Capstone in Creative Sustainability
The student teams consist of students who are in the final year of their Master’s Degree studies in the Creative Sustainability programme at Aalto University. Their backgrounds range from business to design and chemical engineering and materials science, with an emphasis on sustainability and interdisciplinarity.
Students apply to the course projects by expressing their preferences in a motivation letter, which ensures a good fit and motivation of the student teams for the projects.
What can the company expect from taking part in this project?
The clients can be large or small business enterprises, NGOs, or public organizations. In recent years, these projects have been carried out for large companies from various sectors, such as Vasakronan, Konecranes, Fazer, Familon, Fiskars, SATO Asunnot, and Elisa; start-ups and smaller companies, including Nordic Bioproducts Group, Vaarnii, Infine, Hiilipörssi, RiverRecycle, and Qheat; consultancies, such as Gaia Consulting and Falay Transition Design Collective; public organisations, including the City of Helsinki Climate Unit, the City of Espoo, Posintra, and the Tanzania Meteorological Agency; and foundations and NGOs, such as the Smart & Clean Foundation, Y-Säätiö, and SOS Children’s Villages Finland.
The projects have ranged from developing ideas for potential new products and designing sustainable business models to exploring alternative raw materials, identifying essential sustainability skills, and incorporating circular economy principles into business practices. They have also involved investigating opportunities for regenerative business, visualizing and communicating sustainability information internally and externally, and building prototypes of products or service concepts – among many other possibilities.
The participating company will receive
- a rigorous analysis of the situation
- new fresh ideas
- description of possible business solutions
What is required from the company?
The client representative is expected to be present in one of the early sessions to present the project as well as in the final reporting session to comment on the outcome of the project from the client’s point of view.
In addition, the client organization is expected to provide suitable information and contacts for the students to support their work.
What do the students receive?
The course summarizes the skills-related learning outcomes of the Creative Sustainability Master’s Programme, which is a interdisciplinary learning platform in the fields of business, design, and chemical engineering and materials science, operated jointly by the School of Arts, Design and Architecture, the School of Business, and the School of Chemical Engineering.
During the course students analyze the client’s sustainability challenge, develop solutions for it, and report the work orally and in written form according to the needs of the client. Each student team is supervised by one of the teachers of the course and a nominated contact person from the client organization.
Course details
- Contact: Leena Lankoski, leena.lankoski@aalto.fi
- Project duration: 4 months (January - April)
- Number of students per project: 3-6
- Project fee for a company: negotiable
- Application period for companies: 01.09.–30.09.2025
- Program website: