When I saw this new program offered by Tampere University, I knew I had to feature it as a program of the month. I meet a lot of students with interests pertaining to sustainability. I think this is so cool since this was a concept pretty foreign to my generation when I was in high school! I also meet students who have interests around urban development, but not necessarily the civil engineering type programs around this. This program is perfect for these students!
The first key premise of this program is that issues related to sustainability need to be a crucial component in urban development. This includes climate-related issues but also things like social justice, wellness, community resources, and politics. The other key premise is that in order to understand and address sustainable urbanization, you need to have knowledge from different disciplines. This program takes a multidisciplinary approach which includes administrative sciences, social sciences, and technology. Students choose one of these areas to specialize in when they apply but have the majority of their courses in common. Students work on real-life projects each year around the subjects they are learning, some of which are developed in cooperation with the city and companies.
Further, students who complete the program have the option for direct entry into the related Master’s degree program at Tampere. Graduates of the Social Science specialty can continue int the Global Society: Comparative Social Policy and Welfare program. Technology specialty grads can continue into the Civil Engineering program and students who specialized in the administration can continue into the Leadership for Change Governance for Sustainable Change program.
Admission for international students is based on SAT scores (like most Finnish research universities) and applications are due in January. Finland used to be tuition-free for international students but recently started charging fees. Along with the change came laws that require schools to provide opportunities for scholarships. In addition to a number of merit based scholarships, Tampere offers an early bird scholarship for first year students who do not receive merit based awards. This scholarship covers 50% of tuition so long as a student accepts that spot and pays within two weeks of receiving their acceptance letter. Might be a busy two weeks, but worth 5000 euros!
