Human Tech by Gianluca Grassi

JYVÄSKYLÄ H U M A N

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Nordic Business Forum, creating a better world X IN THIS ISSUE: FOCUS ON ENTREPRENEURSHIP

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Team Academy, a young rebel Cyber threats create business opportunities Smart phones part of children’s everyday life

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www.humantechnology.fi

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Published twice yearly, Human Tech Center Finland magazine showcases the expertise, culture and people to be found in the Jyväskylä Region.

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Contents

The City of Jyväskylä, with a population of 132 000, is one of Finland’s centres of growth. Recognised as a city of high-quality education, Jyväskylä is also internationally known for the architecture of Alvar Aalto. www.jyvaskyla.fi Jyväskylä Regional Development Company Jykes Ltd. is a business promotion and development company owned by the four municipalities in the Jyväskylä Region. The aim of Jykes is to create a favourable business environment. By offering expertise, support and various networks for companies, Jykes creates opportunities and conditions for profitable business operations. www.jykes.fi The University of Jyväskylä is one of the largest, most attractive and dynamic research universities in Finland, with about 15 000 students, including international students from some 90 countries. www.jyu.fi JAMK University of Applied Sciences is a multidisciplinary institution of higher education with a strong international orientation and a student enrolment of 8 000. Our strengths are workplacedriven learning, close cooperation with the labour market and business, as well as extensive international contacts. www.jamk.fi Jyväskylä Innovation Ltd. is a development company that reinforces the growth, development and competitiveness of technology companies in Jyväskylä and Central Finland. The company carries out the Jyväskylä Region Centre of Expertise Programme. www.jklinnovation.fi Jyväskylä Educational Consortium provides vocational and general upper secondary education to young people and adults. The consortium’s educational institutions are attended by over 22 000 students. www.jao.fi

ISSN 1795-3146

Editorial board

Editorial Office in this issue

Liisa Harjula (University of Jyväskylä), Helinä Mäenpää

Jyväskylä Educational Consortium,

(City of Jyväskylä), Niina Luttinen (Jyväskylä Educational

Viitaniementie 1 A, 40720 Jyväskylä

Consortium), Pirjo Nikku (Jyväskylä Innovation Ltd),

niina.luttinen@jao.fi, www.jao.fi

Taija Lappeteläinen (Jyväskylä Regional Development

Editor-in-chief

Company Jykes Ltd.), Heli Toivola (JAMK University of

Niina Luttinen

Applied Sciences)

Jyväskylä Educational Consortium

English translation

Editorial staff

Peter Gregory

Viestintä-Paprico Oy, www.paprico.fi

and Tony Melville

Printed by ER-paino/Kariteam Circulation 9 200 Cover photo by Petteri Kivimäki

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Aiming to bring about positive change From university research to entrepreneurship Creativity and entrepreneurship Team Academy, a young rebel A new model for generating ideas The full picture of entrepreneurship Toivola Old Courtyard – a journey back in time Stepping bravely into an entrepreneur’s shoes Cyber attacks – opportunities for business Right there where it’s happening The magic of the circus “Moving my company to Jyväskylä was easy”

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FIRST WORDS JANUARY 8, 2013

FINNS ARE ENTREPRENEURIAL by nature. Attitudes to entrepreneurship, particularly among the young, have grown more favourable with each year. Factors that encourage people to become entrepreneurs include independence and freedom of work, and the opportunity to be successful and set one’s own timetable. In Finland the significance of entrepreneurship education is seen as being much broader than merely a factor that encourages the setting up of businesses. The objective is to support school pupils’ innate entrepreneurship at an early stage, helping them to develop into independent citizens who take the initiative, are able to collaborate with others, and participate in society. Familiarisation with working life starts at comprehensive school, and this supports the process of choosing a career and creates the basis for respecting the world of work. The difference between employment and entrepreneurship has narrowed, and this change is also reflected in vocational and upper secondary education. In addition to knowledge and skills in individual fields, students preparing for today’s project based working life increasingly need more holistic competence and the ability to take a responsible and creative approach to work. At the vocational institutes and upper secondary schools that form Jyväskylä Educational Consortium, for example, the objective of entrepreneurship studies is to encourage an entrepreneurial mindset, continuous learning and self-development. THE POPULARITY OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP can be seen in Finland’s growing number of small companies. By networking, small companies can come together to form strong units. Networking and leveraging the strengths of partner companies are creative operating approaches in a situation where the global economy and issues facing big industrial companies require quick responses. The ability to creatively “think outside the

box” – such as seeing potential business ideas in places where different fields of activity meet – can also be a good quality in an entrepreneur. Education is also a field that provides potential ideas for companies, in both the domestic and export markets. Finland has repeatedly been so successful in the PISA and many other studies which measure school pupils’ performance, that other countries are interested in the Finnish education system. This favourable interest has given us a major opportunity to promote our model of an effective education system. There is particular demand for Finnish expertise in the developing economies, where education systems are being developed on the back of strong economic growth. Education exports also offer the opportunity for specialised consultancy companies to promote models for an effectively functioning society.

