Elements of AI is an online module that you can do at any time and in any pace at [https://www.elementsofai.com/](https://www.elementsofai.com/). The module is a self study module of the online material and is examined through self correcting and peer reviewed exercises. When you have completed Elements of AI you can register to this module to get your results validated. To verify that you have really taken the online course, you have to upload your certificate from Elements of AI and do a validation test with questions similar to the ones in the online module. For more information see the following website: [ETE318 Elements of AI - Course Information.](https://www.ida.liu.se/~ETE318/info/courseinfo.en.shtml)

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Linkoping University

Elements of AI

What is AI? Learn more about the basics and core concepts of artificial intelligence.

Entrepreneurship, technology and innovation

Critical and innovative thinking

Media and information literacy

One of the challenges of our time is the pressure our societies face as the climate changes and the Earth's resources must suffice for both humans and animals. To prepare future generations, schools and other educational institutions must collaborate with society to create authentic contexts and help pupils build competences such as problem-solving and teamwork.  

In this challenge, you will work with the [Skattkammarön school](https://www.skattkammaron.com/) in Norrköping to explore how environmental and sustainability education can happen out-of-classroom, in the school's local environment, and in collaboration with various stakeholders and organisations that approach sustainability from different angles.   

Skattkammarön is an innovative “In Rain and Shine” school, teaching outdoors all year round. They need your help to design new and creative way to develop their environmental and sustainability education in the surrounding urban and natural environment. The teachers at Skattkammarön include several learning arenas in their out-of-classroom teaching. They visit venues such as museums, science centres, the district court and churches, while the forest is within walking distance, and a zoological garden just a short drive away.   

Your task is to propose new ways the school and city stakeholders can work together to provide children and youth engaging and relevant environmental and sustainability education. You will plan and motivate learning activities that are creative and involve several societal actors.  

You will work in small groups under the guidance of a teamcher. At the end of the challenge each group will present their ideas of a tentative teaching activity or module. The final assignment is a written description of the project.

a person and a boy in the woods looking at a paper

Beyond classroom walls: sustainability education in a changing world

Connecting Classrooms with Communities

Resilient communities

Energy and sustainability

Intra-personal skills

There is a lack of representation of children in cultural heritage institutions, particularly museums. Children's own cultural production, experiences, and life stories are seldom collected, recorded, preserved, or displayed.

To address this, the theoretical and analytical concept of children’s cultural heritage takes centre stage in this micro-module. Our starting point is that all children have the right to participate in culture and cultural heritage. We will delve into issues regarding the representation of children and children’s culture at cultural heritage institutions, especially museums.

One cluster of issues discussed includes the politics and ethics of representing children in archival collections and museum exhibitions. Another cluster concerns the conditions for children’s engagement as museum visitors and suggestions for improving museum practices.

In addition to online lectures and seminars, the micro-module includes an individual visit to either a physical or online museum. This visit is required as preparation for the online examining seminar and the written report.

This micro-module will broaden the horizons of any student and we will be happy to welcome participants from a wide range of backgrounds, especially if you have an interest in children, culture, heritage, design, communication, and democratic and inclusive social institutions.

Children´s cultural heritage at museums

Thinking critically about preservation and display of children's past and future

Global citizenship

**Module content**

This micro-module aims to introduce practical AI, focusing on basic machine learning. The goal is to understand how to build AI systems using machine learning, gain insight into the possibilities and limitations of the technology, and to get an overview of common methods for machine learning.

**Module outline**

Elements of AI, Part 2: Building AI is an online module that you can take at your own pace. Simply go to the following website and start the course after you've been admitted: [https://buildingai.elementsofai.com/](https://buildingai.elementsofai.com/).

The micro-module is based on self-study and is examined with self-correcting tests and submissions. If you have completed the online module Elements of AI, Part 2: Building AI with advanced honors, you can have your results validated. This includes a validation test with questions similar to those found in Elements of AI, Part 2: Building AI. For more information see the module's info page: [Elements of AI, Part 2: Building AI](https://www.ida.liu.se/~ETE337/info/courseinfo.en.shtml).

a person wearing a mask and standing in front of a large blackboard

Elements of AI, Part 2: Building AI

Learn about the practical methods that make artificial intelligence a reality

The micro-module deals with ethical questions that rise from the development of more and more sophisticated autonomous systems. Questions of what requirements and standards we should hold technology to, and why. What kind of agents are artificial systems, and can they be considered moral agents? Can they be ascribed any moral responsibility at all? And where should the main responsibility for artificial intelligence (AI) be placed and why?

The micro-module focuses on three main areas of moral relevance for autonomous systems and AI:

1. Responsibility for decisions made by artificial agents.
2. Bias/discrimination as a result of AI use.
3. The importance of participation in the development of AI systems.

During this micro-module, students are provided theoretical tools for reflection on the development of AI, requirements that ought to be made regarding this technology and how it ought to be managed in society.

graphical user interface, text, chat or text message

Ethics of Artificial Intelligence

Ethical questions about technology and AI

Inter-personal skills

As smartphones and similar devises have become ubiquitous in our society, they present a unique and unforeseen opportunity for telemedicine, remote monitoring and the empowerment of individuals to engage and better manage their own health. These devises are, in essence, handheld computers that can access several sensors and sources that are similar/analogous to components used in current and emerging optical medical devices.  However, relative to these medical devices, smartphone components are limited in performance and range as they were optimised for other tasks uses.

