Aalto University Creative Sustainability Master’s Thesis Guide for ARTS Students: 2026–2028 Curriculum

Aalto University’s Master’s Programme in Creative Sustainability (CS) is jointly organised by the School of Arts, Design and Architecture, the School of Business and the School of Chemical Engineering. The programme is interdisciplinary, but its thesis administration is not one single cross-school system. The current 2026–2028 curriculum gives each school route its own degree structure and thesis-support courses.

This guide applies only to Creative Sustainability students in the School of Arts, Design and Architecture who graduate with the Master of Arts (Art and Design). Business and Chemical Engineering students should use their own school-specific thesis rules.

The most important current ARTS boundary is straightforward:

• Master’s thesis: 30 ECTS;
• MUO-E0025 Thesis Seminar: 4 ECTS, separate from the thesis;
• maturity essay: 0 ECTS;
• thesis and seminar are positioned in the second study year.

The separate seminar does not turn the thesis into a 34 ECTS thesis. It is a distinct course in the current programme structure.

Where the thesis sits in the Creative Sustainability ARTS degree

The ARTS Creative Sustainability route is a two-year, 120 ECTS Master of Arts (Art and Design) programme taught in English. The current curriculum combines interdisciplinary Creative Sustainability studies, design-specific studies, electives, a thesis seminar and the 30 ECTS Master’s thesis.

The programme develops students’ ability to work with sustainability through design research, systems thinking, critical analysis, interdisciplinary collaboration and practical design activity. That breadth matters when planning a thesis. A Creative Sustainability ARTS thesis does not need to follow one universal methodological template.

Depending on the research question, a thesis may be shaped by approaches such as design research, qualitative inquiry, participatory work, systems analysis, practice-based investigation, futures-oriented inquiry, case study work or other academically justified approaches. The current public programme sources do not require every student to use one specific method.

The thesis itself is 30 ECTS

The current 2026–2028 curriculum identifies the Creative Sustainability ARTS Master’s thesis as 30 ECTS. The thesis is a major independent academic attainment and should be scoped accordingly.

A useful planning mistake to avoid is mixing the thesis credits with the separate seminar credits. The current curriculum lists:

• CRE.thes Master’s Thesis: 30 ECTS;
• MUO-E0025 Thesis Seminar: 4 ECTS;
• CRE.matr Maturity Essay: 0 ECTS.

These are three distinct curriculum elements. The thesis remains 30 ECTS.

The 4 ECTS Thesis Seminar is compulsory support, not part of the thesis credit value

The current ARTS route includes MUO-E0025 Thesis Seminar, worth 4 ECTS, during the second year. This course is the programme’s structured support environment for thesis development.

Students should use the seminar to test and refine the research problem, clarify the research/design approach, plan the project realistically, receive critique and prepare for the later stages of the thesis. Exact seminar assignments and schedules should be checked in the current course implementation and with programme staff.

Do not import the Business route’s seminar credit value into ARTS. The current Business route has a different seminar structure. Likewise, the Chemical Engineering route does not publish the same separate seminar course in the current curriculum. This is why Creative Sustainability needs school-specific thesis guides.

Start with a researchable sustainability problem

A strong Creative Sustainability ARTS thesis begins with a problem that is important enough for a Master’s thesis but narrow enough to complete within the 30 ECTS scope.

Potential topic areas may include:

• design for sustainability;
• sustainable consumption and behaviour;
• socio-technical transitions;
• circular and regenerative design;
• sustainability-oriented service or systems design;
• participatory and collaborative sustainability processes;
• environmental or social justice in design;
• organisational or public-sector sustainability challenges approached through design;
• critical and futures-oriented design questions;
• design interventions related to complex sustainability transitions.

These are possible domains, not compulsory topic categories. The thesis should be connected to the student’s programme learning, advanced studies and an academically defensible research or design question.

Topic, supervisor and advisor roles

Aalto’s current degree regulations provide the school-level supervision framework. The school appoints a professor from the tenure-track system to be responsible for supervising the Master’s thesis. In special cases confirmed by the dean, another academically qualified member of the school’s staff may serve as supervisor.

