Sustainability in Osteopathic Education: A Call for Professional Actions

One of the goals of the Research, Development, and Innovation (RDI) functions at Universities of Applied Sciences (UAS) is to connect the surrounding society to the outcomes of the work that they undertake. Each year many projects and research are started, continued and completed by UASs throughout Finland that can have a great impact on the surrounding local society. From the institutional perspective, it can be difficult to make the outcomes or relevance of these projects known outside of the institution in a coherent way. But the entire purpose of them is to improve society in some capacity. It is important that companies and organisations know that they can reach out to UAS institutions and figure out if there is anything that would help develop services, products, customer’s experience, or even processes. There are many ways to get connected to work that is happening in your local community. This post aims to list the most common ways that business, organisations, and even individuals with ideas can reach out to UASs to benefit from their research, development and innovation (RDI) work. There are also many different ways to benefit from this work. It can be on an individual level, unit level, or entire organisational level. This will depend on your own preference or capacity. Here are some ways that you or your organisation can connect with the university of applied science in your area (or beyond). Multi-disciplinary Innovation Projects It is becoming more common for institutions to create experiential learning in regards to different aspects of business development. This allows students to work with organisations and businesses to solve real problems. At Metropolia University of Applied Sciences there is MINNO (multi-disciplinary innovation) Projects. These are experiential courses available for all students to take. It is a course that consists of 10 ECTS for the students. But more importantly, it is the ability for organisations to connect with the institution and to bring challenges for a diverse group of students to work on. The MINNO Project was recently lauded by the World Economic Forum as one of their 13 Skills-First Lighthouses. “The Skills-First Lighthouse recognition is given for practical and innovative activities that benefit society and individuals by identifying, strengthening and articulating skills in a work-life context.” This will require your organisation to work together with the students to look for innovative solutions to the real problems you bring. If you want to consider putting your company forward to take part in MINNO, you can find more information about how to do it on the Metropolia website. Accessing Available Courses for Upskilling If there is a need or want to upskill individuals in an organisation, there are many courses available that have been created by the institutions from the work that has been completed in the Research, Development, and Innovation units and other units. These can be taken for free or with a small fee and cover a large range of topics. Most of the courses created by UASs come with academic credits attached but whether these are utilised or not is up to the individual. Metropolia UAS, Haaga-Helia UAS, and Laurea UAS work together under the 3UAS (or 3AMK in Finnish) brand and through this website, it is possible to access the courses that are available. There are courses at almost every institution in Finland. In the future, there will the possibility to also access courses that are given through the U!reka European University partners also. The extent of which will become clearer in the next year or two. While the MINNO project has companies working with groups of students on real business problems, there are many individual courses or even mini-courses that can be taken by anyone. In 2023, Metropolia launched the Service Design Sprint MOOC (Massive Online Open Course) which is available to anyone at anytime. It is free of charge and, if desired, can earn the participant 2 ECTS credits. This course will guide the participant through the process of using service design to solve business problems. It will also show you how it is possible to do this in a rapid and controlled manner. Because this course is available any time and for anyone, it could easily be done in someone’s free time or sponsored by a company with time given to complete the course. Open University For many years, open university courses have been available for anyone to take. This has not changed. In fact, open university courses from different educational institutions are becoming increasingly popular. It is important to note that the ‘open university’ in Finland is not one thing (like it is for example in the UK), each institution has its own version and these must be searched individually on each institution’s own portal. Live Cohort Courses Another way to access knowledge and upskilling opportunities is to join specific offerings through individual projects themselves. The Luovi project is a great example of how individuals and companies or organisations can take part in what is happening in their local UAS. Luovi is a set of trainings and upskilling for individuals working in the creative sector. It covers general working skills but in entrepreneurship, sustainability, digital skills, marketing, and branding. These skills are to support those in the creative sector who need to upskill in these areas. The other benefit of this kind of course is networking. You will get to meet people who are in similar or adjacent