![](\"https:\/\/www.atm.helsinki.fi\/peex\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/5thVEWeek-CLUVEX-Apr2026_sumup-300x169.jpg\" "\\"5thVEWeek-CLUVEX-Apr2026_sumup\\"")
<\/span><\/div>The 5th Virtual Exchange (VE) Week took place online 20-24 April 2026. In total, more than 630 students had pre-registered on DigiCampus (and about 430 students fully completed all steps of registration) for the firth CLUVEX VE Week. Out of all registered students, about 200 students daily actively participated in the VE Week. The work was done online (3 hour per day).
\nAbout 280 participants attended event starting Monday, 20 April. The majority (76%) of participating students were from Ukraine. The remaining participants are from Finland, Armenia, and Denmark (8% in total) well as also some students attended from outside the CLUVEX Partners\u2019 countries as others (about 16%) from Argentina, Canada, China, Ecuador, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Kenya, South Africa, The Netherlands, Zimbabwe, and others. Majority of students (69%) are earning\/or earned Bachelor\u2019s degree, 13% \u2013 Master\u2019s students, 6% \u2013 PhD students, 3% \u2013 PostDocs, and 8% \u2013 others. The 31% of participants have background in natural sciences, 27% \u2013 social and humanitarian, 14% \u2013 economical, 3% \u2013 art sciences background as well as 24% \u2013 in other fields such as architecture, archaeology, medicine, tourism and recreation, ecology, hydrology, law and jurisprudence, economics and environmental law, philology, diplomacy and international relations, management; biosystems, thermal and electrical engineering; geography, geology, sustainable development, marketing and public administration, digital technologies, urban studies, political science, renewable energy and energy systems, etc.
\nIn brief, this 5-day work online allowed participants to listen short lectures on climate related topics, learn and practice with web-based tools for visualisation, analysis and interpretation of climate related data, work online as a group\/team on Individual and Collaborative \u201cClimate Horizon\u201d exercises, participate in discussions, etc. Note, during VE Week, the DigiCampus (as educational platform), Zoom (as communication platform), and Miro (as collaborative platform) was actively used by the participants. Many issues related to using zoom communication platform were supported by Mikko Kulmala (University of Helsinki, UH, Finland), and to using DigiCampus educational platform \u2013 by Aleksi Vauhkonen (UH).<\/p>\n
On 20th April 2026<\/strong>, the VE Week was opened with Welcome words from the hosts \u2013 Anton Syvenko (Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, TSNUK, Ukraine) and Ruzan Habetyan (Yerevan State University, YSU, Armenia), and short introductions into the CLUVEX project (Hanna K. Lappalainen, UH) and the Climate Horizon exercise (Julia Karhumaa, UH). On 21st April 2026<\/strong>, in total 235 participants attended the VE Week. On this day, the plenary session with invited presentations continued and included lectures on \u201cNavigating Planetary Boundaries: Blueprint for Sustainable Future\u201d <\/em>\u2013 by Assis. Prof. Inna Khomenko, Mechnikov Odessa National University (ONU), Ukraine; \u201c\u0421limate Change Impact on Water Resources\u201d<\/em> \u2013 by Prof. Sergiy Snizhko, Taras Schevchenko National University of Kyiv (TSNUK), Ukraine; and \u201cNature Hazards \u2013 Floods\u201d<\/em> \u2013 by Prof. Valeriya Ovcharuk, Mechnikov Odessa National University (ONU), Ukraine. On 22nd April 2026<\/strong>, in total about 200 participants attended the VE Week. On this day, the final invited presentation\/ lecture on \u201cClimate Change: Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies\u201d <\/em>was delivered by Prof. by Hasmik Movsesyan, Yerevan State University (YSU), Armenia. On 23rd April 2026<\/strong>, the \u201cIntergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Web-based Atlas\u201d<\/strong> tool (https:\/\/interactive-atlas.ipcc.ch<\/a><\/em>) was presented and demonstrated by Prof. Risto Makkonen, Finnish Meteorological Institute, Finland. It is interactive and novel tool for analyses of much of the observed and projected climate change information underpinning the Working Group I contribution to the Sixth Assessment Report, including regional synthesis for Climatic Impact-Drivers. Presentation included demonstration of the tool for interactive, flexible spatial and temporal analyses of observed and projected climate change information; for