News
Toni Kotnik: Thinking in Structures
Kotnik wants to reform the traditional way of designing the built environment. Â

Does environmental stress drive migration?
New comprehensive analysis ranks environmental and social factors for explaining migration globally as well as in each country—and it’s more complicated than previous understanding suggests

Oops: A circular economy workshop abuzzed activity and ejected personal biases
Head of Radical Creativity Riikka Mäkikoskela witnessed the power of creativity while leading a workshop.

Insulation from old jeans, walls from waste concrete – less guilt and more solutions are needed for construction
The biggest environmental act would be not building at all. But a circular economy can also mitigate the environmental impact of construction.

A surprising winner of the Campus Sustainability Champion 2021 award
The campus sustainability champion was chosen now for the fifth time.

Irene Purasachit saw the floral industry’s waste problem firsthand – now she makes material for handbags from discarded blooms
Nearly half of cut flowers end up in the trash, never making their way to dinner tables or first dates

The vote on the participatory budgeting was decided – the garden benches were chosen as the winner
In spring 2021, we asked students how they would like to spend 12 000 euros of the university budget. The community discussion was based on the “One euro for every student” participatory budgeting pilot project launched in May.

Do you drive a car in metropolitan area? Come and test how to make motoring routes smoother and safer.
During the autumn, an international Code the Streets pilot will be implemented in metropolitan area, where motorists will be offered alternative driving routes with a navigator. We are now looking for testers for the navigation app who have an Android phone.

The New Sustainability in Business online course strengthens knowledge of sustainable business
How can companies create sustainable value for the economy, the environment and society?

We can transform the fashion industry by renting
Marketing Master’s student Katariina Järvinen’s company Clozeta combines two megatrends: second-hand and sharing economy.

AaltoSDG mobile application is closing by the end of the year 2021
The AaltoSDG mobile application is closing - we welcome feedback and ideas from users for new openings!

How to get urban economy going from linear to circular
We interviewed Jaana Pelkonen and Heikki Sorasahi to learn what they thought are the things to consider in addressing circular economy.

Aalto University starts reporting on the sustainability of its endowment: “We want to increase transparency”
The sustainability report shows that the investment funds we use are well aligned with sustainable investing principles. The long-term goal of the Endowment is a carbon neutral investment portfolio.

Sustainable investment is not enough to combat climate change
In their new book on sustainable investment, Professor Vesa Puttonen and Bachelor of Science Tatu Puttonen state that politicians cannot outsource their responsibility for combating climate change to asset managers and investors. The book has been published as part of the Aalto University publication series.

Promoting sustainability of transport in cities calls for a mindset change
In an openly available new book, researchers call for human-scale thinking in urban transport.

Join Aalto University at the 2021 European Researchers' Night on 24 September
Aalto University invites you to join the 2021 European Researchers' Night session "Unite! for sustainable energy"!

Changing climate increases the need for water diplomacy
Water issues are increasingly political, meaning tensions need to be tackled in new ways
Researchers develop the perfect recycled fertilizer for forests - saves 88% of energy normally used but still not legal
Finnish forests are typically nourished with fertilisers containing energy-intensive nitrogen and phosphorous mined in Morocco. Researchers have now developed an ecological alternative with ingredients sourced from a waste processing plant. It is good for forests and the environment – but legislation has to change first.

Nordic Biomaterials with CHEMARTS – a crucial course for future-changers
The Aalto University Summer School course Nordic Biomaterials in collaboration with CHEMARTS gathered students from Sweden, the USA, Germany, Norway and Belgium for a summer course on campus for the first time since the pandemic.

An encounter between a photographer and remote sensing specialists led to a book on forests, vision and the purpose of science
Where one person sees a beautiful bark surface, another person sees raw data, says Sheung Yiu, who took the photographs for the Ground Truth book.
