Humanities Students as Co-Creators of Sustainability-Oriented Innovation: Connecting Humanities Expertise with Real-World Sustainability Challenges

As part of the Climate Engine project, Humak University of Applied Sciences brought together humanities students and three Tampere-based technology companies—Alleco, EPSE, and Loopshore—to co-develop sustainability-oriented solutions to real business challenges.

Over the course of three workshops, 10 students followed a structured innovation process that guided them from understanding company challenges to ideation and the development of concrete concept proposals. Rather than working on hypothetical case studies, students addressed actual challenges identified by the participating companies, collaborating directly with company representatives and receiving feedback based on real business expectations.

The resulting concepts combined creativity with practical application, including clearly defined user groups, value propositions, and implementation ideas. A distinctive feature of the process was the humanistic perspective students brought to technical challenges, integrating themes such as accessibility, inclusion, communication clarity, and social responsibility into their proposed solutions.

Each company received a concept tailored to its specific business context. For Alleco, students developed a water quality sensor and application concept designed to make monitoring local water environments more accessible and support proactive environmental decision-making. For EPSE Oy, the team proposed an interactive web platform that increases visibility by communicating environmental impact through the visualisation of global water purification results and circular economy benefits. For Loopshore, students created "Kodinhenki", a consumer-oriented indoor air quality solution combining a portable device with a mobile application that provides real-time guidance to improve wellbeing and energy efficiency.

Although no formal follow-up activities have been documented, company representatives actively engaged with the concepts and provided feedback on their relevance and feasibility. The proposals offered practical directions for future product, service, and communication development, particularly by strengthening user-oriented and sustainability-focused value propositions.

How Climate Engine Contributed

Climate Engine provided the framework that enabled structured collaboration between higher education institutions, students, and companies. The project established the institutional partnerships and company engagement necessary to create a credible environment for co-creation.

The project also supported the facilitation and methodology underpinning the innovation process. Humak University of Applied Sciences guided the activities through a pedagogical approach, while Savonia University of Applied Sciences contributed additional expertise. Together, this created value for both students and companies by combining experiential learning with the development of practical, business-relevant ideas.

The process concluded with students presenting their concepts at Climate Engine's international Innovation Day, connecting local collaboration to the wider project community.

Outcomes and Impact

The initiative resulted in structured sustainability-oriented concept proposals for three technology companies while providing students with practical experience in innovation, collaboration, and professional problem-solving.

Students strengthened their innovation skills, increased their professional confidence, and gained first-hand experience of working in multi-stakeholder environments. At the same time, the collaboration reinforced connections between higher education and industry in the Tampere region and demonstrated the value that humanities-based expertise can bring to technology-driven innovation, particularly when addressing complex sustainability challenges.

The project also established a replicable model for practice-based education, enabling students to actively contribute to innovation rather than studying it solely in theory. Participant feedback reflected this shift, with students describing the experience as moving beyond completing assignments for assessment towards developing ideas with genuine relevance and implementation potential.

Supporting materials

Learn more about the initiative through the Humak blog series:

Our humanities students in technology companies, Part 1: What is this all about? - Humak 

Our humanities students in technology companies, Part 2: Student experiences - Humak 

Our Humanities Students in Technology Companies – Blog Series Part 3. Collaboration Through Companies’ Eyes