Master's Course

Our Master’s course Challenges for Emerging Cities (15 or 7,5 Credits) is an interdisciplinary project course based on challenge driven innovation. You will learn and apply Design Thinking in order to develop solutions and innovations to a given societal challenge, on behalf of an external public sector client. You will work in teams with students from different universities, disciplines and backgrounds.

The course is provided by Openlab’s four partner universities Stockholm University, Karolinska Institutet, Södertörn University and KTH Royal Institute of Technology, in collaboration, with challenges from the Stockholm City and Region Stockholm.

We provide a hands-on course that teaches design methods, project management and teamwork skills that will be valuable for your future work or academic studies. All this while you create solutions with the potential drive societal development in the fields of sustainable urban development, health, education and the ageing population.

Learning goals:

• Learn and apply design methods and tools (Design Thinking) to create innovative solutions to societal challenges
• Learn and apply project management methods and tools (SCRUM) to an innovation project
• Solve challenges on behalf of an external public sector client
• Analyse complex societal challenges from an interdisciplinary and needs-based perspective
• Develop skills for working in interdisciplinary, international teams
• Develop skills for presenting an innovation or concept, verbally, visually and in text, such as sketches, prototypes, pitches, presentations and reports
• Develop a creative, visual, problem-solving mindset towards approaching challenges
• Develop and evaluate ideas for innovations with the potential to create lasting benefits and value or a specific target group

Start period: Period 1
Level: Master
Study pace: 50 %
Daytime: Tuesdays and Thursdays
Language: English
Qualifications: 180 credits
Location: Openlab, Stockholm (Valhallavägen 79, 3rd floor)