MIKA JUHANI LUOMANSIVU

Education creates the basis for entrepreneurship

THE THEME FOR this issue is entrepreneurship, which we will approach from a number of different angles. How are creativity and entrepreneurship promoted at primary school? What sort of plans do doctoral candidates make? What do upper secondary students think about entrepreneurship as a path to a brighter future? Vesa Saarikoski CEO Jyväskylä Educational Consortium

“BY NETWORKING, SMALL COMPANIES CAN COME TOGETHER TO FORM STRONG UNITS.” 3

FOCUS ON ENTREPRENEURSHIP

AIMING TO BRING ABOUT

POSITIVE CHANGE In just a few years two young entrepreneurs, Jyri Lindén and HansPeter Siefen, have succeeded in creating a world-class business seminar in Jyväskylä. Their vision is for Nordic Business Forum to be the world’s most significant seminar of its kind by 2021. Words by Timo Sillanpää Photos By Petteri Kivimäki 4

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EACH YEAR NORDIC BUSINESS FORUM, which is held in Jyväskylä Paviljonki, has turned the spotlight on the central issues facing society and business. The main speakers have included some of the world’s top names: Al Gore in 2011 and Sir Richard Branson in 2012. The theme of the autumn 2013 seminar is Leadership and the star speaker will be Jack Welch, legendary Chairman and CEO of General Electric. In a few years the event has grown to become one of the biggest business seminars in the Nordic countries and has attracted thousands of influential guests to Jyväskylä. The young entrepreneurs behind Nordic Business Forum, Jyri Lindén (26) and Hans-Peter Siefen (29), have taken their inspiration from the world’s greatest business seminars, The World Economic Forum, World Business Forum New York and the TED Conference California. “Nordic Business Forum will be one of the world’s biggest and most influential business seminars in 2021. We believe that by then participants will also be following the event around the world via the internet. In our view, a seminar is significant when it is well-known, discussed, and attracts participants from among the world’s most important political and business leaders,” Siefen and Lindén state. The two entrepreneurs admit that they have set themselves a tough target, but they believe they can reach it. Three new members joined their company’s board at the beginning of 2013, and their task is to help the company grow Nordic Business Forum.

The pull of entrepreneurship Entrepreneurship has fascinated both Lindén and Siefen from a young age, and both operated their own businesses before the age of 20. Their paths crossed at a University of Jyväskylä marketing lecture in autumn, 2007. They gradually came up with a joint business plan, according to which they were supposed to start a training business by 2013. “The timetable was accelerated when I had knee surgery. While I was recovering I had the chance to step up the planning for the training business. The first training event for 80 participants was held in Schauman Castle X in Jyväskylä in November 2009,” Siefen says.

Headed by Jyri Lindén (left) and Hans-Peter Siefen, Nordic Business Forum Oy is based in Schauman Castle, which was built in the 1920s as the home of Bruno Krook, manager of a plywood factory.

FOCUS ON ENTREPRENEURSHIP X Each year Nordic Business Forum has succeeded in reaching a new level. The 2010 event was called Weekend Seminar and the theme was how to tune one’s own economy, mind and tools to be more effective. The main speaker was business coach Jari Sarasvuo and the event brought 700 seminar guests to Jyväskylä Paviljonki. The main speaker at the 2011 event, Strength from Responsible Choices, was US politician and former Vice President Al Gore. In 2012 British businessman and adventurer Sir Richard Branson captivated 2300 seminar guests at Jyväskylä Paviljonki.

Highlighting responsibility According to Siefen, successful seminars with good speakers will make the audience stop and think, and can even bring about positive changes. He believes that there are problematic aspects to the way we live currently, making it necessary to spread the message of responsibility. Entrepreneurship is one way of turning society towards a path of favourable development. “We want to promote entrepreneurship and responsibility at all levels. Employees of companies can also embrace their internal entrepreneur, which means promoting responsible business operations,” Siefen explains. Lindén and Siefen list a number of problem areas which underline the need to highlight themes like responsibility. “Young people are marginalised from society and people are concerned about our planet’s limited natural re sources. Hopefully our generation will be able to take the necessary action to put things on the right track,” they say.

NORDIC BUSINESS FORUM 2012

The founder of Virgin Group, Sir Richard Branson.

Business coach and writer Brian Tracy.

Plans for expansion abroad

“WE HAVE TO BE PREPARED TO PAY THE SPEAKERS AND CONVINCE THEM THAT NORDIC BUSINESS FORUM IS A SIGNIFICANT EVENT.”