The school also appoints one or two thesis advisors. Normally, an advisor holds at least a Master’s degree. In art and architecture fields, the regulations allow the second advisor to be another relevant expert in the field.

For a Creative Sustainability thesis, this can be useful when the project crosses design, sustainability science, policy, industry or community practice. The formal Aalto supervisor remains responsible for the academic thesis process, while an advisor can contribute specialised domain or project expertise.

Students should clarify early:

• who is the formal supervisor;
• whether one or two advisors are needed;
• how often feedback will be given;
• whether external collaborators are involved;
• how the project scope will remain appropriate for 30 ECTS;
• what material can legally and ethically appear in the final public thesis.

Use MyStudies from the beginning of the formal thesis process

Current ARTS thesis administration uses the Thesis tab in MyStudies. Students provide thesis information there, add the supervisor and advisor or advisors, and use the system for the final submission, evaluation and archiving workflow.

The exact approval sequence and timing should be followed from the current programme and MyStudies instructions. The important planning principle is that supervision and topic information should not be treated as an informal arrangement that only becomes official at the end.

Keep the thesis record current and make sure the programme, thesis title, language, supervisor and advisor information are correct before final submission.

Oral presentation is part of the Master’s thesis framework

Aalto’s Master’s degree regulations require the thesis to include a presentation. Current ARTS thesis implementations also treat the oral presentation as a required part of the process before examination.

Creative Sustainability students should therefore plan the presentation as a real thesis milestone rather than an optional event after the written work is complete.

The exact format, timing and audience should be checked in the current Creative Sustainability Thesis Seminar and programme instructions. Do not assume that presentation formats used by another ARTS programme automatically apply to Creative Sustainability.

Maturity essay: 0 ECTS, but still an assessed requirement

The current curriculum lists the Creative Sustainability ARTS maturity essay as 0 ECTS. Zero credits does not mean the requirement is optional.

Current ARTS thesis implementation uses the thesis abstract as the maturity test, with supervisor approval of that maturity component. Students should verify the exact language requirement and current programme instructions in MyStudies and programme guidance.

Aalto’s current AI guidance is especially important here: language models are not permitted in maturity exams. Since the thesis abstract serves as the maturity assessment in the current ARTS workflow, students should treat the maturity component as an AI-restricted assessment.

For other parts of thesis work, AI may be used only within current Aalto, course and supervisor rules. Students remain responsible for the accuracy, originality and academic integrity of their work.

No current universal page count is published for the 2026–2028 CS ARTS route

Older Creative Sustainability curriculum pages contained a recommended written-component range. The current 2026–2028 Creative Sustainability curriculum used for this guide does not publish that page-range rule.

For that reason, this guide does not silently carry the old recommendation into the current curriculum period.

The safe current approach is to follow:

• the current Creative Sustainability Thesis Seminar instructions;
• the current ARTS thesis guidance available to students;
• supervisor instructions;
• the needs of the chosen thesis format and research/design problem.

The thesis should be substantial enough to demonstrate Master’s-level competence without being expanded merely to meet an invented page target.

No universal chapter template or citation style should be assumed

The current public Creative Sustainability ARTS sources do not impose one compulsory chapter structure or one citation style for every thesis.

A conventional research thesis may contain an introduction, literature/theory section, methodology, findings, discussion and conclusions. A design-research or practice-based thesis may organise the written component differently. The appropriate structure should make the research problem, evidence, process, analysis and contribution clear.

Likewise, citation practice should be academically consistent and appropriate to the field, but students should not assume that one universal style applies unless the current programme or supervisor specifies it.

Turnitin and final technical preparation

Current ARTS thesis administration uses Turnitin during the thesis process, and current final submission through MyStudies generates originality-related reports for the supervisor.

Before final submission, students should make sure that quotations, paraphrases, images, design materials and external sources are documented correctly. If the work includes collaborative or commissioned material, authorship and permissions should be clear.

The current ARTS workflow requires the final thesis document to be submitted in PDF/A format through MyStudies. Students should validate the archival file early enough to solve formatting problems before the deadline.

