3DBear Sustainability Report 2023–2024

Introduction

This sustainability report provides an overview of 3DBear’s activities, values, and progress during the years 2023 and 2024. The report continues the trajectory started in our 2022 Sustainability Report, reflecting our strategic and operational commitment to responsible business practices in a rapidly evolving global educational landscape.

At 3DBear, sustainability is not a separate activity but a guiding principle that informs how we design our learning environments, collaborate with partners, support our employees, and engage with customers worldwide. Our approach to sustainability is anchored in four key dimensions: social, economic, environmental, and pedagogical responsibility.

Company Background

3DBear Oy is a Finnish educational technology company that specializes in the development of immersive, XR-based simulation learning environments. Our solutions are designed to help students and professionals practice real-world skills in safe, scalable, and pedagogically sound virtual settings.

As of 2024, our team consists of seven employees based in Finland and a daughter company, 3DBear, Inc., located in the United States. The US operations are led by Mitch Weisburgh, a seasoned EdTech expert. We serve educational institutions in Finland and the U.S., and have active customers across several European countries including Sweden, Germany, Italy, Estonia, and Spain. In addition, our global reach extends to Sub-Saharan Africa, particularly through our project work in Tanzania, Malawi, and Zambia.

In Finland, 3DBear is the market leader in XR-based simulation pedagogy for vocational education. Our solutions are used by approximately 60% of vocational education providers.

Purpose and Goals of the Report

This report serves as a transparent communication tool and a public statement of accountability, summarizing what we have achieved in terms of sustainability and where we are heading. The goals of this report are threefold:

  1. Open Communication: To enhance transparency and trust with our stakeholders, including customers, partners, funders, and employees. We seek to openly share our practices, goals, and progress.

  2. Recognition of Achievements: To reflect on and document our sustainability milestones, including successful initiatives and partnerships that have advanced social equity, climate action, digital access, and pedagogical innovation.

  3. Strategic Planning and Goal Setting: To support the continuous development of measurable, actionable goals across the four pillars of responsibility. These goals guide our strategy and resource allocation toward long-term positive impact.

Our Values and Commitment to Sustainability

3DBear operates based on a set of core values that directly support our sustainability efforts:

  • Innovation: We seek to solve real-world problems in learning through pedagogical innovation and the smart use of technology. We embrace change and continually evolve our solutions to meet future needs.

  • Customer Orientation: Our development process is grounded in user feedback and co-creation. We strive to deliver value to our customers through usability, accessibility, and measurable learning outcomes.

  • Responsibility: We recognize our role in shaping the future of learning, labor, and the environment. Our responsibility spans ecological, social, and societal dimensions.

These values shape our internal culture and external collaborations alike. They are supported by concrete commitments to ethical behavior, environmental stewardship, employee wellbeing, and community engagement.

Commitment to Responsible Business Practices

3DBear commits to upholding responsible business practices throughout its operations. The following principles underpin this commitment:

  • Ethical Conduct: We adhere to high ethical standards in all our activities. This includes integrity, fairness, and transparency in our business decisions and stakeholder relationships.

  • Sustainable Development: We aim to minimize environmental impact across our value chain. This includes energy efficiency, low-emission digital delivery, sustainable procurement, and responsible product design.

  • Employee Wellbeing: We prioritize a supportive and inclusive work environment that nurtures professional growth and respects diversity. All employees are offered opportunities for learning and development.

  • Customer Value: We measure our success by the impact we deliver. We focus on high-quality, pedagogically effective solutions that meet the real needs of educators and learners.

  • Community Engagement: We maintain active engagement with the communities we serve, whether through local partnerships, international projects, or industry collaboration.

These principles guide both our strategic direction and our everyday work.

Social Responsibility

At the core of our social responsibility efforts is a commitment to inclusive, equitable, and globally connected education. In 2023 and 2024, we strengthened this commitment through collaborative projects that promoted access to quality education for underserved populations, supported diversity and inclusion, and empowered educators and learners in a variety of contexts.

Our work emphasizes not only the development of cutting-edge technology but its purposeful application to bridge social gaps and foster empowerment through education. We aim to ensure that all learners, regardless of background, location, or ability, have the opportunity to succeed in the digital era.

Key Initiatives and Impact:

  • Bit the Spectrum (Erasmus+): This initiative focuses on creating inclusive digital environments for neurodivergent learners. Our contribution to the development of accessible simulations reflects our commitment to diversity, equity, and neuroinclusion in education. (see: https://bitthespectrum.infoproject.eu/).