In addition to major coaching events, Nordic Business Forum Oy organises smaller Business Summit seminars which give successful entrepreneurs a platform to tell their story and enable participants to create new networks to support their businesses. “We have just opened an office in Tallinn. We are aiming to organise our 2013 Business Summit in Tallinn as well as Helsinki. We are also taking initial steps towards opening offices in Stockholm and St. Petersburg,” Siefen says. Securing famous speakers to appear at Nordic Business Forum has meant hard work for the company’s tenstrong team. However, success in recent years has given the event so much credibility that attracting top international names has become easier. “We have to start making arrangements early because the world’s top names soon end up with a full diary. We have to be prepared to pay the speakers and convince them that Nordic Business Forum is a significant event. We always aim for our seminars to provide the audience with an unforgettable experience,” Lindén says. ■

“Hopefully our generation will be able to take the necessary action to put things on the right track,” say Jyri Lindén and Hans-Peter Siefen.

NORDIC BUSINESS FORUM t Nordic Business Forum is organised at Jyväskylä Paviljonki, which is one of Finland’s biggest trade fair and congress centres. A large number of volunteers, including over one hundred hospitality management students from JAMK University of Applied Sciences, are involved in the arrangements. t Nordic Business Forum Oy is part of Nordic Business Group. The Group’s other subsidiary, Nordic Business Investments Oy, is involved in real estate investment. t Nordic Business Group’s turnover during its first three years of operations: EUR 43 000 (2009), EUR 280 000 (2010), EUR 3.0 million (2011). t Nordic Business Forum 2013 26.–27.9.2013. Further information: www.nbforum.fi/2013.

HUMAN TECH CENTER FINLAND

From university studies to business ideas University researchers are increasingly interested in opportunities to make commercial use of their academic backgrounds and research. A new cooperative at the University of Jyväskylä is actively seeking business ideas from the human sciences. Words by Timo Sillanpää Photo By Petteri Kivimäki EXPERTISE IN MULTIPLE fields provides the potential to tailor services according to customer needs. Human Business, a cooperative set up by doctoral students at the University of Jyväskylä, is seeking to establish itself in markets requiring expertise from the social sciences and humanities. “The cooperative’s main areas of competence are wellbeing, culture and communications,” says Tiina Koivulahti, who is writing her doctoral thesis in art history. The eleven members of the Human Business cooperative are all experts and believe that customers will be interested in their multidisciplinary team’s competence and skills. The members’ own entrepreneurial spirit and services offered by the cooperative have been reinforced by team coaching provided by the Yrittäjäksi yliopistosta (‘Entrepreneurs from University’) project run by the Faculty of Humanities at the university. “The cooperative offers doctoral students an opportunity to commercialise and market the results of their own doctoral thesis. We hope that entrepreneurship will bring new employment opportunities and offer meaningful assignments. The cooperative will also provide a safety net for researchers starting out as entrepreneurs,” says Leena Ikonen, who is preparing her doctoral thesis in pedagogics.

trepreneurship and how to commercialise their own expertise. Issues investigated during the sessions include how the researchers would like to utilise their own scientific expertise. The coaching has also covered basic aspects of entrepreneurship, including how researchers can price and commercialise their expertise. Another important part of the training is exploring one’s own motivation and goals. The objective is for entrepreneurship training to become a permanent means of offering academic researchers new prospects for their own employment. “Writing a doctoral thesis is often a very lonely task. Students who have participated in the training sessions have found the group work rewarding. In addition, people with expertise in different fields can network in the groups and plan how to work together,” Heli Niskanen says. ■

Team coaching provides a good start In the past, human sciences PhDs have generally found employment at universities. The Yrittäjäksi yliopistosta (‘Entrepreneurs from University’) project, which was launched at the University of Jyväskylä in April 2010, uses entrepreneurship to promote the employment of PhDs from the Faculties of Humanities, Education, Social Sciences and Sport and Health Sciences. In 2011 a total of 85 human sciences PhDs graduated from the University of Jyväskylä. “A survey of doctoral students by the project revealed that around 90% wanted to take their expertise outside the university,” says Heli Niskanen, Project Manager. The project involves team coaching sessions, where the doctoral students have learnt the basics about en-

Doctoral students Tarja Hiltunen, Irma Äyräväinen, Eila Romo-Murphy, Leena Ikonen and Tiina Koivulahti hope that the recently established Human Business cooperative will deliver “meaningful assignments, independent work and joint projects involving different scientific fields”. The cooperative has 11 members in all.

