Green, Circular Economy and Resources

Key teaching areas include sustainable and green transition strategies, ESG and impact management, circular economy practices, resource and energy efficiency, as well as the development of sustainable business models.

The aim of teaching is to equip learners with the ability to integrate sustainability into strategic and operational decision-making, while fostering an entrepreneurial mindset oriented towards solving environmental and societal challenges. Across programmes, there is a strong emphasis on applied, practice-oriented learning, linking theoretical frameworks with real-world business contexts.

Core competences developed through teaching activities

• Ability to design and implement sustainability and green transition strategies
• Understanding and application of circular economy principles in business contexts
• ESG and impact assessment, measurement, and reporting skills
• Sustainable resource and energy management competence
• Development of sustainable and scalable business models
• Problem-solving using systems thinking and interdisciplinary approaches
• Communication of sustainability concepts to stakeholders and decision-makers

Our teaching spans both the microdegree Sustainable and Green Transition: Strategies, Practices and Resource Management, which equips learners with practical tools for embedding sustainability into business strategy, and the bachelor’s programme Impactful Entrepreneurship (Sustainability Stream), where students develop sustainable business ideas through hands-on learning, teamwork, and real-life business challenges

• Sareen, S., Juhola, S., Czarnecka, A., Kekkonen, A., Martinovska Stojcheska, A., Slavec, A., … Kiss, V. (2026). The prefigurative politics of enactable sustainability transformations in the present. Norsk Geografisk Tidsskrift - Norwegian Journal of Geography, 1–13.
• Wojtczuk-Turek, A., Turek, D., Edgar, F., Klein, H. J., Bosak, J., Okay-Somerville, B., Fu, N., Raeder, S., Jurek, P., Lupina-Wegener, A., Dvorakova, Z., Gutiérrez-Crocco, F., Kekkonen, A., Leiva, P. I., Mynaříková, L., Sánchez-Apellániz, M., Shafique, I., Al-Romeedy, B. S., Wee, S., … Karamustafa-Köse, G. (2026) Putting Sustainable Human Resource Management and Workplace Eudaimonic Well-being into Cross-Cultural Context. European Management Journal https://doi.org/10.1016/j.emj.2026.03.008
• Fromberg, E. H. E., Bakker, C. A., & Peck, D. (2025). Ecological Design Thinking for a Circular Economy: the impact of the forest metaphor for circular business. Journal of Circular Economy, 3(5). https://doi.org/10.55845/FGTL1893
• Güven, E., & Pesor, R. (2025). Transition to the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive: Insights from Refinitiv Environmental, Social, and Governance Data. In Global Environmental, Social and Governance Policy (pp. 157-179). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003582366-11
• Pesor, R., Täks, M., & Kekkonen, A. (2024). Factors shaping Estonian entrepreneurs' green transition awareness. Business Strategy and the Environment, 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.3927
• Kooskora, M., Kekkonen, A., eds. (2024). Performance Challenges in Organizational Sustainability. Responsible Leadership and Sustainable Management. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-97-5548-6
• Güven, E., & Pesor, R. (2024). Exploring the effects of ESG scores and carbon emissions on abnormal stock returns: A two-step approach with random forest and panel regressions. In Performance Challenges in Organizational Sustainability: Practices from Public and Private Sector (pp. 185-208). Singapore: Springer Nature Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-97-5548-6_9
• Kekkonen, A.; Pesor, R.; Täks, M. Stepping towards the Green Transition: Challenges and Opportunities of Estonian Companies. Sustainability 2023, 15, 4172. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15054172

Creating Opportunities For Resilience, Entrepreneurship, Sustainability and Training in European Forestry

The CO-FOREST project tackles critical challenges in forestry education by developing innovative, inclusive, and challenge-driven training content and courses. These programs will equip forestry professionals, students, and stakeholders with the necessary skills to address climate resilience, wildfire prevention, pest and disease management, digital transformation, innovation, and entrepreneurship in the forestry sector.

Principal investigator: Aleksandra Kekkonen
Funder: European Commission
Funding: 106 358 EUR

https://www.co-forest.site/

From regional relevance to transnational value: how regional food systems can boost resilience and self-sufficiency in Nordic and Baltic countries

The project aims to contribute to data collection and the development of a comprehensive measurement methodology to map and assess the long-term resilience of regional food systems in the Nordic and Baltic countries, which can also be applied at national and transnational levels. In addition to that, it aims to identify leverage points for actions and to lead to theoretical and practical benefits for coordinated food systems governance by engaging stakeholders in a participatory way and by developing innovative tools and policy recommendations.

Principal investigator: Aleksandra Kekkonen
Funder: European Commission; Estonian Research Council
Number: MOB3PRT27
Funding: 99 950 EUR

https://www.helsinki.fi/en/ruralia-institute/regiofoods

L2BGreen - Learning to be Green: An AI-enhanced multilingual online course for developing a green entrepreneurial mindset

The L2BGreen Erasmus+ project aims to leverage scalable, digital ways of learning as the means to equip people with skills and knowledge on green entrepreneurship.

Principal Investigator: Regina Erlenheim;
Funder: European Commission;
Funding: 64 371 EUR.

https://www.l2bgreen.com/

https://erasmus-plus.ec.europa.eu/projects/search/details/101139849

Inclusive and Empowering Leadership in Local Governments: Equal Opportunities and Artificial Intelligence as Drivers of Labour, Well-being and Competitiveness

This project addresses a strategic challenge for Estonia: linking equal opportunities to labour market participation, social well-being, cohesion, economic competitiveness and national security. The study focuses on municipal council members and senior officials, examining how inclusive, empowering and value-based leadership can reduce attitudinal divides, strengthen trust and improve decision-making.

Principal Investigator: Mari Kooskora
Funder: Majandus- ja Kommunikatsiooniministeerium
Funding: 200 000 EUR

Critical Raw Materials Analysis for Estonian Road Map

Critical raw materials are natural resources that are strategically important for the European Union’s economy and are associated with a high risk of supply disruption. These raw materials enable society to benefit from high-tech solutions and support the transition to green technologies, including renewable energy. The aim of the analysis is to support the preparation of the roadmap and to assess the potential of the extraction and valorization of critical raw materials found in Estonia. The analysis will provide an overview of the distribution and value of primary and secondary raw materials in Estonia, suitable exploration, mining and processing technologies, and a general description of the possible environmental impacts of mining and processing. Additionally, the analysis will explore the potential uses of these raw materials in Estonian and European industries, assess their economic prospects and evaluate suitable valorization models to determine under which conditions the use of critical raw materials in Estonia is strategically and economically justified.