fields as yourself and create a community around the skills you learn. This is just one example of this kind of course. Contact the UAS near you to see if there are any courses that you could take part in. Connecting With Classes An additional, yet more informal, way to interact with the UAS expertise is to connect with lecturers of certain classes that are teaching what you are interested in. This can help provide the students with real cases with real organisations. For example, a small company (~6 employees) from the food industry connected with a lecturer in a marketing class to help them to explore some possibilities for market expansion. The company did not have enough staff, expertise, or financial resources to achieve usable results on their own, so they provided the problem to the students and allowed them to work on this real case and provide some real results for the company. Connecting with Collaborative Platforms Metropolia UAS has three innovation hubs which encompass seven collaborative platforms where collaboration is essential. The Hubs cover three thematic areas that are important to the institution: Clean and Sustainable Solutions Smart and Creative City Future Proof Health and Wellbeing Companies or organisations who work in these thematic areas are welcome to contact the Hubs and Collaborative Platforms. More information is available on each of their webpages: Carbon Garage - supports companies with their green transition and bringing sustainability solutions into action. CuWeRe - aims to build a more meaningful cultural wellbeing field in Finland and beyond. Garage - includes the Robo Garage and the AIoT Garage where they offer a physical location, resources, and equipment for quick and longer experiments as well as large-scale implementation projects. Helsinki XR Center - is the largest innovation, development and startup center in the Nordics dedicated to Extended Reality (XR) technologies. Metropolia Workshop - (the Koskelo Workshop) is a flexible project workshop for automotive and mechanical engineering research, development and innovation (RDI) projects. Along with students and expert staff, they can implement projects from small-scale testing to larger projects. SmartLab - this smart home platform allows technologies, interfaces, and practices to be tested and developed and can be used to develop user-friendly solutions that serve housing. Urbanfarmlab - consists of show-room and co-working space as well as controlled indoor farming spaces for technical and other pilots including generating new business models, indoor farming technologies and solutions. There are many different opportunities to collaborate with your local Universities of Applied Sciences as business owners or organisations. You can do small projects, individual professional development, and even larger business and product or service development projects. The first step is to determine what is the scope of the development you are wanting or willing to commit to. Then to search through the University of Applied Sciences website that you want to work with to see what options might be available. There will always be someone on the other end that will help to find the right people to collaborate with. Author Pamela Spokes works as a Service Designer in Metropolia’s RDI team. Originally from Canada, Pamela has years of experience in university admin focusing on international recruitment, marketing, and the international student/staff experience. With a Bachelor’s from Canada, a Master’s degree from Sweden, an MBA in Service Innovation & Design from Laurea, and her AmO from Haaga-Helia, she is interested in purposefully designed experiences that are centred around the user. Don’t be surprised if she knocks on your door to talk about learning co-creation methods through intensive learning experiences.

Around the world, there is a lack of teaching innovation tools and methods in many subjects and we want to help bring innovation closer to anyone interested. In Helsinki capital region, the solution is 10 Days 100 Challenges. This isn’t just an ordinary innovation event where the outcome that you present only on the last day is important. The role of this event is to bring multi-faceted learning to each day. It's a place where you get to learn, make mistakes, regroup and get guidance at any point - all while working with real companies trying to solve real problems. The Innovation Process The participants and the participating companies go through a design process. The company’s role is to provide the participants with one or more real business challenges that they currently have. Challenges that they have not been able to solve in a traditional way or that they are not equipped to solve either because of a lack of time or human resource. The role of the participants is to use the skills they have learned to tackle those real business problems through a defined, understood, and tested process. For this event, we decided to follow a standard Stanford d.school design thinking process (Graphic 1). [caption id="attachment_10746" align="alignnone" width="620"] Graphic 1: The d.school Design Thinking Process (dschool.stanford.edu/resources)[/caption] The process in 5 steps: EMPATHISE = research the customer through various methods; learn who they are and what they do DEFINE = distill what you learned about your customer and define the challenges/pain points they are having IDEATE = co-create possibilities together and have as many ideas as you can, then sift through them and find the good ones PROTOTYPE = take 1, 2, or 3 of those good ideas and