This micro-module will introduce students to several optical methods employed (or emerging) in medical screening and monitoring and how these principles “could be” implemented using or modifying smartphone technologies currently available. These techniques and concepts will be approached at a general (empirical) level, consistent with the students´ current competence and diverse discipline backgrounds.

Also, ethical questions will be discussed, such as whether the consequences of reducing costs and increasing access to these techniques can meet these actual needs and demands of all individuals in the greater society. The challenge for the students is to develop a basic understanding and vocabulary to describe how this may be achieved and whether these devices are “good enough” to make a positive impact.

The popular science orientation makes the micro-module useful for students of not only technical but also humanistic disciplines. Supplemental materials will also be provided for more advanced students to explore independently beyond the scope of this generalised micro-module offering.

The following topics are covered:

- How light can be used to access both tissue function and structure in the context of detecting disease and/or monitor health in a broad population.
- The principles of operation of technologies within smartphones and smart devices, including discussions on what tasks they have been optimized and how that can differ from the needs of a medical device.
- The challenges and ethical considerations when developing a medical device that would perform equivalently across a diverse population, ranging over different skin pigmentations, ages, obesity, health status, genders, etc

Health in Your Hands - Smartphones as Medical Devices: when is simple, too simple?

Exploring the Promise and Pitfalls of Digital Health Tools

#### **Module content**

Dive into the world of AI with this micro-module that explores its implications for business and society. You will master the art of crafting precise questions to delve into various challenges posed by AI's increasing presence. You will get some hands-on experience with AI tools and broaden your horizons by exploring fresh perspectives on specific AI-related issues in business and society. By the end, you will immerse yourself into a specific challenge, which not only you will formulate, but you will also outline creative solutions for it.

#### Module outline

AI in Business and Society is a flexible online module that you can take at your own pace, based on guided self-study. The module takes you on a learning safari where you navigate through AI’s multifaceted implications by taking you through a background of AI, experiential exercises, and a knowledge excursion. The module involves iterative outlining and detailing a challenge related to AI in business and society of your choice. Ultimately, you will develop a design for a potential solution to the identified challenge. The micro-module is examined based on your ‘safari chronicles’; a reflective portfolio that you create during your learning safari in this micro-module.

Earth surrounded by symbols fro AI, society and business 

AI in business and society

Embark on a Learning Safari – Exploring and Harnessing the Potential and Risks of Artificial Intelligence in Business and Society

Healthcare quality has improved as a result of the development of new technologies, treatments and disease understanding. However, these developments come with increasing costs and resource demands that many healthcare systems struggle to manage. This leads to limited access to such advancements and the creation of socioeconomic, geographic and demographic barriers. 

Most deadly diseases can be treated and cured if detected early enough. Early-stage detection and interventions are typically low-cost and have minimal impact on the patient´s life quality. Unfortunately, many people realise their condition too late.  

Two Swedish startups – [Neko Health AB](https://www.nekohealth.com/se/en) and Sund Medical Decisions AB- are working with Linköping University to develop new clinical screening and health monitoring technologies. Their goal is the identification of risky individual behaviours and early-stage detection of diseases, enabling low cost and impact interventions. Sceptics believe that preventative care would merely shift increasing healthcare costs from sick to healthy individuals. Neko and Sund want to address these concerns by employing novel, low-cost and widely accessible technologies. 

Smartphones are now everywhere and offer unique opportunities for innovation. Equipped with cameras, microphones, speakers, LEDs and other sensors, they have the potential to be the base components for medical devices. This has sparked an explosion of research efforts in the “low-resource settings” arena, where the goal is to create healthcare tools that are available to everyone, regardless location or income.

**Your challenge**

In this challenge you will be tasked to develop a smartphone-based medical screening/monitoring tool using optical technologies. You will create an accessible, low-cost prototype for home or remote use that helps individuals understand and manage their health. The performance limitations of such devices will also have to be taken into account, when developing your solution.

By bringing together an international and interdisciplinary group of students, this challenge looks to integrate the diverse perspectives necessary to address global health inequalities. Students from all backgrounds will work together to ensure that the solutions are inclusive, culturally sensitive and technically robust, maximising real-world impact.

Health in Your Hands - Innovating Smartphone-Based, Photonic Diagnostics for All

What if your smartphone could help save lives?

We live in a complex world where many different overlapping perspectives of what it means to live a sustainable life.  Addressing sustainability issues means in brief, questioning the complex interconnections of environmental, social, and economic aspects and envisioning future solutions. Depending on where we are on the planet, sustainability issues can take very different shapes, which is why it is interesting to explore various places in relation to sustainability. How are global preoccupations reflected in local realities? How can connections with places empower individuals to address sustainability issues?   

Education plays a crucial role in discussing how we all can contribute to a sustainable future. In this micro-module, you will learn more about what sustainability education entails, and how to connect it with local landscapes and places. What are the competences that pupils need to develop for dealing with the complexity of sustainability issues  in our society of today? How can outdoor education contribute to fostering such competences?    

During the seminars, we will discuss pedagogical approaches that focus on how learning can depart from/be integrated with places in our surroundings, examine theories that delve into our relation to places, urban as well as natural, and connect these approaches to sustainability education. The students of the micro-module are invited to explore their own surroundings  and discuss their potential for contributing to education for sustainability. 

The micro-module addresses environmental and sustainability education generally, with a special focus on literature that highlights human relationships to their surroundings. Theories about human-place relationships and place-based education will be covered, as well as how these can be applied in one's own teaching practice or other relevant contexts.

