase as an example. Collaboration with the U.S. and other regions is a great way to share and have an ongoing exchange of information in educational practices.

How do you plan to collaborate with your Finnish counterparts moving forward?

I plan to collaborate with other UW campuses on a study abroad program to Finland (marketing to all students but with a focus on under-represented students in STEM). I also intend to co-teach on sustainability courses and incorporate SDG examples into local projects (Washington MESA curriculum). Lastly, I aim to continue sharing ideas with my Finnish colleagues during possible visits by them to U.S. universities to continue the relationships and networking that have already begun.

Originally published July 22, 2024