  • AR/VR Learning Technology Pilot in Tanzania (2024–2026): In collaboration with Save the Children and local colleges, we designed immersive simulations that respond to regional skill gaps. The project supports youth and adult learners in underserved communities, improving their chances of employment and inclusion in the formal labor market. (see here). 

  • Entrepreneurship and Teacher Training in Tanzania: We provided digital pedagogy and entrepeneurship training to vocational teachers and co-created localized content in partnership with African and European institutions as a part of TVET@Work project (Erasmus+). This initiative empowers educators and strengthens institutional capacity to deliver socially relevant, future-oriented training. (see here).

  • SEISC – Sustainable Entrepreneurship in Smart Clothing (Erasmus+): This project combines vocational education with social entrepreneurship and sustainability. It offers students tools to engage with societal challenges such as waste reduction, ethical consumption, and employment in green sectors. (see https://seisc.eu/) 

  • Green Deal in VR (Erasmus+): The project introduces secondary school students to EU sustainability goals while fostering cross-cultural understanding through international mobility. It promotes civic engagement and global citizenship among young learners. (see https://www.greendeal-project.eu/)  

  • EcoCharge (Africa): By supporting green skills training in Malawi and Zambia, this project increases social mobility and strengthens the link between education and emerging job markets. It opens opportunities for youth from low-income backgrounds to participate in the green transition. (see https://ecocharge-project.eu/)

Together, these initiatives represent our approach to social responsibility in action: fostering inclusion, equity, empowerment, and international solidarity through education.

Environmental Responsibility

3DBear is committed to reducing the environmental footprint of both our internal operations and the solutions we provide. We recognize that technology-driven education has a unique opportunity to reduce material consumption, minimize travel-related emissions, and prepare future professionals with green skills essential for sustainable societies.

Key Environmental Actions and Projects:

  • Sustainable Digital Infrastructure: Our learning simulations are browser-based and cloud-delivered, allowing us to scale without increasing material usage or local infrastructure demands. In 2024, we continued optimizing our XR content for energy efficiency and minimizing file size without sacrificing user experience.

  • Carbon-Aware Cloud Hosting: We work with cloud providers that have made strong commitments to renewable energy. Our aim is to ensure that our digital services are delivered with minimal environmental impact.

  • Sustainable Workplace Model: Our office space is provided through Spacent, a shared and flexible workspace network. This approach reduces emissions by optimizing space use and significantly lowers our fixed energy consumption and financial overhead related to facilities.

  • Employee Mobility Benefits: We offer our staff access to a bicycle benefit program, encouraging sustainable commuting options and reducing carbon emissions from daily travel.

  • Circular Economy in Education: Several of our international partnerships emphasize green thinking and sustainability. Our role in these Erasmus+ projects demonstrates our alignment with EU climate goals and our ability to support vocational green transitions:

    • XRGreen – Extended Reality for Training Green Skills in Construction (Erasmus+): We co-develop VR and AR exercises that support circular economy principles and sustainable construction practices. Learners gain hands-on experience in green building techniques. Coordinator: Liepāja State Technical School, Latvia (see https://xrgreencon.eu/) 

    • Small Scale Cooperation in the Forestry Sector (Erasmus+): Our team develops VR simulations to illustrate the importance of physics and mathematics in sustainable forestry work. The project contributes to green VET and enhances interdisciplinary learning. Coordinator: Häme Vocational Institute, Finland (see here) 

    • Green Deal in VR (Erasmus+): Also contributing to social learning, this project supports climate education and fosters awareness of sustainability challenges and solutions among secondary school students across Europe. (see https://www.greendeal-project.eu/)  

    • EcoCharge (Malawi & Zambia): Through curriculum modernization and VR-supported training, we help prepare learners for green jobs in electric mobility and renewable energy sectors. (see https://ecocharge-project.eu/)

  • Minimizing Travel through Simulation: Our simulations allow learners and teachers to access professional-level training without travel, reducing transportation-related carbon emissions. Especially in international programs, this has contributed to more sustainable mobility strategies.

These actions reflect our belief that immersive digital learning, when designed responsibly, can contribute meaningfully to the fight against climate change while equipping learners with the knowledge and skills to take part in the green economy.