Exploring places for learning about sustainability

Learning beyond the classroom walls

This micro-module introduces learners to the key concepts and tools used to improve traffic safety in urban environments. You will learn how to analyse accident data, identify high-risk areas in cities, and apply proactive methods to assess traffic risks before accidents occur.

The micro-module is divided into three parts:

- Understanding Accidents: explore the causes of traffic accidents and how data can reveal patterns and solutions.
- Pre-Accident Observation Methods: learn how to use techniques like the Swedish Traffic Conflict Technique and Risk Assessment Matrix to spot danger zones.
- Urban Safety & Planning: dive into how road design and traffic calming measures can protect vulnerable road users and improve mobility for all.

The micro-module includes lectures, group work, and a final seminar presentation.  

The group work concerns a real-world case study, analysing a location in a city and proposing safety improvements based on Swedish and international guidelines.   

**Case study: Pre-Accident Traffic Observation Methods**  

Road traffic accidents do not happen very often, and many are not reported or registered in the national traffic accidents reports. This makes it hard to tell if a place is truly dangerous just by looking only at historical accident record last 5-10 years. Waiting for years to collect enough accident data is not only slow but also raises ethical concerns: do we really have to wait for more people to get hurt before making changes? That is why we need ways to spot risks before accidents happen. This case-study engages learner teams in assessing real-world road infrastructure in chosen existing location(s) in a city based on challenges, best practices and different guidelines from Sweden and internationally. Teams will apply mainly Traffic Risk Assessment Matrix and/or the Swedish Traffic Conflict Technique to quantify traffic risks and identify problem areas that affect various road user groups. Teams will also select and assess existing Traffic Calming Measures and analyse their effects on chosen road user groups.

Fundamentals of Traffic Safety

Discover the science behind safer streets

Transport and Mobility

Every country faces unique road safety challenges, and the need for innovative, data-driven solutions has never been greater. In this challenge you will work in a small international team to design a realistic and sustainable National Road Safety Programme (NRSP) for a selected country, with a strong focus on Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS).  

You’ll begin by analysing accident data and identifying key safety issues in your chosen country. Drawing inspiration from Sweden’s Vision Zero and your own national experiences, you will propose ITS solutions to reduce accidents and fatalities over the next 10 years.  

The challenge includes expert lectures, real-world insights from Trafikverket (Swedish Transport Administration), and collaborative group work. You’ll present your final proposal in a seminar and act as peer reviewers for another team’s project.

National Road Safety Programme and ITS

Towards safer roads with smart solutions

Cells are the basic units of life and disease, and modern microscopy makes it possible to image them in their native tissue context across thousands of patients. The bottleneck is no longer image acquisition — it is the reliable, reproducible, quantitative analysis of those images. This challenge places students in the middle of that bottleneck and asks them to help break through it.

The challenge is offered jointly by [PioneeBio AB](https://pioneerbio.se/), and it builds directly on the ECIU micromodule “AI-based biomedical image analysis for cell segmentation”. While the micromodule introduces the methodology (classical segmentation, U-Net, Cellpose, and quantitative evaluation) on curated benchmark data, the challenge confronts students with a real biomedical imaging dataset and an open clinical question.

Working with anonymised specular-microscopy images of the corneal endothelium (provided by PioneerBio AB in collaboration with the Ophthalmology clinic in Linköping, student teams segment endothelial cells and compare quantitative readouts — endothelial cell density (ECD), cell area, polymegethism (CV of area), and hexagonality (pleomorphism) — between distinct patient groups. The biological question framing the work: does AI-derived morphometry detect subclinical stress signatures of the corneal endothelium that are not visible to the eye?

The challenge is deliberately scoped to be tractable in five weeks: the heavy AI engineering (training infrastructure, pre-trained models, etc) is already provided by PioneerBio AB on a dedicated NVIDIA GPU server at the LiU Valla data centre. Students focus on the scientific reasoning — choosing models, designing the comparison, validating the output, and interpreting the result — which is exactly the skill set the next generation of biomedical scientists and clinicians will need.

Teams work online during weeks 1–2 and 4–5, and meet face-to-face for an intensive on-site week at LiU Campus US in Linköping (week 3). The on-site week includes guest lectures from the clinical provider, a microscopy lab visit, hands-on debugging, and team coaching from the teachers. The challenge concludes with a written report and a public oral presentation to the challenge provider and an invited audience.

**Challenge provider:**

[PioneerBio AB](https://pioneerbio.se/) — a Linköping University AI spin-out (registered 2024) that develops a GPU-accelerated platform for code-free quantitative biomedical image analysis. PioneerBio AB provides the data, the segmentation infrastructure, and the clinical framing for the challenge, in collaboration with research and clinical partners at LiU.

a close-up of a poker chip and a poker chips

AI-based biomedical image analysis for cell segmentation

Hands-on AI Methods for Analysing and Interpreting Cellular Images

**The module is divided into two parts:**

The first module, Perspectives on International Communication (2.5 ECTS), focuses on intercultural communication in general, and takes as its point of departure some central theories, notions and practices from anthropology and sociology, in order to provide a framework for a critical analysis and understanding of obstacles and pitfalls in intercultural communication. The aim of the course module is to provide the students with tools to be able to identify and remedy communication breakdowns in favour of creating less friction in professional intercultural contexts.