FOCUS ON ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Jyväskylä Entrepreneur School

CREATIVITY AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP Jyväskylä Entrepreneur School’s teaching methods have brought a new spirit of enthusiastic teamwork to upper secondary schools in the Jyväskylä Region. Teachers take on the role of coaches while the students implement their entrepreneurship projects and learn how to get a team to work towards a common goal. Words by Timo Sillanpää Photos By Petteri Kivimäki

“THE MAIN OBJECTIVE IS THAT EVERYONE LEARNS TO WORK IN AN ENTREPRENEURIAL WAY, EVEN IF THEY DON’T START THEIR OWN BUSINESS.”

NETTA LAMMINMÄKI AND RONJA REIVINEN, two second year students at Muurame Upper Secondary School, are full of energy. The 17-year-olds are involved in their school’s entrepreneurship projects which aim to educate young people to adopt the principles of entrepreneurship and sustainable development. “By doing things together we can achieve a lot. Here in the west people are always in such a hurry that they don’t have time to think about the consequences of their actions. It’s really testing our planet’s capacity to cope,” Netta says. Ronja says that she stopped to think about the western way of life when she had read the Worldwatch Institute’s State of the World 2012. “Every individual consumer can make responsible choices. I buy my clothes second-hand from flea markets and I recycle as much as I can,” she explains.

ary school to them,” Netta and Ronja explain. The Entrepreneur School trains students and teachers to work in an entrepreneurial way by means of teamwork and project based learning. “It’s essential that the students become aware of their own abilities and skills, and think about how they should use them,” says Aki Puustinen, Headmaster of Muurame Upper Secondary School. Project learning has also meant changes in the teachers’ work – instead of their conventional role they now work as entrepreneurship coaches. “We do a lot of teaching by means of team learning. In fact, we’ve organised entire team weekends outside the school. The coaches have an important task in the teams because they have to be able to see what stage of development the student team has reached and provide sparring at the right times,” Puustinen notes.

Awareness of one’s own abilities

Learning through mistakes

Muurame is one of four upper secondary schools in the region involved in the Jyväskylä Entrepreneur School, which trains school students to work in an entrepreneurial way by means of teamwork and project based learning. In late 2012 Netta and Ronja planned a Business Camp for Year 9 students. Netta is the project manager and Ronja’s task is to highlight the theme of sustainable development. “Students in their last year at comprehensive school are faced by choices. We want to offer them an event that introduces the spirit of entrepreneurship. During the six-hour Business Camp, Year 9 students set up a practice company and plan its products and marketing. The Year 9 students are planning what they’ll do next, and we use the event to market our own upper second-

Even though students in the Entrepreneur School can choose study units related to entrepreneurship, the School’s purpose is not directly to get students to go on and set up their own company. “The main objective is that everyone learns to work in an entrepreneurial way, even if they don’t start their own business. Nowadays working life is based on projects and teamwork, and we want to give young people the appropriate training. The projects we do as part of this entrepreneurship education involve developing ideas into products and we also learn by making mistakes,” Puustinen says. The students at Muurame Upper Secondary School have implemented a variety of projects. The results have included winter events for children. Students who

HUMAN TECH CENTER FINLAND

Some of the ideas coming out of Muurame Upper Secondary School are fairly zany. On ‘woolly sock day’ all the students walked around in woollen socks and background noise was blocked out as far as possible. “We wanted to create a home-like atmosphere for one day. We have also run campaigns promoting road safety,” say Netta Lamminmäki and Ronja Reivinen.

have chosen to study sustainable development organise info spots at the school, collect empty bottles for recycling and carry out “litter raids”. The Entrepreneur School model developed in Jyväskylä Region has been so successful that its best practices are currently being introduced into more than 20 other upper secondaries around Finland. There are three central themes in the Entrepreneur School’s curriculum: project learning, working like an entrepreneur and creativity, as well as practising entrepreneurship, for example by working for a cooperative. Puustinen believes that in future new innovations, like the social media, mobile technology and tablet computers, will further change the way entrepreneurship is taught. Digital Storytelling, for example, encourages people with a common interest to share their stories and learn from each other’s materials. ■

Aki Puustinen, Headmaster of Muurame Upper Secondary School.

“Entrepreneurship means working in a practical and open-minded way. In the upper secondary school context it manifests itself in different ways of collaborating, and in a commitment to do things well and take responsibility for one’s own work.” Aki Puustinen 9

FOCUS ON ENTREPRENEURSHIP

YOUNG REBEL

”Here there’s every potential for growth and an opportunity to try out whatever one dares to.”

