Taru Konst
Taru Konst (Lic. Sc., M. Sc.) works as a principal lecturer and as an expert in the development of education at Turku University of Applied Sciences. She has substantial experience in the development and research of learning and teaching, and in particular innovation pedagogy, as well as international education projects. Taru Konst’s current research interest is the development of education as a contributor to a sustainable future. Among her most recent publications is the work “Sustainable development in higher education”.
Sustainable Higher Education Pedagogy
The sustainability crisis brings needs for change to everyone. Higher education institutions in Finland have also taken up the challenge by publishing their own sustainable development and accountability programmes in 2020.
But what does the drive toward a sustainable future mean in higher education pedagogy, and where does the need for change rise? What is sustainable higher education like? What characterizes sustainable education pedagogy? What kind of changes are needed in higher education pedagogy and how can they be implemented? Konst´s presentation covers these issues and outlines the steps towards sustainable higher education pedagogy.
Alf Rehn
Alf Rehn is a globally noted thought leader in innovation, trends, and creativity. He is a sought- after speaker, an author and a columnist, as well as a well-regarded commentator on leadership and organizational culture. He has held the Chair of Management and Organization at Åbo Akademi University in Finland, a professorship of innovation and entrepreneurship at the Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden, and is currently a professor of innovation, design, and management at the University of Southern Denmark. His research has spanned numerous fields and has been published in top academic journals as well as in a series of bestselling books, challenging preconceived notions and provoking thought across the world.
Alf has written 19 books, among which we find Dangerous Ideas: When Provocative Thinking Becomes Your Most Valuable Asset (translated into 8 different languages), a bestselling book on creativity for people who do not like books on creativity.
In his book The Paradoxes of Leadership (available in Finnish and Swedish) published in 2018, Alf tackles the contradictions that reside in the role of the leader – why there’s not one right way to lead and why this isn’t a problem.
His book, Innovation for the Fatigued (2019), focuses on innovation, the threats that face it and what we can do about it: How innovation fatigue afflicts organizations, why the innovation industry is complicit in this, what we can do to design innovation cultures, and why respect and inclusion are critical for innovation.
Irene Sheridan
Professor Irene Sheridan is founder and head of the Extended campus and leader of the Enterprise Engagement and Experiential Learning Research Group in Munster Technological University (MTU). Her background is in electronic engineering and she has worked for almost a decade in electronics design and manufacturing roles before entering academia.
As head of the Extended Campus, Irene is responsible for stimulating and supporting all forms of interaction with public, private and not-for-profit organisations large and small, and has developed customer relationship and case management systems to assist in the codification and mapping of engagement. The work has resulted in a number of publications focusing on the interface between academia and enterprise and the validation of experiential learning.
Irene is a vice-chair of the of the ACEEU (Accreditation Council for Engaged and Entrepreneurial Universities) and a Board Member of the Quality and Qualifications Authority Ireland (QQI). She is an expert in the evaluation of Erasmus+ projects and as the Irish partner for the State of University-Business Cooperation (UBC) in Europe Project.