Collaborating partner invitation
We are pleased to invite your organisation to participate as a collaborating partner in the Systems Oriented Design master’s course at AHO. In particular the “Regenerate the Oslofjord Watershed”
This course enrols up to 24 master’s-level students in design, architecture, landscape architecture, and urban design, running for a full semester from mid-August to early December.
Students work in interdisciplinary teams applying SOD methods to the real world complex case of the Oslofjord Watershed.
The primary objective is to analyse complex situations, identify key challenges and opportunities, and develop portfolios of interventions across scales, from services and digital tools to infrastructure, governance, landscapes, and policy.
| Course Code | 70 504 |
| Credits | 24 ECTS |
| Semester | Autumn 2026 |
| Duration | Mid-September to December |
| Level | Master’s |
| Cohort | 24 students |
| THE COURSE |
Eighteen weeks. Two modules. One living watershed.
The course contains two modules and runs from mid-August to December.
MODULE 1 · WEEKS 1–4
INDIVIDUAL
Culture-based Solutions at Losæter
An introduction to SOD methods, grounded in Losæter, a multi-functional farm in the heart of the city where practices of cultivation, harvesting, cooking and eating converge. Students explore how cultural practices and community engagement can address the socio-ecological challenges Oslo faces.
→ Course kickoff + co-mapping workshop
→ First solo Gigamap
→ Cabin field trip to Gressholmen island
→ Individual presentation
MODULE 2 · WEEKS 5–18 ·
TEAM-BASED
REGENERATE THE OsloFJORD Watershed
The main module. Working in interdisciplinary teams, students take on the water quality of Oslo Watershed, a complex socio-ecological system under pressure from urban runoff, agricultural pollution, and governance fragmentation. Their work is intended to contribute directly to your work.
→ Four watershed field excursions across the Oslo region
→ Stakeholder mapping and co-design workshops
→ Futures, leverages, and intervention portfolio development
→ Final exhibition + AHO Works showcase
| THE OSLOFJORD WATERSHED PROBLEM FIELD |
What problems are we looking at?
The Oslofjord Watershed is under sustained pressure from multiple interconnected stressors. Student teams work within this problem field, each choosing an entry point but required to connect their project to the broader system.
Known pressures include agricultural nutrient pollution, sewer overflow and urban stormwater runoff, ecosystem collapse and biodiversity loss, fish collapse, shipping pollution, novel entities pollution, fragmented decision-making, and loss of livelihoods and culture connected to the fjord. Unknown problems will emerge along the way.
Click to enlarge. The interconnected network of problematic symptoms and drivers across the Oslo Watershed.
| INTERVENTION LANDSCAPE |
What types of interventions will students consider?
Students are guided to develop a portfolio of interventions from a landscape of intervention types that spans from framing conditions to hard and soft systems. This includes legislation, adaptive governance, knowledge and organisation, coordination and measurement, infrastructure and built environment, digital products, behavioural design, public awareness, and civic participation.
The course is agnostic on what intervention types to be included in the portfolio: the system determines what is needed, not disciplinary habit. Red arrows in the diagram mark an example of a coherent portfolio combining multiple intervention types.
Click to enlarge. The intervention landscape spanning from framing conditions to hard and soft systems.
| COURSE MODULE MILESTONES |
When and how can you engage?
During the course you will be invited to join up to six in-person sessions at AHO. Students facilitate your participation. No preparation is needed except for the kickoff presentation.
SEPT. 16 · 12:30 TO 16:00
KICKOFF
30 – 45 minute presentation per partner. Present yourself, relevant projects, and topics of concern. Point toward relevant resources & stakeholders. No preparation needed beyond this presentation.
SEPT. 25 · 9:30 TO 13:00
CO-MAPPING
Students prepare a visual canvas based on desktop resources you provide. They facilitate rich conversations, capturing insight, stories, actors, and initiatives relevant to your work on the watershed.
OCT. 9 · 9:30 TO 13:00
FEEDBACK WORKSHOP 1
Students present insights from field and desktop research on the current situation. Discussions are directed toward desired futures and early ideas for possible interventions.
OCT. 30 · 9:30 TO 13:00
Feedback workshop 2
Students present future scenarios in a visual futures landscape format. Feedback is directed toward strengthening the scenarios and the efforts needed to realise them.
NOV. 27 · 9:30 TO 13:00
Exhibition test
Students exhibit a draft of their final delivery and intervention portfolio. Dialogues are directed toward the impact and feasibility of the interventions and the exhibition format.
DEC 10 · 10:00 TO 16:00
Final presentation
Each team presents their exhibition as a 20 to 30 minute narrated presentation, followed by 10 to 15 minutes of feedback from teachers, context navigators, and the external course sensor.
| FIELD TRIPS |
Can you contribute to a field trip?
Students undertake at least five full-day excursions into the Oslo Watershed, meeting stakeholders on site and enriching their research through direct field observation.
You can contribute by suggesting sites, joining as an on-site speaker, or connecting us to relevant local stakeholders and contacts along the way.
SEPT. 18
Urban Walk – Akerselva
Trace Oslo’s most iconic waterway through it’s urban fabric. From headwaters to fjord, to understand a typical urban waterway.
SEPT. 23
City Fjord Promenade – Kongs Havn to Filipstad
Follow the coastline and understand the fjord’s relationship with the city’s water, waste, and ecological systems.
SEPT. 28
Sub-Urban Walk – Ljanselva
Follow a typical river running through a suburban landscape, a mosaic urban and rural land use
OCT. 2
Rural Walk – Hølen vassdraget
See how upstream agriculture land use affects local storm-water management and impacts the fjord
OCT. 6
Sewer Treatment Tour
See how Oslo treats its sewer and what are the future challenges and potential interventions from the Veas perspective
| LEVELS OF ENGAGEMENT |
How can you engage?
Collaborating partners can engage the course at different levels depending on their interest and capacity. All partners receive access to the final communication deliverables produced by the student teams.
CONTEXT NAVIGATOR
The highest level of engagement. You help co-frame the brief, themes, and deliverables before the course begins. You follow student teams throughout the semester, providing guidance, data access, and feedback at four half-day milestone sessions, culminating in the final presentation and exhibition.
You have high ability to influence both the framing and the content generated, and access to all detailed research and design output.
Before: 2 x 1hr meetings to co-frame brief, themes, and deliverables. Connect course to desktop resources and stakeholders.
During: 1 x 45min presentation. 4 x half-day milestone sessions. Final presentation and exhibition.
After: Optional 1hr debrief meeting.
SUPPORT PARTNER
You receive invitations to all milestones and join what makes sense for you. You contribute relevant desktop resources and stakeholder contacts, or help organise an activity or facilitate access to a venue for exhibition or workshops. Medium ability to influence content generated during the course.
Before: 1 x 1hr coordination meeting. Connect course to desktop resources and stakeholders.
During: Optional half-day milestone sessions. Optional final exhibition.
CONTENT PARTNER
You contribute through one or more focused activities, such as a seminar, guest talk, or field trip participation. You are invited to the final presentation and have access to final communication deliverables.
Before: 1 x 1hr coordination meeting.
During: 1 or more interactions according to relevance. Optional final exhibition.
| GET IN TOUCH |
Interested in collaborating?
If you are interested in collaborating with the 2026 course, or want to talk through what level of engagement might suit your organisation, please get in touch. We are happy to have an initial conversation before any commitment is made.