Team Academy is like an alarm clock which awakens the spark of intrapreneurship in young people. Many of those who graduate from JAMK University of Applied Sciences’ centre of excellence in entrepreneurship go on to establish their own business. At the beginning of 2013 this example of educational innovation celebrates its 20th anniversary. Words by Pia Tervoja Photos by Petteri Kivimäki 10

HU H UM MA AN N TT EE C CH H C C EE N N TT EE R R FF II N N LL A AN ND D

”I came to Team Academy straight For Team Academy internationalization is a from upper secondary value of paramount importance. Finnish youngschool. I was just no longer sters are encouraged to go on an exchange at one interested in the way of of the Team Academies abroad and young people learning used there.” Emma Soikkeli from other countries are welcomed to Jyväskylä in

”YOU ARE PRIVILEGED. This is what the organisations of the future look like,” stated one international visitor to Team Academy. The innovative educational model has aroused interest both in Finland and abroad for twenty years now. reciprocal fashion. The Centre of Excellence in Entrepreneurship func”Our aim is to increase international exchanges tioning within JAMK University of Applied Sciences ges of coaches and programmes.” constitutes a different way to study for the Bachelor of Business Administration degree. Right at the beginning Multi-track entrepreneurship of their studies students set up cooperative-style team enterprises which operate for the rest of their studies. ”I consider Team Academy an educational innovation Students are encouraged to develop themselves and that has been ahead of its time,” states Jussi Halttunen, venture into their own discomfort zones. Rector of JAMK University of Applied Sciences. ”Young people apply to us who are looking for someIn his view Team Academy has been a young rebel, thing which the traditional higher education world canwhich with its new-style practices and learning methnot offer. They have a desire to do things differently. ods has challenged the institution in which it is based. Our strength is learning by doing and doing things to”Team Academy has gone its own path, but its way gether. With the support of a team an individual can exof sparking intrapreneurship, courage and a service atceed himself,” says Team Academy’s Head young people has been wonderfully sucd Coach titude in yo cessfu Ulla Luukas. cessful.” ”What’s most imporUlla Ul Luukas and Jussi Halttunen are of High level of employment tant is to find your th the same opinion that generating new enown thing. Doing busi- trep trepreneurship requires cross-sectoral coThe level of employment amongst those ness is then a natural op operation. Luukas hopes a multi-track graduating from Team Academy is high. accompaniment.” Team Academy will emerge, which would Of those who have completed their stud-Tomi Salmi in bring together students in different fields ies nearly half work as entrepreneurs within with an interest in entrepreneurship under one two years of graduation. According to Ulla Luuroof. ing employ roof kas graduates’ high level of success in finding employment is the result of close cooperation with companies. New activation measures ”Building networks is important. We encourage JAMK University of Applied Sciences as a whole is curyoung people to go out as soon as possible and meet rently realigning its activities to provide more encourcustomers and to develop products and services in partagement for entrepreneurship. JAMK University of Apnership with clients. Many young people later on find plied Sciences accepts over 1 000 new students each employment at one of their client companies.” year and in future each will take basic studies in entreYoung people also take on important positions of repreneurship. sponsibility within Team Academy itself. Among other ”We’ll go through all our students with a fine tooth things they may act as brand managers, or as managers comb and examine how well different entrepreneurdealing with visitors and recruiting. The students are ship-related activation measures go down. A student also responsible for planning and arranging Team Acadcan obtain help if necessary with commercializing his or emy’s 20th anniversary celebrations. her idea. An idea can also be refined in one of our proInternationalization a key value toshops, such as the Schauman Service Lab which gets under way next year,” Jussi Halttunen continues. Team Academy has spread beyond Finland’s borders. In the rector’s view the key factors in promoting enForeign Team Academies can currently be found in trepreneurship are networks and close contact with Hungary, France, Holland and the Basque Country of working life. Spain. Team Academy also operates on an experimental ”For JAMK University of Applied Sciences the netbasis in Brazil and Britain. works of importance are the international EPAS-accred”The spread of Team Academy internationally has ited institutions of higher education, other partners, been driven purely by interest from customers. For our international visitors we have developed a Learning Exsuch as Harvard University and national partners, such pedition programme which provides an introduction to as Aalto University and the University of Jyväskylä.” ■ our learning methods. Generally the spark is generated in the course of the programme,” Ulla Luukas explains. www.tiimiakatemia.fi W ”For

us Team Academy’s 20th anniversary event is simultaneously a celebration of vision. We’re celebrating Europe’s leading, boundarybreaking educational unit devoted to team entrepreneurship. The gathering on January 19th will be attended by almost 1 000 guests”, say Team Academy students Ville Häll, Tomi Salmi (foreground), Anniina Maukonen and Emma Soikkeli.

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Coach Ulla Luukas.

FOCUS ON ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Which school pupil wouldn’t want a homework machine? A swimming propellor may one day help a non-swimmer to swim, an angling machine may handle catching fish completely independently and a homework machine could eventually take care of a pupil’s homework. In the Jyväskylä Region a new model for generating ideas has been introduced in creative and entrepreneur education. Words by Tommi Salo Photos by Petteri Kivimäki

“THE WONDERFUL THING ABOUT MINI IDIS IS THAT SMALL CHILDREN SEE THE DEVELOPMENT PATHS THAT PRODUCTS FOLLOW.”

