Skellefteå Universities Alliance and MIT Open Learning host think tank on accessible education for sustainable impact
How can we use accessible education to build a sustainable world? On 21 May, Skellefteå Universities Alliance, in partnership with MIT Open Learning, brings together leaders and experts at Sara Kulturhus in Skellefteå for an exclusive think tank on how accessible education can drive sustainable regional and global change.
Under the theme “From knowledge to sustainable capability”, the day explores how knowledge can move beyond awareness and be turned into real capacity to act, and into concrete action that supports social, environmental and economic sustainability.
“Accessible education is no longer just about access to knowledge – it is about building the capacity to act*,*” says Peter Mandalh, CEO of Skellefteå Universities Alliance.
*“*Together with MIT Open Learning, we are creating a space where insight is turned into real, lasting capacity for change.”
A carefully designed forum for meaningful conversation
This is not a traditional conference. The think tank day is designed as a focused, interactive, high-level forum bringing together 40 invited leaders from academia, business, the public sector and the edtech ecosystem.
The event is co-hosted by Skellefteå Universities Alliance and MIT Open Learning, with support from the MIT Open Learning AI + Open Education Initiative, and aims to lay the foundations for long-term collaboration and stronger capacity to act in a time of rapid change.
“Open education is at its most powerful when it equips individuals and organisations to catalyse change,” says Sarah Hansen, Associate Director of Open Education Innovation at MIT Open Learning.
“This collaboration between Skellefteå Universities Alliance and MIT Open Learning enables a global community to use open education as a lever to accelerate the transition to a more sustainable climate – and to shape the future of how open education can serve the world.”
“This collaboration between Skellefteå Universities Alliance and MIT Open Learning enables a global community to use open education as a lever to accelerate the transition to a more sustainable climate – and to shape the future of how open education can serve the world.”
Three collaborative roundtables
The day is structured around three thematic tracks designed to bridge the gap between knowing and doing:
1. AI as an enabler of a sustainable world
Focus: AI as an amplifier of capability – a support for insight and decision-making at scale, while preserving human judgement and ethical responsibility.
Key question: How do we build the capacity to act with AI, not just understand it?
2. Open education as an enabler of a sustainable world
Focus: Moving beyond content delivery towards open learning models that ensure equity, collective learning and coordinated action.
Key question: How do we ensure that knowledge is not only open, but also usable and action-oriented?
3. Learning systems for continuous adaptation and action
Focus: The shift from episodic training to organisational structures where people, processes and technology work together for ongoing, real-world learning.
Key question: How do organisations turn continuous insight into action when change is constant?
Four open places – apply to take part!
In addition to the invited participants, we are offering four exclusive places for:
- Students
- Doctoral students
- Startups
This is a unique opportunity to engage directly in conversation with cross-sector leaders who are shaping the future of AI, open education and sustainable development.
Selection will be based on motivation and potential to contribute to the dialogue and future collaboration.
Date: Thursday 21 May Venue: Sara Kulturhus, Skellefteå
Applications are now closed.
We look forward to building, together, a foundation for sustainable capability and lasting change, locally and globally.