build simple prototypes of them and see how they work in reality - iterate what doesn’t work, fail fast, move forward TEST= test the iterated, simple prototypes with real people and in real situations; change what doesn’t work and create something useful It was the job of the participants to follow these steps with the tools and methods they had been taught during the online course. The online course was also available as a resource for them to refer to during the process when/if needed. The visual below was created so that everyone could understand what their role was and how they were expected to be engaging in the process; whether they were participants or company partners. The central line describes the process to be undertaken while the top row explains the participant’s role: complete the online course interviews and review of company data explore real customer problems ideation and concepting building a testable prototype getting real feedback from users creating and delivering a solution pitch The bottom part of the visual is all about what the company partners are expected to do: provide necessary company data be available for questions and coaching the teams when needed listen to the pitches and give feedback [caption id="attachment_10745" align="alignnone" width="594"] Graphic 2: The 10 Days 100 Challenges Overview.[/caption] Teams with mixed levels of knowledge and experience The event starts by bringing diverse groups of students together to learn these tools and methods. This diversity provides some of the first challenge for the students, creating a common language so they can work effectively. Diversity is important because you never know who will be inspired to solve difficult problems in the future. The participants are from Laurea, Haaga-Helia, and Metropolia Universities of Applied Sciences, and at different levels of knowledge and experience with this way of working and are purposefully mixed in their teams because of this. They are also mixed by their study level as some are Bachelor students and some are Master’s students. It is a challenging seven days where students' new knowledge is really put to the test. There are team dynamics to take into consideration, as we try to design the teams on 4 different points: field of study gender institution potential for already knowing the process. Trying to keep all these in balance makes sure that most people are working with people they probably have not worked with (or even know) before. Splitting the Event and the Learning The online course format allowed the students to learn at their own pace and it also allowed students who normally would not have courses in innovation included in their courses to learn and experience a way of working that is considered a life-wide skill. The course was opened on May 2nd The course had to be completed by May 26th On May 27th we could see who had finished the course We let everyone know who should arrive on May 30th. This worked really well and there were no participants that showed up without completing the course. We wanted to make sure that everyone had at least a basic idea of the process that they will be using for this event as there were students from many different faculties from three Universities of Applied Sciences (3UAS). There were two immediate positive outcomes of splitting the event and the learning: The students were able to refer back to the course whenever they needed to refresh their memory about what expected or possible at that stage of the process. We can open up the learning to anyone who wishes to learn about this process. We can also make the learning available to companies and individuals outside of this specific 3UAS collaboration. Developing the Event Concept The 2022 10 Days 100 Challenges Event already had 4 years of history to build on. 2018 - First year, in-person 2019 - Second year, in-person 2020 - Cancelled due to Covid 2021 - Third year, digital event 2022 - Fourth year, in-person Luckily 2022 allowed us to go back to the original concept and use the Helsinki XR Center as our venue. We made a conscious decision to not have a hybrid event as service design and design sprints are much harder to do when teams are split between online and in person. Another difference in 2022, we wanted to reduce the number of in-person days the event ran as 10 full days, in person can be difficult to maintain enthusiasm and also to fit into schedules where the students are potentially starting summer jobs. Especially, as we still are just coming out of the restrictions we have lived through the past 2 years. So, instead of learning and doing at the same time, we created an online course that gathered all the learnings together. This allowed us to reduce the event to seven days, Monday to Friday plus the following Monday and Tuesday. What the Teams Accomplished In the end, we had 13 teams giving final pitches for solutions to the companies that were all different and innovative in their own way. Some teams opted for simple ppt presentations, some used role play, and some incorporated their prototypes into their pitch. These different methods of presentation represented new skills the students had learned and also getting outside of their comfort zone. More challenges had been overcome. The beauty in innovation events like this, is that people are open to trying so many new things. As they battle through the 100 Challenges of the event, they get outside of their comfort zone every day. The event took place on May 30 - June 6 at Metropolia’s Helsinki XR Center - Arabia Campus. Read more on 10D100C website.