Economic Responsibility

Our commitment to economic sustainability lies in building solutions that are financially viable, adaptable to different market contexts, and beneficial for all stakeholders involved. 3DBear’s model is built to support long-term value creation for customers, partners, and society.

Key Strategies and Results:

  • Scalable Product Delivery: Simuna is designed to be cost-efficient, adaptable, and easy to implement across a range of institutions from urban vocational schools to rural teacher training colleges. This scalability enables wide usage with minimal local infrastructure needs.

  • Public Funding and Partnerships: Many of our international operations are supported through collaboration with Erasmus+, Finnpartnership, and national vocational agencies. This model allows for low-threshold entry for institutions while also strengthening regional cooperation and trust.

  • Capacity Building and Local Ownership: In our African and European partnerships, we emphasize teacher training, content co-creation, and curriculum alignment to ensure long-term sustainability. This promotes not only economic self-reliance but also relevance and engagement.

  • Adaptable Pricing Models: We recognize the diverse purchasing capacities of institutions and countries. Our licensing structures are flexible and adapted to local funding mechanisms (e.g., centralized procurements in Finland, grant-funded pilots in Africa, individual licensing via Skolon in Sweden).

By focusing on economic responsibility, we aim to foster a business model that creates durable, equitable impact and enables long-term transformation of the educational sector worldwide.

Pedagogical Responsibility

Our commitment to pedagogical responsibility means ensuring that every learning experience we create is grounded in evidence-based practice, designed to support learning outcomes, and adaptable across different educational levels and cultural contexts. Pedagogy drives both the form and function of our technologies.

Pedagogical Highlights in 2023–2024:

  • Curriculum Alignment: All Simuna simulations are mapped to the Finnish vocational curriculum and adapted for use in higher education institutions. In international pilots, such as those in Tanzania and Sweden, we have customized learning content in collaboration with local educators and aligned it with national learning standards.

  • Interactive and Scenario-Based Learning: Our simulations are built on simulation pedagogy principles, enabling learners to engage in active, experiential learning. Scenarios cover authentic real-life work situations, particularly in healthcare and customer service sectors.

  • Evidence and Impact Measurement: In collaboration with research institutions like HAMK (Häme University of Applied Sciences), we conduct structured impact assessments that measure improvements in student engagement, learning outcomes, and teacher confidence. Early findings show increased motivation and improved readiness for real-world work.

  • Accessibility and Inclusion: We apply principles of universal design in our learning tools to ensure they are usable by students with diverse learning needs. Through projects like Bit the Spectrum, we address the specific needs of neurodivergent learners in digital environments.

  • Language and Localization: We produce multilingual versions of our content to support inclusive and culturally relevant learning. In 2024, we released Swahili-language simulations in Tanzania and launched Swedish-localized content for the Swedish vocational market.

  • Blended and Remote Learning Integration: Our simulations are easily integrated into existing LMS platforms like Moodle and itslearning, enabling hybrid learning models that enhance flexibility and learner autonomy.

By maintaining a strong pedagogical foundation, we ensure that technological innovation directly translates into more meaningful, effective, and inclusive learning experiences.

Looking Forward

In 2025 and beyond, 3DBear will continue to build on the foundations laid in previous years, with a clear focus on scaling impact, strengthening partnerships, and deepening pedagogical and technological innovation. Our priorities include:

  • Completing impact assessments of immersive learning pilots in collaboration with academic partners

  • Launching operations in Sweden, following the preparatory work conducted throughout 2024. This includes localized content, educator onboarding, and digital platform integration.

  • Expanding the reach of Simuna into new markets across the Nordic region and Sub-Saharan Africa including disadvantaged learners

  • Building stronger local ecosystems by supporting teacher training, curriculum integration, and co-creation with end users

  • Aligning with international development goals, including EU digital and green transitions and the UN Sustainable Development Goals

  • Strengthening internal sustainability practices, including accessibility, data privacy, and carbon monitoring

We are committed to long-term value creation through responsible, inclusive, and scalable learning technologies.

Summary

3DBear’s sustainability work is rooted in the belief that immersive digital learning has the power to change lives, institutions, and entire education systems. By integrating environmental consciousness, social equity, economic resilience, and pedagogical rigor into everything we do, we are building more than technology—we are building the foundation for a more sustainable and just world.

We thank our partners, customers, educators, and learners for joining us in this mission. Together, we will continue to design learning that matters.