exploring global and regional observed data and model simulations and helps to investigate the effects of climate change in specific regions, for assess changes in mean climate at regional scales, in particular observed trends and their attribution and projected future changes. On 24th April 2026<\/strong>, from the beginning of the last day, after welcome word from the Hosts and reminder about the collaborative Climate Horizon exercise, all participants were redistributed into the same small groups (with the moderator) in zoom break-out-rooms as on the previous days to continue and finalize during about 2 hours online discussions in groups; to present for members of own group the personal\/individual Climate Horizons developed based on lectures delivered on the first three days and tools for visualisation, analysis and interpretation of climate related data such as the ERA-5 PCE, SSPs, and IPCC Web-based Atlas \u2013 all demonstrated during previous days; and to prepare, using the Miro-Board, the group\u2019s collaborative Climate Horizon exercise based on contributions from all members of the group. On a daily basis<\/strong>, the questionnaire for the moderators (by Julia Karhumaa, UH) was also released at the end of each day to understand situation in each group working online & the polls of the day (by Mikko Kulmala, UH) for participants at the beginning of each day. The hosts and members of the CLUVEX Partners\/Teams actively moved between the zoom break-out-rooms and assisted groups to solve issues with web-based tools, Miro-board, communication, etc. Technically, the Zoom communication platform was provided\/ hosted by UH & the Miro-board (as collaborative platform) and the DigiCampus (as educational platform) were actively utilized during the 5th VE Week for students.<\/p>\n Polls of the Day.<\/strong> Several pool questions in zoom showed interesting results. The Poll (on 21st April) showed that participants\u2019 expectations for this VE Week included (with multiple choices): to meet other students \u2013 35%, to learn more on climate change \u2013 76%, to get credits \u2013 34%, to get international experience \u2013 69%, have a positive impact on the world \u2013 48%. The Poll (on 22nd April) showed that participants\u2019 think about the biggest challenges behind the climate change (single choice) such as: dirty industries \u2013 33%, consumerism \u2013 20%, greed and selfishness \u2013 15%, overpopulation \u2013 10%, political system \u2013 22%. The Poll (on 23rd April) showed that participants\u2019 think that there are people who should solve the climate change (with multiple choices): politicians \u2013 76%, entrepreneurs \u2013 40%, scientists \u2013 74%, students \u2013 39%, and celebrities \u2013 21%. The Poll (on 24th April) showed that among the most rewarding parts of the CLUVEX VE Week, participants chose (single choice): meeting with other students \u2013 13%, learning about the climate change \u2013 16%, new ideas and perspectives \u2013 26%, getting international experience \u2013 26%, working with different tools \u2013 15%, and nice polls at start of each day \u2013 3%. Thanks to All Participants of the<\/strong> 5th VE Week for exiting and productive work!<\/p>\n The CLUVEX project Partners\/ Teams encourage all participants to continue their learning journey through the Climate University\u2019s open online course<\/a>s<\/strong>, which cover a wide range of topics in climate and sustainability sciences. Note especially the schedules for courses, yearly at UH curriculum: Sustainable.now, Climate.now, Leadership for sustainable change, ClimateComms.now, Solutions.now.<\/em><\/p>\n See participants in zoom<\/a><\/strong> during the first day of the 5th VE Week.<\/p>\n See list of group projects<\/strong> on collaborative Climate Horizon exercises<\/a>.<\/p>\n
\nThe plenary session was opened with the invited presentation\/ lecture \u201cTowards Sustainable Future Utopia: Utopian Pedagogy\u201d<\/em> \u2013 by Prof. Antti Rajala, University of Helsinki, Finland; and it was followed by other lectures \u201cImpacts of Climate Change and Future Outlook\u201d<\/em> \u2013 by Prof. Hasmik Movsesyan, Yerevan State University (YSU), Armenia; \u201cClimate Change, Disasters, Carbon-neutrality and UN Sustainable Development Goals\u201d <\/em>\u2013 by Prof. Alexander Baklanov, Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen (UCPH), Denmark; and \u201cArtistic Research and Critical Thinking at the Intersection of Art, Science and Society\u201d <\/em>\u2013 by Yvonne Billimore, BioArt Society, Finland.
