Education module

Social Responsibility & Design project kicks off with public lecture series at the University of Helsinki. The “Future Development of Suburbs” lecture series starts on the 17 November 2011 and runs until early March 2012. Lecture series has been designed in co-operation with Aalto University's Doctoral Programme in the Built Environment. A suburban community from Espoo (potentially Suvela) will be integrated into a Transformation Design approach; a strategic problem solving process in which co-design is key and in which users and professionals work in collaboration as equals.

The “Future Development of Suburbs” lecture series will include both local and internationally renowned speakers. The focus will be on different perspectives on the regeneration of suburbs and the place of design in that process. Four lectures will be delivered by local experts and four will be delivered by experts from outside of Finland.

Through research and community based projects, Suvela will be given tools and advice on improving their living environments on their terms. A pilot study will be carried out before the end of the 2011 and research methodology finalised before the main phase of research begins.

The main phase of the research will begin early 2012. Students from the University of Helsinki (possibly also from Academy of Fine Arts and Aalto university) will be recruited and given specialised research methods training and onsite supervision for carrying out community projects based on WDCH themes. The work will be translated into study credits as part of the students’ Bachelors degrees.

The legacy stage of the project starting in 2013 will involve follow up work to find out how the WDC has actually improved the lives of the people who participated in our community projects. We will also ensure that any outstanding initiatives are presented to the city of Helsinki in the form of a White Paper. A number of publications, including an edited book and various press articles, will also be made available. A new course “Responsible Design in Urban Environments” based on our research will also be possibly introduced as part of our HWDC legacy package.