The second part, Intercultural Communication with English as a Lingua Franca (5 ECTS), builds on the theories and notions studied in the first part, but here, the focus is on communicative situations where English is the language of communication. Here, linguistic features will also be analysed and discussed as possible obstacles and/or resources to successful communication.

Intercultural Communication in an English-speaking World

Learn to successfully communicate in English in a professional and international environment.

Language learning

The micro-module focuses on intercultural competence as a basic, democratic prerequisite for the education of younger children. Learners will get to approach and explore the concept of intercultural competence as a dynamic process, where the ability to be responsive in interpersonal communication is central.  The focus is also on various democratic dilemmas that can arise in educational practices for younger children where, for example, questions about children's participation versus the power of adults are actualized. ´The global perspective runs as a common thread in the micro-module, as different countries' ways of meeting diversity and interculturality are discussed, with a particular focus on early childhood education. Furthermore, work with democratic issues in educational settings is highlighted and practical examples are given of how communication and creativity can be used as didactic tools to support the acquisition of democratic values.

This micro-module will start with online lectures and activities, to lay down the theoretical foundation in the importance of intercultural competence for a democratic early childhood education. This will be followed by a mandatory face-to-face week, where you will have the opportunity to meet peers and par­ticipate in interactive activities. Site visits to early-childhood and extended education centres are planned, along with outdoor activities and a city tour in Norrköping. 

This module is an excellent choice for students of teaching programmes and or other disciplines within education and pedagogy, who are keen to develop their intercultural completence and curious about how they can work with democracy and equity in their fields.

Democracy and Equity in Early Childhood Education

How to educate the democratic citizens of tomorrow

The micro-module is based on the United Nations' 17 sustainability goals within Agenda 2030. Participants will carry out in-depth work within one of the goals and broaden their knowledge in other sustainability goals by becoming familiar with the work of other groups. This micro-module involves working with a sustainability challenge of your choice.

During this micro-module you will be learn how to identify a challenge linked to one of the 17 goals in Agenda 2030 and analyze it from temporal, cultural, and geographical perspectives. You will also be able to obtain, interpret, and compile information from scientific literature and the surrounding society relevant to manage the identified challenge. You will propose a way to wisely handle the challenge based on information from relevant sources. Finally, you will communicate your result in English, both in writing and orally.

Sustainable development

UN Global Goals and sustainability challenges

**Urban biogas and sustainable agriculture – from challenge to opportunity**

Urban and peri-urban areas produce large amounts of organic resources such as food waste, manure, and agricultural residues. While these materials have great potential to contribute to sustainable energy and circular food systems, they are often underused or misunderstood. This challenge invites you to explore how biogas production can be better combined with agriculture in ways that benefit both energy systems and food production.

Working together with [**St1 Biokraft**](https://st1biokraft.com/), you will investigate how biogas production—particularly from manure and agricultural residues—can be expanded without creating conflicts with food or feed production. One key issue is that some valuable materials, such as grass or crop residues, are sometimes seen as too valuable to be used for energy, as they could instead be used as animal feed or left in the field. This creates both practical and perception barriers to using these resources.

Your challenge will be to explore real-world examples, assess how these examples work in practice and identify their benefits. Based in these examples, you will develop recommendations for how similar approaches can be implemented in ST1´s newly started production unit in Mönsterås, and propose strategies for ST1 and local farmers on how biogas production can be more beneficial for everyone.

During the challenge, you will collaborate with industry experts from [**St1 Biokraft,**](https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fst1biokraft.com%2F&amp;data=05%7C02%7Ckonstantinos.mitropoulos%40liu.se%7C2e7aad89c04d4220deda08debfc3c7b2%7C913f18ec7f264c5fa816784fe9a58edd%7C0%7C0%7C639159044745142600%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=X9vCXG%2BM3jHE9St3dN%2B1PvdQx40SKqRtROKB9nZuPfc%3D&amp;reserved=0) engage in interdisciplinary research, and present your innovative solutions to stakeholders. This challenge-based learning experience promises to be both intellectually stimulating and practically impactful, driving sustainable development the transition to greener futures.

The challenge includes a face-to-face (F2F) week at Linköping University in Sweden. During the F2F week, you will get the opportunity to engage with some of the most advanced biogas systems in the world, you will interact directly with the challenge provider, and visit state-of-the art biogas research facilities.

Join us and be part of the solution!

St1 Biokraft biogas production plant in Mönsterås - under construction

Building cities of the future: harnessing new urban bioresources

Turn organic waste from a problem to a solution

Circular economy

In this module, play is treated as a central part of childhood and it is described from different research-based perspectives. Play is also related to teachers’ mission to stimulate creativity, learning and development and promote social community between children. Furthermore, how teachers can create environments for play is discussed, as well as the pedagogical potential in play as a way to interact and communicate. The module develops upon a childhood sociological perspective, including concepts such as children's perspectives and children's agency.

The module will start with online activities that will provide the theoretical background in play as a pedagogical resource. During the face-to-face week at Linköping University, campus Norrköping (13-17 April 2026), you will have the opportunity to meet peers and par­ticipate in interactive activities. Vari­ous play situations, including both outdoor and indoor play, will be explored. Site visits to early-childhood and extended education centers are planned, along with excursions to both the forest and the city of Norrköping. Students will also employ their different backgrounds to inform discussions about play.

This module is an excellent choice for students of teaching programmes and for students of other disciplines that are curious about how play can stimulate creativity and learning in their filed.

Play as a pedagogical resource to support children´s development, learning and creativity

Join us in exploring the great learning potential of play and make a difference in children´s education.