The approved thesis is public

Aalto’s degree regulations state that an approved Master’s thesis is a public document and must be electronically available through the university.

This remains important for Creative Sustainability projects carried out with companies, municipalities, NGOs or other organisations. A commissioned project can exist, but an external partner cannot simply make the academic thesis itself secret.

If the project involves sensitive interviews, confidential business material, personal data or unpublished design information, students should plan the research and reporting structure so that the final public thesis can comply with both research ethics and Aalto’s publicity requirement.

Confidential background material should not be inserted into the public thesis merely because it was useful during the project.

Commissioned theses and external collaboration

Aalto permits commissioned Master’s thesis projects. In these cases, academic supervision remains important and the student retains copyright in their own thesis work.

Creative Sustainability students often work with real organisations and complex sustainability challenges, so external collaboration can be academically valuable. However, the research question and thesis scope should remain controlled by academic objectives rather than becoming only a consulting deliverable.

Before agreeing to a commissioned thesis, clarify:

• the academic question and expected contribution;
• access to data, participants or design context;
• rights to publish the final thesis;
• intellectual-property arrangements for materials beyond the thesis;
• the role of the Aalto supervisor and external advisor;
• project timing in relation to the Thesis Seminar and graduation.

A practical second-year workflow

Before the seminar begins

Use first-year coursework to identify the sustainability domain you want to investigate. Read recent research, examine relevant design practice, and identify possible supervisors or research groups.

Early seminar stage

Convert the broad area into a focused research/design problem. Define the purpose of the thesis, preliminary research question, likely evidence, research/design approach and realistic scope.

Formal thesis setup

Confirm supervision and advisor arrangements and establish the thesis record in MyStudies according to the current programme process. Make sure the project is clearly an ARTS Creative Sustainability thesis rather than a Business or CHEM thesis route.

Main research/design stage

Collect or generate the evidence needed for the project. Depending on the thesis, this may include literature, interviews, observations, workshops, design experiments, prototypes, cases, documents or other relevant material. Use methods because they fit the research question, not because they are fashionable.

Writing and critique

Write throughout the project. Use seminar and supervision feedback to improve the argument, clarify the relationship between design activity and research evidence, and identify limitations.

Presentation and maturity requirement

Complete the required presentation according to current programme instructions. Prepare the abstract/maturity component independently under Aalto’s maturity-test rules, including the prohibition on language-model use in maturity exams.

Final submission

Prepare the archival PDF/A, complete the final MyStudies submission, make sure publicity/copyright issues are resolved, and verify the current programme/ARTS deadline before submitting.

Final checklist for Creative Sustainability ARTS students

Before final submission, confirm that:

• you are following the ARTS / Master of Arts (Art and Design) route;
• the thesis itself is 30 ECTS;
• the separate MUO-E0025 Thesis Seminar is 4 ECTS and has been handled according to the current implementation;
• the 0 ECTS maturity essay requirement has been completed correctly;
• the topic is connected to Creative Sustainability and is manageable at Master’s level;
• the formal supervisor and any advisor arrangements are correct;
• the thesis record in MyStudies is complete and accurate;
• the required oral presentation has been completed;
• the maturity component was completed without prohibited AI use;
• the research/design methods fit the research question;
• no obsolete page-count rule has been treated as a current requirement;
• the thesis uses a coherent structure and consistent academic referencing;
• confidential material has not been placed improperly in the public thesis;
• the final file is a valid PDF/A;
• Turnitin/originality requirements have been handled;
• the live ARTS/Creative Sustainability submission deadline has been rechecked.

Final planning principle

For a current 2026–2028 Creative Sustainability ARTS student, the secure public framework is: 30 ECTS thesis, separate 4 ECTS Thesis Seminar, 0 ECTS maturity essay, second-year thesis work, ARTS supervision and MyStudies administration, compulsory presentation, public-document status, PDF/A submission and current Aalto academic-integrity rules.

The most important discipline is to stay inside the ARTS route. Do not import the Business seminar, CHEM thesis procedures, old Creative Sustainability page-count guidance or another ARTS programme’s milestone schedule into this thesis unless the current Creative Sustainability implementation explicitly requires it.