Our U!REKA Moment: Co-Creating Sustainability Education Across Urban European Contexts

As part of the U!REKA European University Alliance, we co-created joint study modules to foster collaboration across institutions. This summary highlights key steps and challenges in the process. U!REKA unites urban universities of applied sciences from Amsterdam, Vienna, Edinburgh, Frankfurt, Ghent, Odessa, Lisbon, Helsinki (Metropolia), and Ostrava.

The alliance accelerates the transition to climate-neutral, smart cities through shared education, research, development, and innovation. It offers students and stakeholders rich opportunities to learn and co-create sustainable urban solutions across Europe.

Creating collaboratively, while remaining sane!

The 1 ECTS Sustainability in the Urban European Context module was co-created to share and apply our collective expertise in urban sustainability. The U!REKA European university is an alliance of urban applied universities located in different parts of Europe. The alliance aims to accelerate the transition to climate-neutral and smart cities through joint education, research, development, and innovation activities.

As outlined in the grant application, we committed to embedding at least one short-term sustainability course into the curricula of all U!REKA SHIFT full partner universities. This ensures that every student, regardless of their field, gains essential sustainability knowledge and skills.

Beyond content, the module fosters a shared student identity across the alliance, helping learners feel part of a broader European community, not just their home institution. As illustrated in Figure 1, the teaching team was organized into eight co-creative subgroups of 2–3 members. This structure enabled focused content development while minimizing the burden of implementation and technical logistics.

The development process unfolded in several phases:

• October–November 2024: Defined and titled the key topical areas.
• December 2024–January 2025: Established the module scope, assessment methods, essential content, and working groups.
• February–April 2025: Created topical learning outcomes, shared materials, and explored city-specific case studies.
• Moodle Framework: The module structure was built during this phase.
• April–May 2025: Content was returned to Metropolia for integration into Moodle. Due to a curriculum renewal deadline, Metropolia agreed to host and pilot the first implementation in Autumn 2025.
• May–June 2025: Final content was inserted, arranged, and approved by the main team.

A key challenge was aligning the course with existing sustainability content already present at each university.

Why a candy store?

We framed the module using a ‘candy store’ metaphor: positioned at the bachelor’s level degree, it serves as a gateway to diverse sustainability topics. Students at the entrance can sample introductory “sweets” and glimpse discipline-specific “candies” for deeper study later. The module’s added value lies in its international cases and European context, often missing from locally developed courses.

Challenges

While the process was inspiring, it also brought real challenges. According to Wright et al. (2022, 14), collaboration across institutions isn’t instinctive — it must be cultivated. Time pressure was a factor, especially for one partner undergoing a curriculum update; they piloted the module first, allowing others to refine materials based on feedback. Limited resources meant teachers often worked beyond their regular duties, prompting Metropolia to launch a Seed Fund to support cross-departmental efforts.

Research shows that digital transitions introduce multifaceted complexity — not only technical, but also social and cultural (Buonocore et al. (2024, 7-8); Kohnke, O. (2017, 78-79). Users are often unaware of the broader implications, such as shifts in power and expertise, the digital divide, and potential exclusion. This was evident in feedback from some incoming international students, who expressed discomfort with technology or language, highlighting the often-assumed neutrality of digital tools.

Team dynamics varied: while some embraced co-creation, others were concerned about top-down approaches that might reduce teacher autonomy. To address this, the module was designed to be flexible — usable as a standalone course or integrated into existing ones, online or with teacher facilitation.

Structural challenges also emerged, as implementing the module across disciplines proved difficult despite a unified curriculum. Finally, large-scale collaboration with municipalities posed more complexity than working with focused, goal-driven companies.

Reflections and realities

Our experiences aligned with the challenge themes identified by Aldoayan et al. (2019, 19), illustrated in Fig. 2 below. The only area where we didn’t encounter issues was ownership, as the course is collectively owned by the Alliance.

Each partner university faced unique technical, cultural, administrative, and operational challenges. Without a shared Virtual Learning Environment, materials had to be hosted separately on each institution’s platform.

Our team worked to balance enjoyable, productive collaboration with the delivery of tangible outputs that support student learning and professionalism, all while navigating the technical systems of our respective institutions. When introducing the module to teaching staff, we emphasized its role as a general, bachelor’s level introductory course designed to raise students’ awareness of sustainability and the green and digital transitions in the urban European context early in their studies.

The content is intentionally broad yet relevant, offering just enough insight to spark curiosity for deeper learning. Engineering and business students may connect more with technical, economic, or ecological aspects, while social and healthcare students often engage with the social dimensions. The module lays a common foundation, with discipline-specific competencies developed in later coursework. See comments from initial student feedback:

“The course also had an international section on sustainable development, which taught me a lot. I was surprised that I had not heard of these projects in the countries I visit often.”

“Case studies from real European cities made the concept of sustainability more relatable.”

“Because I was an international student and my country did not care about sustainability as much as EU countries, so this course helped me understand the European mindset and how important sustainability is.”

Cities as partners

Cities and universities are key partners in our work. We prepare students to address regional needs, especially those of municipalities. While private sector collaboration is common, cities are less often seen as active partners — a perception that varies by discipline and merits closer attention.

Espoo and Ghent offer strong examples of how universities of applied sciences collaborate with local governments within the U!REKA Alliance. As part of this module each city provided concrete examples of how sustainability was being addressed in their urban context.

Ghent shared climate informatics showing concrete targets as well as two cases. The first, NEREUS project focuses on closing the cycle between apartments, a school, café and bike shop, making it the first circular district in Flanders. The second examples is the non-profit Bicyclair which focuses on food waste being processed into biogas, producing green energy.

Espoo is a key partner in co-learning and addressing global sustainability challenges. Beyond research, our collaboration emphasizes co-creation and human-centered approaches. Together, we’ve developed project proposals that combine technology with a deep understanding of human needs.

A highlight is the U!REKA sustainability course, which aims to strengthen sustainability education in Espoo, especially among students. City case studies help students connect with their local environment and inspire sustainable habits. The course also supports Espoo’s reflection on its own sustainability practices.

Espoo contributed two cases:

• Carbon Neutral District Heating, using recycled waste heat.
• SPARCS Lighthouse City, testing energy and mobility solutions with community input.

Conclusions and lessons learned

The Sustainability in the Urban European Context module reflects our commitment to preparing students for the realities of climate-neutral, smart cities. Aspiration alone isn’t enough, future professionals need the knowledge and mindset to drive meaningful change.

Through the U!REKA Alliance, we’ve reached a broad student audience and created real impact. Scaling this effort, however, presents challenges, especially in aligning diverse institutional contexts and resources. Sharing our process and best practices can help other universities replicate and expand the impact. Flexibility is key: institutions must adapt the module to fit national and disciplinary frameworks. As an introductory course, it lays the groundwork for deeper sustainability learning throughout students’ academic journeys.

Cities are more than stakeholders, they’re co-creators. Collaborations with Espoo and Ghent show how municipalities and universities can jointly support the twin transition through new working models like internships and lifelong learning. A key enabler was appointing an external lead to drive early development with clarity and momentum.

Ultimately, this initiative has reinforced the importance of collaboration, adaptability, and shared purpose in sustainability education. By continuing to learn from each other, and from our cities, we can build impactful, future-oriented learning experiences that prepare students to lead in a climate-neutral Europe.

Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or [name of the granting authority]. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.

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