The construction industry is one of the nation's most important prominent socio-economic drivers. It guides the built environment we work and live in. The built environment has a vast and direct impact on our day-to-day life as it is the context for every single human activity. Technological developments have reshaped how construction projects are handled. New tools and processes have influenced how we design, construct and operate facilities and infrastructures. Data-driven construction approaches and digitalization in construction projects are popular today. They provide the possibilities of wider collaboration not only among the project stakeholders but also as a tool for direct participation for the end users of the facility. A bilateral relationship between the people working in the construction industry and the local government's policymakers is crucial to fostering inclusiveness. Creating an inclusive community will aid in promoting unity among the diverse population. It is a key to build a shared vision that hinges on the acceptance of vibrancy and contrast of societies to utilize the strengths of the diverse community. Digitalization is the new era of empowering people The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the global economy in profound ways. Nevertheless, if we look at the positive impacts of the pandemic, it has transformed the way an industry works for the better in the long run. At first, changing the work mode from going to the offices to online meetings and working from home seemed challenging to adopt not just for the employee but also for employers. Moreover, the transformation extended beyond the offices into the real world, evolving and digitalizing people's daily lives. Inclusive research, development and innovation (RDI) and Digital Living Labs contribute significantly to these dimensions of digitalization. Inclusive RDI in this framework is the key to enable stakeholder participation as partners in all phases of the RDI processes. Additionally, digital living lab(s) provide easy to use and accessible digital (and/or physical) platform(s). These aid the participation and collaboration through participatory research partnership, support co-creation and appropriation of innovations. A construction project is collaborative in nature as the tasks and activities are divided into different specializations and many organizations. Today, the construction projects and stakeholders incorporate data-driven approaches, tools and activities for the built facility's design, development, construction, and operation. The centralized data, collaborative network and technology itself and its parallel associates such as artificial intelligence, robotics, and IoT based smart systems, are key target areas of investments in research and development. They support strategic governance and the transition to digital construction methodologies and processes. Participatory approaches in construction projects Construction projects and their successful planning and implementation require a wide range of collaboration. Model-based information tools and environments provide direct participation possibilities today. Such a common platform for information sharing and collaboration is known as Common Data Environment (CDE). CDE is an “agreed source of information for any given project or asset for collecting, managing and disseminating each information container through a managed process” (ISO 19650-1:2019) (Figure 1). [caption id="attachment_10648" align="alignnone" width="529"] Figure 1: Common Data Environment Concept (ISO 19650-1:2019)[/caption] Information content and its development during the various stages of the project needs intensive collaboration between the project stakeholders. Inclusion of the indirect participants like the end users of the facilities as well as residents of the area is important. It provides the opportunities for social inclusion where everyone’s voice is heard. Reciprocity, openness of data and the usefulness of the activity for everyone involved is at the digital environment's core. CDE environments enable participation and collection of the opinions of such user groups. It allows the indirect participants to participate in the development actively. Such environments also provide an accessible and easy to use tool to know and understand the project through different 3D model-based environments. It can as well be used to give a real time update about the impact of the project in the day-to-day life of the residents (Figure 2). [caption id="attachment_10656" align="alignnone" width="620"] Figure 2. Screenshot of a virtual street model with commenting feature (Jäväjä et al, 2013)[/caption] The challenge is, however, to enable stakeholders' participation throughout the RDI process as equal partners, and not only as informants for the researchers and developers. Sustainable well-being in the construction projects The EU diversifies its focus through sustainable development goals and sustainability in the construction industry is one of the key focuses. While the construction industry alone is responsible for 20% of the global energy consumption and approximately one-third of energy-related CO2 emissions; our built environment utilizes the world’s 40% of energy, 50% of natural resources and contributes to 40% of carbon dioxide emissions (WEF, 2016). Ecological sustainability is considered as the basis for achieving social and economic sustainability goals. The transformational change for the policy development for an integrated approach to Agenda 2030 demands the conventional growth to be replaced by policies that