\nOn the first day, after the plenary session with lectures, the VE Week participants also online met each other for the first time in small groups (in total 28 groups with moderator plus up to 10 students) in zoom break-out-rooms. In these rooms, each group had a round table introduction of participants, sharing pre-task (outcomes of home-work-assignment required to be done before the VE Week), followed by discussions on: what we have learned from lectures delivered? what we can learn from each other? and initial steps in developing Personal\/Individual and Collaborative\/Joint Climate Horizon exercise.<\/p>\n
\nThe \u201cERA-5 Past Climate Explorer (PCE)\u201d<\/strong> tool (https:\/\/era5.lobelia.earth\/en<\/a>) was introduced and demonstrated by Alexander Mahura (UH). This tool is used to visualize historical climate statistics for any geographical location around the globe. The tool is user-friendly with a possibility to select relevant parameters and to generate location-specific climate statistics. Among options (aggregation period: average \u201cyear\u201d and average \u201cmonth\u201d) are average, maximum, and minimum air temperatures; frost days and warm nights; precipitation; rainy, heavy rainy, and very heavy rainy days; relative humidity; average wind speed and wind gusts; cloud cover.
\nThe CLUVEX Climate Horizon exercise was introduced in more details by Julia Karhumaa (UH). The focus is that throughout the VE Week, students will draft Individual Climate Horizon that describes a hopeful state of future from a climate change perspective. For that they will use the delivered lectures, demonstrated tools and group discussions as reference and inspiration for Climate Horizon exercise development. On the final day, students in each group will present own developed Climate Horizons to members of own group. Finally, the group\u2019s collaborative Climate Horizon to be presented to all participants. To achieve it, 3 approaches are taken: (1) utilizing tools for climate related data visualization, analysis and interpretation; (2) preparing a reflective text (learning diary\/letter to own group); and (3) visual reflection using images (e.g., a collage). Several examples (based on different approaches) were shared with participants. Importance of active usage of the Miro-board by groups was stressed for more effective and productive work on Climate Horizon exercises.
\nAfter the lectures and demonstration of the ERA-5 PCE tool as well as more detailed explanation of the Climate Horizon exercise, the participants were redistributed again into the same small groups (with the moderator) in zoom break-out-rooms as on the first day to continue during 2 hours online discussions, practicing with the tool demonstrated, independently working on individual\/ personal Climate Horizon exercise as well started discussions on collaborative\/ joint Climate Horizon.<\/p>\n
\nThe \u201cShared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs)\u201d <\/strong><\/em>tool (https:\/\/data.worldbank.org\/indicator<\/a> & https:\/\/tntcat.iiasa.ac.at\/SspDb<\/a>) as a global scenario framework as introduction to exercises on socioeconomical trajectories was delivered (video recording) by Dr. Stefan Fronzek, Finnish Environmental Institute, Finland. Presentation included scenarios for climate change research; SSP-based global scenario framework (narrative as sketch and storyline; quantitative elements as population, urbanization, rates of technological change, human development index, income distribution) with changes to mitigation and adaptation. To resolve the challenges, a different pathway along the \u201croad\u201d can be taken such as highway (fossil-fuel development), green road (sustainability), rocky road (regional rivalry), divided road (inequality), and middle of the road. It was demonstrated on example of Finland for socio-economic narratives for agriculture and food sector, for health and social welfare.
