Study Guide

Location and time

The course is conducted online 7-14 June 2021. Preliminary tasks 15 May - 6 June, post tasks 15-17 June.

Materials

All course material will be provided in Howspace platform.

Teaching methods

Empowering regional development and innovations is a joint summer school for BSc, MSc and PhD students from all disciplines. The course is implemented as a Hackathon with preliminary tasks before the actual Hackathon. You will work in multidisciplinary groups on a specified challenge on building resilience in rural communities.

Learning outcomes: After completing the course, you will be able to utilize multidisciplinary expert networks, creative thinking and various technologies for problem solving in innovation methods. You will have a working knowledge of innovation tools and ways to present your findings. You will understand the multidisciplinary nature of regional development and its significance on rural and urban communities as well the basic concepts of resilience of communities.

Contents: During the course, multidisciplinary groups will work on a challenge posed by a Finnish organization related to rural resilience in special conditions. The groups will be introduced to different methods and tools for innovation, expert lectures on regional development and community resilience and its meaning. The expert lectures will be given by stakeholders from each of the partner countries (Finland, Bulgaria, Greece, the Netherlands and Slovakia). The groups will innovate solutions and propose actions to increase the communities’ resilience. The groups will work in close cooperation with different stakeholders. The students will learn about Finnish food culture and participate in an online cooking class. The students will also plan and implement a joint cultural evening.

International connections

The course is part of the INVEST (INnoVations of REgional Sustainability: European UniversiTy Alliance) project funded by Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union.

Student workload

The course will be implemented online and
consists of three phases:
• Preliminary tasks (15 May - 6 June)
- 25 - 30 hours
- Presenting yourselves online, background research, designing the evening activity, starting the learning diary
• Hackathon process (7 - 14 June)
- 64 hours
- Introduction to innovation processes and tools, expert lectures, group work, coaching, joint activities
• Final tasks (15 - 17 June)
- 11 - 17 hours
- Finalising the learning diary

Further information

The teaching language is English.

Applying to the course is also considered as consent to participate in the research carried out in the project. Assignments, online discussions and other material produced during the course can be used as research material. The identities of the participants cannot be identified from the research reports. Part of the course assignments can be published.

Evaluation scale

H-5

Assessment methods and criteria

The course is evaluated on a scale of 0-5, where 5 is excellent, 1 is satisfactory and 0 is failed. The evaluation of the course is based on the approved completion of the preliminary assignments (10%), expert evaluation of the presentation (20%), report of the solution (30%), participation in joint online meetings and group work (20%) and the learning diary (20%).