**What is this module about?**

Business modelling in the circular economy is something quite different than in the linear economy. Partners, stakeholders, and suppliers all must be taken into consideration when forming an innovative company with a circular business idea. This module covers the foundations of business models and sustainability in the light of business development. Then we move into practical exercises where you get to work with circular business models.

**What will you learn?**  

You will explore the intersection between innovative business models and sustainability – two fields that, when combined, can lead to real change. The module focuses on business applications and provides practical skills for working with both physical and digital business ideas. Through case studies you will learn by practicing business modelling on real cases.  

**Who is this module for?**  

If you are interested in how the circular economy will shape both innovative solutions and business, it does not matter what background you have. This module is designed to be given for students coming from technical, sustainability, or business backgrounds.

**Preliminary schedule**

Below you see a preliminary schedule for the module. Note that the synchronous sessions (in bold) are obligatory . The asynchronous sessions and group work appear in the schedule in specific days every week to give you an idea of how much time you need to invest in the module and how you can structure your studying. You can of course plan your week and studying according to your own needs and schedule.

Week 1

**Monday: Welcome lecture and course overview - 2h - synchronous (time TBA)**

Tuesday: Innovation lecture - 1h - asynchronous - self-study

Wednesday: Innovation - lecture - 1h - asynchronous - self-study

Thursday: Innovation discussion - 2h - Online forum

Friday: Business Modelling lecture - 2h - Asynchronous - self-study

Week 2

Monday: Business Modelling lecture - 2h - asynchronous - self-study

Tuesday: Business Modelling discussion - 2h - Online forum

Wednesday: Sustainability lecture - 1h - asynchronous - self-study

Thursday: Sustainability lecture - 1h - asynchronous - self-study

Friday: Sustainability discussion - 2h - Online forum

Week 3

**Monday**: Circular business modelling - 1h - asynchronous - self-study

**Circular business modelling - 2h - Synchronous (time TBA)**

**Tuesday: Kickoff group assignment - 2h - Synchronous (time TBA)**

Wednesday: 1st group meeting - 1h - Synchronous (time based on group agreement)

Thursday: Time for group assignment work - 4h - synchronous or asynchronous - based on group agreement

Friday: Time for group assignment work - 4h - synchronous or asynchronous - based on group agreement

Week 4:

Monday: Time for group assignment work - 4h - Synchronous or asynchronous - based on group agreement

**Tuesday: Presentation Group assignment - 2h - Synchronous (time TBA)**

Wednesday: Individual reflection - 1h - asynchronous - self-study

Time for group assignment work - 2h - synchronous or asynchronous - based on group agreement

Thursday: Individual reflection - 1h - asynchronous - self-study

Time for group assignment work - 2h - synchronous or asynchronous - based on group agreement

Friday: Hand in individual reflection

Hand in group assignment

Business modelling in the circular economy

How entrepreneurship and innovation can contribute to a more sustainable economy.

Our society is teeming with bioresources, such as various types of biomasses and organic waste, that often go underutilized. This challenge invites you to explore how we can turn these resources into high-quality biofertilizers while addressing one big obstacle: pollutants.  

Anaerobic digestion is a powerful process for producing biogas and digestate, but the presence of PFAs in the digestate has raised concerns. These substances can limit the use of digestate as biofertilizer, leading to reduced soil health and circularity. Your challenge will be to examine the current landscape, identify barriers, and propose smart strategies to make digestate safer and more effective for biofertilizer production. More specifically, you will identify ways of dealing with digestate with relatively high amounts of PFAs, define strategies to minimize its presence in the biofertilizer, and propose concrete solutions for their presence in digestate.  

Collaborate with industry experts from [Biototal](https://www.biototalgroup.se/), engage in interdisciplinary research, and present your innovative solutions to stakeholders. This challenge-based learning experience promises to be both intellectually stimulating and practically impactful, driving sustainable development and helping the agriculture sector transition to a sustainable future.  

The challenge includes a face-to-face (F2F) week at Linköping University (LiU) in Sweden. During the F2F week, you will get the opportunity to engage with some of the most advanced biogas and biofertilizer production systems in the world and with researchers in Biogas, biofertilizer and PFAs. You will interact directly with the challenge provider, visit state-of-the art biogas research facilities, and get a tour of a full-scale biogas plant at Tekniska Verken AB in Linköping.  

Join us and be part of the solution!

The module addresses the concept of responsible innovation—innovations that strive to ethically and sustainably align technological progress with societal needs within planetary boundaries. It covers the potential impacts of innovation, taking into account various ethical and sustainability perspectives. Additionally, the organisation of the innovation process for implementing responsible innovations will be discussed. The module will also examine sustainability from a policy perspective.

Responsible Innovation for a Sustainable World

How we can innovate for the better

A number of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) concern environmental and climate aspects. The micro-module provides students with background knowledge about the SDGs. The micro-module deals with strategies for dealing with complex global environmental and sustainability problems. Particular focus is placed on technical solutions that are explored in laboratory experiments. In the laboratory exercises, we study how anaerobic digestion can be used to purify organic waste from environmental toxins and produce useful resources such as biogas and fertilizers. Analysing solutions to complex sustainability challenges often requires interdisciplinary expertise. The chemical, biological and physical perspectives applied in the lab environment are therefore integrated with technical and social science knowledge of environmental issues. In this way, the micro-module integrates perspectives from different scientific disciplines in the analysis of complex relationships between the SDGs to identify synergies and avoid goal conflicts.