IN THEIR HANDS young schoolchildren hold drawings of their dream machines. In the autumn of 2012 all the pupils at little Savio school developed all manner of fascinating devices to make every day life easier. An eating machine cuts up your food and feeds it to you. With a cycle machine the rider can sleep while on the move. A non-melting snowman takes summer in his stride and can do all the things a human can. In turn an aeroplane teaches small birds to fly. ”When I started thinking of different machines, suddenly a whole bunch of them came into my head. It was fun drawing them at school. My own favourite is a homework machine, because it does everything for you,” says 10 year old Julia Koskinen, who came up with eight different machines. Designing the machines is all part of the Mini Idis model, which is currently being piloted in the Jyväskylä Region by the City of Jyväskylä’s Innovation Services and YES Central Finland, an entrepreneurship education service. The Jyväskylä Region is the first area in Finland where the Belgian-influenced method of crea-

tive and entrepreneur education is to be tried out. Mini Idis begins with an ideas stage, where pre- and primary school pupils invent and draw their dream machines. During the design stage students in higher education draw up proposals on how the machines could be turned into reality. Subsequently, at the implementation stage, the technical drawings and working models are given to students at Jyväskylä College who, in collaboration with the pupil who suggested the idea and possibly with higher education students, build a prototype of the machine.

Building materials for workers of the future Tuula Leppäkari, Head of Savio school, developed an immediate interest in the new-style method of entrepreneur education and idea of encouraging creative thinking. ”The wonderful thing about Mini Idis is that small children see the development paths that products fol-

HUMAN TECH CENTER FINLAND

low. With the children we’ve gone over where goods of all kinds come from and how they are developed and designed. The purpose of the innovation is give these kids building materials for the future,” Leppäkari underlines. And the building materials for these workers of the 2020s Leppäkari finds easy to list. ”Later on, in working life, in addition to basic skills these children will need creativity and social skills; they’ll also have to be enterprising, articulate and capable of acquiring information.” Leppäkari also considers it important that the children become accustomed at a young age to presenting their ideas and suggestions to others and to expressing their thoughts both orally and in writing.

Model to be rolled out all over Finland Mini Idis, which will be implemented in the autumn of 2012 and spring of 2013, is a pilot model. The idea is to disseminate positive experiences from the project

throughout Finland in the course of 2013. In the spring of 2013 the children’s stories and drawings will compiled as a summary into a separate booklet. The spring of 2013 will also reveal what form the dream machines drawn by the young schoolchildren will take in practice. ”It was fun to lie on the floor of the gym designing machines and then drawing them on paper. It would be great to see them sometime in their finished state, too,” 10 year old Maija Pastinen says thoughtfully. ■

S Primary

school children came up with machines to make everyday life easier. Seen here presenting their ideas are Benjami Ylhänen (left), Semi Hänninen and Julia Koskinen (right), who among other things developed a non-melting snowman.

MINI IDIS t A novel method of creative and entrepreneurship education in which all levels of education from pre-schools to universities are tied into common innovating and doing. t Generation in the idea stage of models of dream machines, in the design stage of proposals for turning these into reality and in the implementation stage of machine prototypes. t In the Jyväskylä Region the Mini Idis model will be piloted in 2012–2013 by the City of Jyväskylä’s Innovation Services and YES Central Finland, an entrepreneurship education service. t The idea originates from Belgium (MyMachine).

FOCUS ON ENTREPRENEURSHIP

The full picture of entrepreneurship What could be a better way of learning the ground rules of entrepreneurship than by starting your own business? Move NY, a YE mini-company established by students of tourism at Jyväskylä College, offers recreational and wellness packages with an emphasis on action. Words by Pia Tervoja Photo by Petteri Kivimäki

”RESPONSIBILITY AND SELF-HELP”, respond six tourist services students with one voice when asked what entrepreneurship has taught them. The business owned by Sarianna Kuula, Tiia Muhonen, Roosa Siekkinen, Iina Hämäläinen, Juuso Kakkonen and Saara Mäkinen is called Move NY. The letters NY at the end of the name reveal that this is not a limited company but a YE mini-company operating within the college and that running the business is part of the ‘Year as an Entrepreneur’ study programme.

