Students ideated services to support the well-being of international students for the City of Oulu
Students from various fields were challenged to ideate new service concepts focused on areas such as financial literacy, leisure activities, employment, and mental health.
“Through open-minded, multidisciplinary brainstorming and testing, students developed innovative service concepts, such as how to enhance Finnish language studies and employment of new talents, or how to provide better services for families with children,” explained University Teacher in Learning Sciences Riikka Tumelius and Professor of Practice in Industrial Engineering and Management Kari-Pekka Heikkinen, who mentored the students throughout the concept development process.
The ideation began in September as part of interdisciplinary courses on collaborative problem-solving in working life and on multidisciplinary product development. During the first phase, ideas were developed and refined, and at the end of the second phase in December, students presented four service concepts to representatives of the City of Oulu.
During the spring of 2025, prototypes bringing these concepts to life will be developed in collaboration with the City of Oulu’s specialists.
“I am deeply impressed by the students’ creativity and the maturity of their product concepts. This spring will show the viability of these concepts as we move towards concrete services with the help of prototypes. I look forward to seeing what we can achieve together,” commented Veli-Matti Keloneva, Development Director for the City of Oulu, after the students’ concept presentations at an expo event.
The Oulu Innovation Challenge is part of the European University UNIC’s collaborative actions, which identify and address urban development challenges through cooperation between universities, cities, and other stakeholders. In Oulu, services for international students have been recognized as one such challenge.
The courses also served as the third pilot for the international master’s programme in Interdisciplinary Product Innovation and Creation, set to launch at the University of Oulu in autumn 2025. The programme will train professionals in product development and management in collaboration with Finnish companies. The other one of the courses belongs to the international master’s programme in Learning, Education and Technology which is already well-established at the University of Oulu. Study applications for both programmes can be submitted during the first joint application period for Finnish higher education institutions, from 8 to 22 January 2025.