For the syllabus of the micro-module, please see [here.](https://studieinfo.liu.se/en/kurs/746G74/ht-2026#overview)

Solutions to global sustainability challenges

Understand solutions to complex sustainability challenges through an interdisciplinary perspective

**Challenge Provider**

[The Swedish Civil Defence and Resilience Agency](https://www.mcf.se/en/) (MCF) is the government authority responsible for coordinating Sweden’s crisis preparedness, civil defence, and the protection of vital societal functions during serious emergencies. The organisation works with solutions connected to shelters, protected environments, and civil preparedness

**Background**

Across Europe, construction and infrastructure are among the largest consumers of raw materials and one of the biggest sources of waste and emissions. The construction sector alone accounts for more than one third of all waste generated in the EU.

At the same time, societies are preparing for large-scale investments in resilience, civil preparedness, and protected infrastructure. New kinds of shelters – fixed, mobile and semi-mobile needs to be developed. New systems, materials, technical equipment, filters, and interior solutions may need to be produced at scale. The question is no longer if these systems will be built but how.

If preparedness infrastructure is developed through traditional linear production models, the environmental impact would be significant. Large amounts of reusable materials can be sourced from existing buildings, industrial by-flows, and demolition- or remodelling projects, and expanding societal use of these materials would limit our need for new resources and thereby lower our combined environmental impact. 

In crisis there are almost certain that various supply chains are disrupted and that means production of shelters, protective spaces and components for this have to be possible to produce  with other materials and with different methods.. This challenge is about rethinking preparedness not only as protection, but as an opportunity to innovate how society uses resources.

**The challenge**

Your challenge is to explore how shelters, protected environments, and preparedness infrastructure could be designed with sustainability, innovation, and circular resource flows at the core.

Think beyond traditional emergency systems. Explore how reuse, modular architecture, circular materials, local production, adaptive design, repairability, digital tracking, or entirely new business models could transform the future of preparedness.

This challenge is not only about recycling. It is about rethinking how preparedness systems are designed from the beginning:

- How materials are sourced
- How products are maintained and reused
- How systems can adapt over time
- And how protection and sustainability can strengthen each other instead of competing

Other aspects that can be considered:

- Concrete is an important material – how can this be recycled from destroyed or demolished buildings?
- How to secure a supply of cement for concrete production?
- Shelters needs to be airtight. This is largely accomplished by applying sealant
- Ability to 3D-print components for shelter use that have acceptable strength
- Activated carbon is a critical material for filters used in shelters. How can this be recycled or is there as alternative materials for this.

Could a protected space also function as a circular building system? Could preparedness products be reused, upgraded, or repurposed over time instead of discarded? Could cities develop local ecosystems where waste materials become strategic resources for resilience?

MCF is looking for bold and future-oriented ideas that combine preparedness, sustainability, and innovation in ways that can shape the resilient societies of tomorrow.

a person wearing a mask and holding a bottle of liquid

Rethinking civil preparedness

Design sustainable preparedness infrastructure solutions for safer and more resilient societies

This is an online beginner’s Swedish module which includes pronunciation exercises, reading, oral training, basic Swedish grammar and short writing exercises. After having completed the module, you should have basic knowledge of Swedish – A1 in accordance with the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.

Swedish for Foreign Students - level A1

Language studies

What do our ideas about the future say about us today? This micro-module introduces you to the emerging research field of Critical Future Studies, which deals with the interdisciplinary analyses of how different possible futures are established in public discussions about what tomorrow might look like, what we call the futural public sphere. 

We will focus on the scope and limitations that exist within public culture for imagining and debating different potential futures.  
We will do this by studying documents that attempt to shape the future, such as political programmes, documentaries and pop culture. We will also employ methodological approaches to explore what kind of people are expected to live in the different possible futures, the worldviews lying behind each potential version of tomorrow, and how knowledge about them is established.  
This matters because images of the future have the power to affect the public sphere by influencing decisions, policies and attitudes. Learning how to challenge these narratives through alternative ways of thinking makes a better future easier to achieve.  
We will engage with all these issues through a combination of lectures, seminars and a written assignment.

a person wearing a yellow shirt and goggles sitting at a desk

Critical Future Studies: Imagining and Challenging Tomorrow

Rethinking What Comes Next: Culture, Power, and Possibility

The module introduces the concept of the metacrisis as a denominator for the Anthropocene, the climate crisis, the mass extinction of life and loss of trust and social cohesion in society. It introduces how value systems and identities relate to our responses to these crises around us, and explores how the understanding of values, and thinking in terms of interconnected complex systems can help us chart relevant paths ahead as professionals, members of communities and collaborators in ecosystems.

Responding to the metacrisis

Untangling myths and values to help us navigate our future

New sustainability programs at the EU level, such as the Nature Restoration Law, One Health Program, and the EU Biodiversity Strategy, raise questions for natural resource-based companies on how to integrate restorative and regenerative practices while ensuring long-term viability. Forests are not only sources of timber and raw materials, but they also hold potential for food production, recreation, and cultural experiences. They also provide climate benefits, ecosystem services, long-term economic potential, and represent a core area of Swedish innovation.

Despite this, forestry still is largely dominated by industrial production, while alternative uses often are treated as complementary rather than as self-sustaining business opportunities. Forest owners are defined, both by the industry and by themselves, as producers of raw material – not as entrepreneurs or resilient small firm owners.

