The Åland Islands Peace Institute, in partnership with the Åland University of Applied Sciences, invites students and researchers to apply for the course "Social Science and Law: Territorial Autonomy, Diversity and Conflict Management – Experiences from the Åland Islands and Worldwide" (5 ECTS).

The course takes the Åland autonomy solution as its starting point and situates it alongside comparable processes worldwide. 

Course details:

• Dates: 28 September – 29 December 2026
• Format: Online course with scheduled seminars, structured as five two-week modules
• Workload: Approximately 132 hours (roughly 10 hours/week)
• Content: Political and institutional solutions, linguistic rights, security perspectives, multi-level governance, and conflict resolution tools – with Åland as the primary case and comparative cases from around the world
• Language of instruction: English
• Course leader: Hasan Akintug; Doctoral Researcher, Centre for Nordic Studies, Helsinki University
• Prerequisites: A bachelor's degree in the humanities or social sciences (e.g. political science, peace and conflict studies, international law, public administration) or equivalent experience, and a proficient command of English
• Assessment: A final essay (max 4,000 words) plus mandatory tasks, graded on an A–E scale
• Cost: 100 EUR
• Places: Limited (maximum 20 participants)
• Application deadline: 8 September 2026

The course can be found in Åland University of Applied Sciences' course catalogue. 

For questions about the course content, please contact Zander Willoughby, Åland Islands Peace Institute (zander@peace.ax). Questions about fees can be directed to open@ha.ax.