\nMore details about materials in DigiCampus, daily assignments, aspects of the CLUVEX Climate Horizon exercise were given by Julia Karhumaa (UH). Following 3 suggested approaches on the previous day, the students have a choice to select and implement in the Climate Horizon exercise. For the 1st approach, students have to imagine what a hopeful future would look like from climate change perspective; to select one of the data visualization tools demonstrated; to choose an area and parameters that are meaningful to student\u2019s Climate Horizon, to take screenshots and to write a brief description that captures student\u2019s Climate Horizon. For the 2nd approach, students have to prepare a reflective text by writing about the thoughts and emotions student encountered during the VE; to include info from lectures, exercises, and discussions; to reflect own experiences \u2013 life and study experiences before VE and personal experience during VE and most importantly \u2013 the future; to include a reflection on group discussions (by writing down a couple of thoughts after each day). The implementation of the final report can be as: a learning diary, a short reflective essay, a letter to group. For the 3rd approach, it can be an electronic collage for instance. For this implementation, students need to find pictures (or take own) reflecting the themes of VE and personal emotions and thoughts; to draw or paint if that is strong suit; to create own Climate Horizon, a hopeful state of the future, using images or drawings.
\nAfter the lecture and demonstration of the SSPs tool and more detailed explanation of the Climate Horizon exercise, the participants were redistributed again into the same small groups (with the moderator) in zoom break-out-rooms as on the previous days to continue during 2 hours online discussions, practicing with the tool demonstrated, independently working on individual\/ personal Climate Horizon exercise as well continued discussions on collaborative\/ joint Climate Horizon.<\/p>\n
\nParticipants of were reminded by Julia Karhumaa (UH) about materials in DigiCampus, daily assignments for students, aspects of the CLUVEX Climate Horizon exercise with 3 suggested approaches (utilizing tools for climate related data visualization, analysis and interpretation; preparing a reflective text; visual reflection using images) to realise; implementation on Miro-board the collaborative Climate Horizon exercise, where everyone summarizes own Climate Horizons. Students were reminded about the steps after the VE Week \u2013 to prepare a short report (max up to 2 pages) and to submit in the DigiCampus for evaluation and obtaining the ECTS credits.
\nAfter the demonstration of the IPCC Web-based Atlas tool and repetition of items\/topics of the Climate Horizon exercise, the participants were redistributed again into the same small groups (with the moderator) in zoom break-out-rooms as on the previous days to continue during 2 hours online discussions, practicing with the tool demonstrated, independently working on individual\/ personal Climate Horizon exercise as well continued discussions and work on collaborative\/ joint Climate Horizon.<\/p>\n
\nDuring the last hour, after returning to the main Zoom room, the hosts provided a summary of the session, and each group presented\/ demonstrated own developed Collaborative Climate Horizon exercises. A final feedback questionnaire was distributed among the students who attended the 5th VE Week. The Hosts shared online with all participants the collaborative Climate Horizons of groups on common Miro-board. At the end, reminder by Laura Riuttanen (UH) about the Climate University (https:\/\/www.climateuniversity.fi<\/a>) courses, which are available now for students successfully completed this VE Week and reminder by Aleksi Vauhkonen (UH) about personal (for both moderators and students with deadlines on 10th May 2026) reports to the DigiCampus for obtaining the ECTS credits.<\/p>\n
\nThe CLUVEX project final the 5th VE Week wrapped up on 24th April 2026, marking another successful step in the development of an innovative, interactive online learning model focused on climate and sustainability. This week-long event brought together with about 30 moderators and more than 200 students, offering students the opportunity to collaborate in small groups, engage in the \u201cClimate Horizon\u201d group exercise, and exchange perspectives across borders. Organized as part of the Climate University initiative, the VE is still a relatively new format. Organizers emphasized the importance of interaction in CLUVEX online learning environments \u2014 an aspect they are actively developing and studying.<\/p>\n