The creation and maintenance of small-scale forestry face several challenges. Regulations and policies are prioritising raw material production over holistic ecosystem values. There is limited knowledge on how multifunctional forestry can be organised into viable local business models and there is a lack of good examples. Forest owners are a highly diverse group, many of them with limited resources, lacking networks and support for diversification. However, it seems that markets for new forest-based products and services are emerging, despite the uncertain demand.

[Skogens Mångbruk](https://www.skogensmangbruk.se/) is all about unlocking the full potential of forest landscapes to support vibrant, sustainable rural businesses. The association brings together people who are exploring diverse and innovative ways to use forests, creating a space to share ideas, experiences, and best practices that benefit both local enterprises and society at large. To inspire more forest owners to get involved, we need strong examples of successful business models, especially those with international relevance and market potential.  
This is where you come in!  

**Your Challenge**  

How can small-scale forestry-based business models contribute to rural revival, entrepreneurial diversity, economic vitality, and ecological regeneration in forest-based contexts?  

Put yourself in the shoes of a small-scale forest owner somewhere in Sweden, or why not partner with one! Explore and propose how actors in forest regions, from private forest owners and small-scale entrepreneurs to local communities and regional stakeholders, can design, combine, and manage portfolios of activities that:  
1.    Create added value not only through timber production but also through food products (e.g., tar syrup), eco-tourism, educational initiatives, nature and carbon credits, and more.  
2.    Promote ecological regeneration restoring forest biodiversity, soil health, and long-term carbon sequestration.  
3.    Secure long-term economic sustainability building resilient economies rather than relying on single income streams.  
4.    Strengthen social values and local cohesion by creating new employment opportunities, improving quality of life, and enabling agency for diverse rural actors.  

Focus on concrete places or regions, identify assets and limitations, and propose innovative combinations of activities, business strategies and business models, that can be scaled or transferred to similar contexts. Develop both venture ideas and policy concepts that enable small-scale and industry-complementing forestry. 

**Curious about the challenge?**

Check out what last year’s ECIU learners accomplished. [Watch the video](https://vimeo.com/1069207159/1b40b0d60a) to see how they tackled the Sustainable Forest Challenge through responsible innovation.

The sustainable forest challenge

From Trees to Transformation: How Forests can Spark Rural Innovation and Green Enterprise

In an era where clean energy is more crucial than ever—amid the rise of cryptocurrency, artificial intelligence, and other energy-intensive technologies—the need for sustainable solutions has reached a critical point. Green hydrogen is at the forefront of this transition, offering a viable path to reducing carbon emissions and securing a cleaner future. Recognising its importance, the EU has introduced policies to support energy-focused start-ups (e.g. The SET Plan), fostering innovation and accelerating the shift to a low-carbon economy.

[Organic H2](https://organic-h2.com/) is one such start-up, emerging from years of cutting-edge research in organic electronics, electrochemistry, and conductive polymers. With a scientifically validated technology and patents in LOHC and LOPC, the company is now navigating the challenging path from research lab to market. Like many deep-tech start-ups, Organic H2 must bridge the gap between scientific breakthroughs and commercial viability while integrating into a rapidly evolving entrepreneurial ecosystem.

**Your Challenge**

In this challenge, you will take on the role of strategic advisors to help Organic H2 transition from a research-driven innovation to a successful market player. Learners will dive into a start-up journey, exploring how scientifically proven technologies transition from research to real-world applications. This process emphasises sustainability, localised economies, social justice, and well-being. This challenge will emphasize: Sustainability – ensuring the long-term environmental and economic viability of hydrogen solutions. Localised economies – exploring how Organic H2 can integrate into different  regional markets. Social justice & well-being – addressing how hydrogen solutions contribute to fairer, more sustainable societies.

Through hands-on problem-solving, market adaptation strategies, and entrepreneurial ecosystem integration, you will help Organic H2 define its path toward establishing itself in the energy industry. By the end of this challenge, you will gain a deep understanding of the hurdles and opportunities that deep-tech start-ups face, equipping you with the tools to turn research into real-world impact.

From lab to market

Overcoming early-stage challenges in green energy innovation

Climate change is the biggest challenge of our time. To solve the climate challenges we face, we must first understand something about the complex relationship between the natural, social and political systems that drive climate change. This micro-module introduces concepts such as sustainable development, environmental issues and planetary boundaries to open the door for students to examine those systems and understand how they affect each other. The micro-module thus, deals with the causes and effects of global environmental problems, and discusses the social, political and economic conditions at play within the planetary boundaries.    
During the micro-module, students will develop their understanding of these phenomena through lectures, online laboratory activities, workshops, seminars and group work.

For the syllabus of the micro-module, please see [here](https://studieinfo.liu.se/en/kurs/746G73/ht-2026).

Global Sustainability Challenges

Using planetary boundaries to understand climate change

This course introduces modern methods for the analysis of microscopy images with a focus on AI-based cell segmentation, a key technique in both biomedical research and clinical applications.   

The aim is to provide an understanding of how artificial intelligence, in particular deep learning, can be used to identify and delineate individual cells in microscopy images. This task is inherently challenging, as cells often touch each other, vary in shape and size, and may be difficult to distinguish due to low contrast and imaging artifacts.  

The course combines theoretical foundations with hands-on exercises in an individual and partly asynchronous learning format. It covers both classical image segmentation approaches (such as thresholding, edge detection, and watershed algorithms) and modern AI-based methods. Particular emphasis is placed on deep learning techniques, including convolutional neural networks (CNNs) and architectures such as U-Net and the state-of-the-art tool Cellpose.   

