Topic outline

  • Welcome to the Creative Sustainability Design Thesis Platform!


    This page is a place for second+ year Creative Sustainability students in the Department of Design and their supervisors/advisors to track and manage thesis progress. 

    Here you'll find helpful resources regarding thesis in CS Design, a forum for discussion, and information on thesis PART 1,2 and 3. This page is for use by CS Design thesis students, their supervisors/advisors, and the CS study coordinator.

    If you are a CS Design thesis student, enrol yourself using the 'self-enrolment' button, which you'll find behind the 'syllabus' button, in order to get updates on thesis and access to assignment submission features.

    Information about events, such as Thesis Plan Proposal presentations and CS Design PART 2 presentation days, will be in the page's announcements and in the calendar.


    Key dates in the upcoming CS thesis process:

    CS Thesis Plan Proposal presentations: 29.09.2023. Please submit in MyCourses your Thesis Plan Proposal including your abstract and your slides at least 5 days in advance of the presentations.

    CS Design peer-to-peer thesis writing sessions (run by Mikko Jalas): 20.10.2023 (13:00-15:00), 01.12.2023 (13:00-15:00). In addition, on Fridays 13.10, 24.11., 12.01 (10:00-12:00) Mikko is hosting CS thesis meetings. This is voluntary and organized as part of the CS BIZ thesis seminar. ARTS students are welcome to join.

    CS Design Part 2 presentation day: 20.10.2023 (09:00-12:30), 01.12.2023 (09:00-12:30), 26.04.2024 (13:00-16:00), 14.06.2024 (09:00-13:00). Part 2 text should be approved by the supervisor before the presentation. Please register in MyCourses and inform your supervisor if you want to present your thesis as part of the CS Design presentation day. 

    Final thesis hand-in: 31.10.2023, 20.11.2023, 29.12.2023, 27.05.2024, 31.07.2024


    The thesis process for Creative Sustainability students in the Department of Design consists of the following steps:

    • The Thesis Plan Proposal is to be presented during week 3 of period 1. The plan is submitted here at least 5 days in advance of the presentations. Please also submit your your presentation slides at the same time. The presentation should be under 10 minutes.
    • PART 1: The Extended Thesis Plan is to be presented to the thesis supervisor, within a month or so of presenting the Thesis Plan Proposal. The Extended Thesis Plan should include a preliminary literature review, conceptual framework, research questions, methodology and a plan for the overall work. Check here for guidelines on PART 1.
    • PART 2: This is an interim submission about including your Fieldwork, analysis and oral presentation. It includes an overall view on your data/materials, preliminary analysis and pending findings. Check here for guidelines on PART 2.
    • PART 3: This is the Final hand-in of your thesis.


    Creative Sustainability thesis supervisors are assigned to students in connection with the submission of the Thesis Plan Proposal, or alternatively the student agrees with a supervisor on their availability, and gets approval from the CS program director (Mikko Jalas) in connection with the Thesis Plan Proposal. 

    Potential supervisors from Creative Sustainability are:

    Eeva Berglund

    İdil Gazilulusoy (sustainable design, more-than-human/multispecies design, systemic design, transition design, design futures / speculative design)

    Mikko Jalas

    Tatu Marttila (ecodesign, product-service-system design, strategic co-design, transition design, ...)

    Andrea Botero (co-design, participatory design, creative practice, communities, ...)

    It's also possible to have a supervisor from outside of Creative Sustainability, if it is pertinent to the thesis topic and agreed upon with the program director.

    Separately, advisors can be from the Design department, or in some cases from another department in Aalto, other research institutions, or professional practice. The supervisor can also act as an advisor. Advisors are agreed with the supervisor.