Possible career option For six years now it has been possible to study entrepreneurship at Jyväskylä College in a practical manner. The busi-nesses established by students operate te like a real company, but at the same timee the students receive advice and guidance ce from coaches. The budding entrepre-neurs can also make use of the college’s premises and equipment. ”Undisputedly a good way of learning entrepreneurship. I was also around at the time when entrepreneurship was taught on an overhead projector in the classroom,” says coach Timo Lehtonen. Coach Tea Ruppa also points out that in a YE company young people get to see entrepreneurship from all sides. ”YE entrepreneurship teaches students how to work as a group, all the aspects of managing a project, customer service and handling feedback. In the process the youngsters also become acquainted with financial management issues.” During the autumn Move NY arranged 14

”It’s a completely letely different thing to learn entrepreneurship by running an actual business than, say, attending a course on the subject,” say Move NY’s young entrepreneurs Sarianna Kuula (left), Tiia Muhonen, Iina Hämäläinen, Saara Mäkinen, Roosa Siekkinen and Juuso Kakkonen (front).

a variety of entertainment, events and hands-on activities for its clients. The autumn’s principal project was participation in Germany’s Christmas markets, at which the company an ice skating event for children and marketed Finnish products to market-goers. ”We gave them a small taste of various Finnish delicacies and in doing so provided a picture of Finnish food culture,” recount Sarianna Kuula, who has been appointed Move NY’s Managing Director.

Each student has his or her own role in the business. Kuula underlines that all take care of their own area of responsibility while implementing a jointly agreed business idea – going it alone is not allowed. For the students involved experience of running a business means that entrepreneurship is now a serious career option. ”Not all of us will become entrepreneurs, but we can all learn to approach work with an entrepreneurial attitude,” Tea Ruppa states. ■ HUMAN TECH CENTER FINLAND

Entrepreneur Tiina Huhtaniemi, who runs the Titityy thread shop, found suitable premises for her business as well as great atmosphere in Toivola Old Courtyard’s log building.

Toivola Old Courtyard:

An anchor entrepreneur was sought for Toivola Old Courtyard to take responsibility for renovating the buildings and getting the firms’ business activities under way. Margo Saxberg took up the challenge and agreed to purchase the buildings outright. ”In my view it was the only correct way to develop the yard”, says the entrepreneur.

A journey back in time and a new opening for entrepreneurs Words by Pia Tervoja Photos by Petteri Kivimäki A SLICE OF JYVÄSKYLÄ’S HISTORY as a city built of wood has come back to life. Toivola Old Courtyard, now fully restored, represents a typical 19th century homestead in which the main building, constructed in log, fronts onto the street, while various outbuildings are located at the rear of the yard. ”Smith Herman Toivola’s yard has been carefully transformed, with respect for the old buildings on the site, into a fascinating rendezvous for today’s townspeople and tourists alike. The place provides a wonderful showcase for Jyväskylä’s cultural heritage. The yard permits an engaging trip back into an age when Jyväskylä consisted of wooden houses,” says Museum Director Heli-Maija Voutilainen from the Museum of Central Finland. Toivola Old Courtyard is also a fine example of partnership between actors in the public and private sectors. Renovation of the buildings and the start of business operations in the yard are the responsibility of entrepreneur Margo Saxberg. The City of Jyväskylä, which owns the plot, drew up a project plan for the location. The Museum of Central Finland transferred two craftsmen’s houses built in the 1840s – the coppersmith’s and carpenter’s houses – to the site. Craft and artisanship still constitute the underlying theme of what goes on at Toivola Old Courtyard. The yard houses the workshops of no less than nine craftsmen. The yard also functions as a market place for local and organic food from producers in Jyväskylä and the surrounding area. In the run-up to Christmas the yard will be filled with small Yuletide cabins selling all kinds of Christmas delicacies and local craft products. ■

Today’s artisans continue the craft traditions. Smith Markus Ahola’s firm Manalanpaja operates in the same building as Herman Toivola’s smithy back in the 1800s.

Entrepreneur Johanna Harju’s boutique Wishwear Waatehtimo sells romantic and original clothing items in a house that was once a a private maternity hospital. The business also includes a dressmaker’s shop offering a made-to-measure service.

Stepping bravely into an entrepreneur’s shoes Sami Poikonen dared to establish his own business, unaided. At no stage of his fledgling entrepreneurial career, however, did he need to go it alone. Words by Tommi Salo Photo by Mikko Takkunen

THE FREEDOM TO MAKE decisions oneself versus having to make decisions on other people’s terms. The motivation to do things out of personal passion versus the responsibility of doing things according to the wishes of others. Sami Poikonen, who founded Emergem Oy in 2012, was attracted by the former factors considerably more than the latter. Poikonen, who had worked for various companies in the IT field for some time, decided to start a business of his own because he saw a gap in the market for a small and agile player. Jyväskylä-based Emergem Oy produces information, document and content management services. In Poikonen’s words Emergem seeks to assist companies with managing documents and transferring companies’ employees from email to better functioning environments such as social media. Emergem was born global and born digital. In Poikonen’s view the step from salaried employee to entrepreneur was not entirely simple. When working for a big industry player support and security are always close at hand. In a small enterprise, on the other hand, responsibility and routine tasks always fall to the entrepreneur him- or herself. ”There’s certainly a threshold to becoming an entrepreneur, if you have a family and a mortgage to pay,” Poikonen suggests.

