Summer school on “Resilience and Sustainability”

Theme

Students address the problem of sustainability and resilience from different regional and national perspectives. Aging and demographic challenges pose a key problem in many European countries. In post-industrial regions such as the Ruhr region, Northern Finland and Lodz, the aging problem is aggravated by shrinking populations due to outmigration and scarcity of high-skilled employees. This demographic change has multiple consequences: the regions are not attractive for modern industries with high productivity and innovativeness, tax incomes are low, there is labor shortage in many important industries such as health and care. Furthermore, regions with insufficient supply of young high-skilled workers are vulnerable to external shocks such as weather events caused by climate change. Students’ task is to think about solutions how the regions could cope with the demographic challenges.

Course information

The Blended Intensive Learning Course “Sustainability and Resilience” consists of onsite and online workshops and lectures as well as a summer school week in Bochum, Germany. Approximately 30 students will participate in the course.

• Schedule: The course consists of an online module in 25 August – 5 September 2025 and an onsite module in Bochum in 8–12 September 2025.
• Prerequisites: The application is open for all students in the University of Oulu, who are interested in sustainable development, resilience, and the challenges of demographic changes. Students will be selected on the basis of a motivation statement (see application form below).
• Language: The language of the course will be English.
• Credits: Upon successful completion of the course (participation in virtual and in-person components, presentation of a group project, submission of assignments), students will be granted 5 ECTS credits. In special cases, a total of 6 ECTS can be awarded for an extra assignment.
• Funding: Participating students are eligible for funding from the University of Oulu’s Erasmus+ funding to cover travel and expenses in the amount of €79 per day (5 course days plus two travel days = €553), in addition to a fixed-sum travel grant of €309 = €862 in total. For travel by train or by bus a special green travel grant (€417) can be granted. Also, students who are guardians of underage children, or who need special arrangements due to illness or disability can apply for a top-up. The funding is provided in the context of the Erasmus+ program. All accepted applicants will be contacted by the University of Oulu International Mobility Services and will need to submit the required information in a timely manner.
• Travel and accommodation: Travel is to be arranged individually. More information on accommodation options will be given to selected students.
• Application: Please submit the completed application form (see below) by 1 May 2025, 23:59 EEDT.

Apply

To apply, fill out the application form. To answer the survey, you must be logged in with your University of Oulu account. Deadline for applications is 1.5.2025. Successful applicants will be notified by 10.5.2025.