The Aalborg Centre for Problem-Based Learning in Engineering Science and Sustainability under the auspices of UNESCO (UCPBL) positions student wellbeing as a core dimension of educational quality. Anchored in Aalborg University’s distinctive Problem and Project-Based Learning (PBL) model, the Centre’s work is grounded in the insight that when students collaborate on real-world challenges, take ownership of their learning, and develop solutions with societal relevance, they also build the belonging, agency, purpose, and professional identity that sustain lifelong flourishing.

The Centre leads Aalborg University’s Mission on Wellbeing through a 2023–2028 research and innovation program that takes a systemic, preventive approach to academic wellbeing — addressing students, educators, institutional leadership, and campus culture together. Particular attention is given to two critical transitions in students’ lives: the move from school to university and from university to professional work. Through qualitative interviews, large-scale quantitative studies, and longitudinal cohort tracking, the Centre examines how PBL environments can intentionally scaffold psychological safety, self-efficacy, belonging, and long-term purpose. Findings are continuously fed back into curriculum design, supervision practices, faculty development, and institutional strategy.

Interventions developed through this work include structured team facilitation strategies, reflective storytelling practices supporting identity formation, teamwork toolkits, and co-constructive feedback systems. These are accompanied by teacher and leadership development programs designed to embed wellbeing structurally across the institution. Through UCPBL’s global UNESCO network spanning Europe, Africa, and Asia, this research-informed model reaches institutions far beyond Aalborg.