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• Co-create a shared interdisciplinary language to support communication and understanding across fields.
• Critically reflect on the interactions of disciplinary roles within complex urban system.
• Facilitate inclusive collaboration through effective team practices.
• Jointly analyse urban water-related challenges from an interdisciplinary and systems perspective.
• Apply collaborative communication skills that enable constructive dialogue and co-working.

This BIP course is divided into online synchronous and asynchronous sessions, and in-person sessions at Aalto University, Helsinki.

Online sessions – via Zoom

• Session 1 is on Monday 20 April 2026 at 10.00 CEST/ 11.00 EEST (duration 2 hours)
• Sessions 2 to 4 will take place on 27 April, 4 May and 11 May 2026
• The final online session is a course reflection and feedback, and will take place after the workshop at Aalto University on 12 August 2026 (duration 2 hours)

In-person workshop – at Aalto University, Espoo & in Helsinki

• Monday 3 to Friday 7 August 2026 (contact teaching per day 6 hours)

This is a 3 ECTS course with the following indicative workload distribution:

• Contact teaching 10 hrs online (5*2 hrs) and 30 hrs workshop (5*6 hrs).
• Independent studying 15 hrs (5*3 hrs) with online sessions and 20 hrs (5*4 hrs) during the workshop.
• Independent individual reflection 6 hrs.

Students are continuously assessed based on the collaborative process during workshops, including presentations and final assessment of the teamwork project, reflections and final course feedback. 

Passing the course requires attending and participating in all contact teaching sessions (online and in-person) and completing course assignments, including the final reflection. 

Assessment will be Pass or Fail*.

*For students requiring a grade at their university, this will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

Open to all cycles (BA/MA/PhD level) within the QUORUM Universities: Aalto University - Finland, PoliTo - Italy, UPC - Spain, FAULisboa - Portugal, and KTH - Sweden. 

Students interested in taking this course need to register for Spring 2026 and Autumn 2026 semesters.

At Aalto University, the priority is given to Urban Studies and Planning (USP) students, School of Arts, Design and Architecture students, School of Electrical Engineering students, and all other interested Aalto students.

• Short CV (1xA4 page) including degrees, English language skills, and contact information.
• Transcript of records
• Motivation letter (500 words, 1xA4 page) indicating why you are interested in taking this course, what you intend to learn, how it fits your learning goals, your interest in interdisciplinarity, and commitment to participate in all the BIP course sessions.
• Submit both documents as PDF files by sending an email to confluences@aalto.fi and indicate your major and year of study.

The selection is based on the motivation letter, English language proficiency, past experiences (teamworking, communication skills, previous interdisciplinary, international experiences), openness to collaborate with others from diverse backgrounds, willingness to explore new ways of learning, and commitment to actively participate in all the course sessions

We aim to include motivated participants from as many disciplinary backgrounds as possible across the UNITE! QUORUM partner universities.

If you have any questions or want to submit your application, please contact us at: confluences@aalto.fi