prioritizes welfare and wellbeing and puts ecological and social objects at the forefront of policy making. While the environmental impacts of the construction industry are huge, socio-cultural impacts are very minorly focused in such developments. Building Information Modeling (BIM) provides virtual design Model based tools, applications and processes commonly known today as Building Information Modeling (BIM) provides the ability for virtual design and construction prior to the construction of the actual infrastructure. BIM provides a way to check its constructability aspects prior to the actual construction possibilities and tools in making informed decisions for creating a better outcome that can minimize waste of resources, optimize energy and help achieve passive design strategies and achieve sustainable solutions based on the set strategies. These include energy efficient building, comfortable spaces and so on. While these tools have diversified use for the direct construction project participants, these also support inclusion and participation of the indirect stakeholders and consistently works towards developing innovative solutions to achieve smart living, social wellbeing, and sustainable cities. An ideal scenario for attaining the projected vision is to utilize digital platforms where stakeholders can collaborate on future interventions to deliver better user experiences based on refined data and through the common data environment that has the potential to be developed as a daily life digilab throughout the life cycle of the built environment (Figure 3). [caption id="attachment_10665" align="alignnone" width="589"] Figure 3: Extended CDE; modified from Adrian Burgess (2016)[/caption] Introducing the interactive model through the CDE implementation will help include all the stakeholders from the inception of an idea until its lifecycle that provides the potential in creation of a positive wellbeing of all. Such an inception would help in: active participation and inclusion of all the direct and indirect participants use digital tools to virtually explore the proposed solutions easy collection, review, and dissemination of the information for perceived benefits analyze the potential impact of the proposed development on the everyday life activities and in terms of sustainability aspects. Conclusion: creating a Common Data Environment (CDE) ecosystem The main challenge of ensuring all people in a society are included can be solved by creating a CDE ecosystem that promotes and sustains participatory co-research, development and innovation activities. Metropolia University of Applied Sciences is currently co-developing a 'Daily Life Digital Lab (DigiLab)' platform as a part of the inclusive ecosystem concept to support stakeholder engagement and collaboration. External stakeholders can participate in the different phases of a construction project and contribute to the final product's concept, design, and implementation. Moreover, DigiLab will make the information exchange between external and internal stakeholders more accessible by bringing both parties on a common platform. Consequently, internal stakeholders will have the opportunity to evaluate the ideas set forth by external stakeholders, which will have a positive impact on the overall project throughout its lifecycle. Inclusive and participatory approaches amongst the stakeholders through the digital tools and platforms will enable the participation and engagement to co-create the sustainable built-environment that is accepted by the majority, if not by all. Authors Sunil Suwal (MSc. Construction and Real Estate Management) works as a Lecturer at Metropolia University of Applied Sciences. Manika Bajracharya, Sharmaa Devi Muthusami, Vipul Agrawal are Construction and Real Estate Management professionals, and students of ConREM, Metropolia. References Adrian Burgess (2016), Demystifying the Common Data Environment (pbctoday.co.uk) ISO 19650-1:2019, Organization and digitization of information about buildings and civil engineering works, including building information modelling (BIM). Information management using building information modelling. Part 1: Concepts and principles (ISO 19650-1:2018) Suwal, S., Laukkanen, M., Jäväjä, P., Häkkinen, T., & Kubicki, S. (2019, August). BIM and Energy Efficiency training requirement for the construction industry. In IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science (Vol. 297, No. 1, p. 012037). IOP Publishing. WEF -World Economic Forum. (2016). Shaping the Future of Construction: A Breakthrough in Mindset and Technology. Cologny, Switzerland: World Economic Forum Jäväjä, P., Suwal, S., Porkka, J., & Jung, N. (2013, June). Enhancing customer orientation in construction industry by means of new technology. In 7th Nordic Conference on Construction Economics and Organisation 2013 (pp. 215-226). About the project Sustainable well-being is created together in participatory RDI partnership The blog post is related with a RDI project called “HYTKE - Creating wellbeing in daily life through inclusive RDI”. HYTKE project aims to build an inclusive RDI culture across the Metropolia organization and networks, improve access and competence to RDI participation for a wider range of stakeholders and embed participation and accessible technology more comprehensively in RDI projects. Inclusive RDI is at the core of Metropolia’s strategy 2030 and focuses to generate positive societal impact by strengthening its role as an enabler of participation, everyday wellbeing and holistically sustainable RDI culture and solutions with a multidisciplinary approach.