In the practical component of the course, participants work with real biomedical image data and apply a U-Net and Cellpose to perform cell segmentation, evaluate model performance, and extract biologically meaningful metrics such as cell size, shape, and spatial organization. Model performance is assessed using established statistical metrics.

Introduction to AI-based biomedical image analysis for cell segmentation

Exploring cell segmentation with modern image analysis techniques

How can AI be implemented in business and society in ways that create genuine value? While many organisations and societal actors are currently experimenting with AI solutions, their integration into everyday practices and their potential for real transformational and societal impact remains limited.  

In this challenge, you will explore how AI can move beyond experiments, pilots and hype. Using Design Theory as a guiding methodology, you will develop solution concepts that take into account the broader systemic, organisational, and societal dimensions required for successful and responsible AI implementation.   

This iteration of the challenge focuses on exploring how AI can contribute to the future of search and rescue operations and public safety. The challenge provider is [WARA-PS](https://portal.waraps.org/), a research arena and community dedicated to advancing public safety and search and rescue through intelligent systems-of-systems formed when AI, autonomous systems and software act in collaboration with humans, learn from and adapt to their environments.    

You will investigate approaches for shaping a future where AI is responsibly integrated into critical societal infrastructures. This includes examining multiple interconnected perspectives, such as (1) systems and systems-of-systems, (2) technological, (3) organisational, (4) legal, and (5) societal dimensions.  

You will use the challenge of shaping complex systems within the domain of future search and rescue operations as a learning context to develop transferable knowledge and skills for AI implementation across multiple societal and organisational settings.  

Are you curious about the impact of AI beyond technical performance and short-term efficiency gains? Do you want to explore AI from a systems perspective and understand how it can contribute to critical infrastructures in society? If so, this challenge invites you to engage with these questions through hands-on, interdisciplinary work.  

You will work in international teams and participate in:

- one face-to-face (F2F) week in Linköping,
- preparatory work starting two weeks before the F2F week, and
- continued collaboration for two weeks afterwards.

Together, you will develop a creative yet grounded solution for the long-term integration of AI in societal critical infrastructures. Your solution will combine theory, resourcefulness and real-world relevance to reflect AI´s impact in business and society.

Shaping a future with AI: Designing Systems for Society and Business

Intelligent systems for the future of public safety and rescue operations

One of the challenges of our time is the pressure our societies face as the climate changes and the Earth's resources must suffice for both humans and animals. To prepare future generations, schools and other educational institutions must collaborate with society to create authentic contexts and help pupils build competences such as problem-solving and teamwork.  

In this challenge, you will work with the Skattkammarön school in Norrköping to explore how environmental and sustainability education can happen out-of-classroom, in the school's local environment, and in collaboration with various stakeholders and organisations that approach sustainability from different angles.   

Skattkammarön is an innovative “In Rain and Shine” school, teaching outdoors all year round. They need your help to design new and creative way to develop their environmental and sustainability education in the surrounding urban and natural environment. The teachers at Skattkammarön include several learning arenas in their out-of-classroom teaching. They visit venues such as museums, science centres, the district court and churches, while the forest is within walking distance, and a zoological garden just a short drive away.   

Your task is to propose new ways the school and city stakeholders can work together to provide children and youth engaging and relevant environmental and sustainability education. You will plan and motivate learning activities that are creative and involve several societal actors.  

You will work in small groups under the guidance of a teamcher. At the end of the challenge each group will present their ideas of a tentative teaching activity or module. The final assignment is a written description of the project.

This challenge aims to explore the future of social innovation and entrepreneurship and involve students into an active learning environment, in collaboration with the Challenge Provider, ESIC. Students will be involved in an innovative learning environment, dealing with in-presence participatory workshops and lectures and online meetings and seminars with experts and academics. Specifically, participants will be instructed to approach the main contents of the course according to Futures Literacy perspective, to develop anticipatory and proactive scenarios. During the challenge students will get inspirational talks from professionals who have worked with international cooperation/NGOs and international organizations, and meet educators and practitioners involved in the third economy sector. The students from different academic backgrounds, organized in groups, will be encouraged to explore creative and challenging life contexts and to design training programs for future social entrepreneurs.Their projects will be evaluated and discussed during the final week in the presence of ESIC and ECIU representatives and could contribute to the future agenda of social economy sectors in Europe.

The 2026 edition of the Challenge will offer in-presence lectures by researchers of both Trento and Linkoping University, participatory workshops and online seminars with international experts and practitioners. Innovative learning models will be implemented in classes and assessments evaluation, encouraging students' creativity and critical thought; each group of participants will be supervised by Teamchers that will assist them in dealing with their projects and progressing in their learning paths. Finally, issues related to European innovation and cultural diversity could also be explored during the two weeks of international mobility (Trento and Norrkoping Campus) during meetings with community and institutional representatives that may contribute to enrich the participants’ educational experience.

Motivation letter is a personal statement and it might include a brief introduction of yourself, explanation why are you interested in the learning opportunity you are applying to, any relevant experience or skills that you have, your goals and how this opportunity will help you achieve them, This document should not be more than 400 words.

Motivation Letter

CV (Curriculum Vitae) is a document that summarizes your educational and professional history. It must provide a detailed overview of your academic and work experience, skills, achievements, and qualifications.

Member university

Linkoping University

Member university

Linkoping University

Learning opportunities of Linkoping University