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Update 27 February: Course schedule has changed. The start of the course has been moved from June to August. 

Learning outcomes

•  Understanding the concepts of sustainable business and corporate responsibility

•   Understanding the central tensions in corporate sustainability

•   Identifying sustainability challenges and introducing strategic approaches to respond to them

•   Understanding sustainability in different business functions and the management instruments available

•   Developing critical thinking about how to deal with different stakeholders in advancing sustainability

•   Recognizing how enterprises can innovate to develop more sustainable businesses.

Content

This course focuses on the role of business in addressing the vast sustainable development challenges faced by the world.  There is a complex relationship between business and sustainability, as business has historically been the source of many of these challenges (e.g. climate change, inequality, pollution), and yet business must also be part of the solution, given the size and scope of global business activities.  Against this backdrop, there has been an undeniable shift in business attitudes towards sustainability, with corporations increasingly wanting to act sustainably. 

With this in mind, the focus of this course is first on understanding the nature of this tension, and second on understanding how business strategies can address ecological and social issues. To truly pursue the needed sustainability shift, companies must creatively address the needs of their diverse stakeholders.

Overall, the course will cover expansive ground, including business strategy, corporate activism and corporate political activity, supply chains, sustainability management and communication instruments, innovation for sustainability, and system change towards sustainability. 

Teacher
Heli Nissilä, Meri Frig and Barbara Onate

Study material
Hahn, Rüdiger. Sustainability management: Global perspectives on concepts, instruments, and stakeholders. Rüdiger Hahn, 2022

A selection of articles. Required pre-readings for each lecture (1-3 articles per lecture).

Online learning environment for the course & Activating Aalto ID

MyCourses online learning environment is a tool for both students and teachers for communication and managing everyday course work. You need an Aalto User ID to log in to the course's MyCourses workspace and participate in teaching. You can activate your Aalto User ID the day after the registration and you should activate it no later than the day before the start of the course. Instructions for activating your Aalto User IDDigital workspace of the course:

More details on completing the course will be available at MyCourses closer to the start of the course.
 

Workload

• Contact teaching 33h (70% lecture attendance requirement, or you cannot get credit for the final assignment)
• Independent work and assignments 123h

Prerequisites
 -

Evaluation
Final project (50%), Assignments (Group/Individual) (50%)
 

Teaching time and location
This course is taught at Otaniemi Campus. Attendace is mandatory (70% lecture attendance requirement, or you cannot get credit for the final assignment).

Lectures are held 19 August - 23 September at Ekonominaukio 1. Please see the exact teaching schedule below. NB! Wed 27 August lecture is held at Otakaari 1.

Registration and course fee

Registration for Open University courses is done via the link below: 

Registration for this course starts on 3.6.2025 at 9.00  
Registration for this course ends on 12.8.2025 at 23.59

It is not possible to register before the registration period has started or after it has ended.

The course fee is paid upon registration for each course at a time and it is binding. Familiarize yourself with registration and payment rules as well as other guidelines for students:
Registration, payments and rules

If you are an attending degree student at Aalto University, it is possible for you to complete this course for free of charge during summer 2025. Registration is done normally in Sisu. Please make sure that you have the correct course code in your study plan before registering to the course. You can check the course code from the top of this page.
Instructions for course registration (for Aalto degree students)

This course is organized by Aalto University Open University.

Access Token on Aalto University Campus

To be able to enter campus premises and classrooms you need the student access token of Aalto University. You can get the student access token from campus lobby services. The access token need to be activated with your Aalto account and password before you can use it. Please, arrive the campus well in advance before your first class so that you can make the access token work. Please, see the instructions how to get and activate the access token: How to get an access tokenOtaniemi Campus, Espoo: Campus mapFurther information
Equivalences to other courses: 
21E16000 Sustainable Business and Consumption
21E16001 Sustainability in Business
 

Individual study arrangements

If you need individual study arrangements in order to attend a course, contact the Open University in good time, at least 14 days before the start date of the course or the examination date. Further information and instructions for applying individual study arrangements can be found here:Individual study arrangements at Open University