At Protomo experimentation costs nothing At no point in the enterprise’s start-up phase was Poikonen left high and dry. Emergem began its activities at Protomo, a multidisciplinary and collaborative innovation and enterprise environment. It provides skilled individuals who are interested in

a career as an entrepreneur with free workspace and facilities, community support and the opportunity to spar with experts regarding bringing new products and services to market without immediate entrepreneur risk. ”For a new entrepreneur the threshold for starting operations at Protomo is low. There you can refine and test your business idea without immediately incurring expenses. Protomo puts a workspace and meeting facilities at your disposal. At Protomo there are also many other entrepreneurs who are at the same stage with whom you can talk about operating methods and challenges that have come up,” Poikonen continues. He also considers it important that Protomo may provide an introduction to potential clients for the new business. Emergem has already established its first significant client contacts. Poikonen, in tandem with one salaried employee, has already completed projects for Finland, Sweden and Britain. Two thirds of the firm’s turnover currently comes from outside Finland. According to Poikonen Emergem is aiming to become one of the top companies in Northern Europe in its own narrow area of special expertise over the next five years. ”In future, where companies are concerned, it’s going to be vital to achieve more in a shorter space of time, in other words to get the most out of their present employees. All the enterprise’s wheels have to be made to turn in the same direction. For this reason a company’s IT systems have to be given a thorough examination,” comments Poikonen on the tasks that lie ahead. ■ www.emergem.fi

ENTERPRISE FACTORY SIFTS HUNDREDS OF BUSINESS IDEAS – AND POLISHES THE BEST INTO DIAMONDS By Tommi Salo Jyväskylä Enterprise Factory supports the creation and development of growth enterprises in the Jyväskylä Region. Launched in November, the aim of the Enterprise Factory is to find hundreds of business ideas, the best of which make it through the development process to the growth incubator. Incubator services are offered to enterprises setting up in the Jyväskylä Region. Jyväskylä Enterprise Factory lays down a path via which support for the development of a business idea can be provided at all stages. A budding entrepreneur refining his or her product or service idea has access to services

from the moment inspiration strikes right through to a growth incubator. “Jyväskylä Enterprise Factory clarifies the roles of different actors in preincubator and incubator services in the Jyväskylä Region. What’s more, its activities accelerate and streamline the start of enterprises’ business activities, because ideas are not transferred from one player to another,” says Director Risto Kinnunen of Jyväskylä Regional Development Company Jykes Ltd. Jyväskylä Enterprise Factory is sponsored jointly by JAMK University of Applied Sciences, the University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä Innovation Oy (Protomo), Suomen Yrityskehitys Oy, Tuhansien Järvien Uusyrityskeskus ry and Jyväskylä Regional Development Company Jykes Ltd. ■

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“At Protomo there are also many other entrepreneurs who are at the same stage with whom you can talk about operating methods and challenges that have come up.” Sami Poikonen

Man on the move. Jyväskyläbased Emergem Oy’s Sami Poikonen spends part of his time in London working for clients.

Cyber threats create opp Cyber attacks represent a real risk to the functioning of the information society. One of Finland’s most important clusters for education and research in information security is being built in the Jyväskylä Region. Words by Timo Sillanpää Illustration by Martti Hänninen

ATTACKS TARGETING INFORMATION networks have become an everyday occurrence. Finland takes cyber threats seriously, because a successful attack could cripple the whole of society. The Finnish Government has introduced a programme that aims to make Finland a global pioneer in cyber threat preparedness by 2016. “Cyber attacks can impede and interfere with services in IT-based societies, produce data leaks, and cause damage. In particular, research based education in information security should be increased,” says Mikko Siponen, Professor of Information Systems at the University of Jyväskylä. During the last few years universities have sought to bring new skills into the field by increasing research and education in cyber security. In autumn 2011

the University of Jyväskylä introduced courses on information security for Master’s and PhD students. “In autumn 2013 these courses will be expanded to form a Master’s Programme in Information Security. It will support Jyväskylä’s leading position as an education and research cluster for information security,” says Pekka Neittaanmäki, Dean of the Faculty of Information Technology at the University of Jyväskylä.

Opportunities for new business JAMK University of Applied Sciences is launching its own Master’s Degree Programme in Information Technology. The programme is targeted at students with a Bachelor of Engineering in ICT, or equivalent, who have at least three years’ relevant experience after graduating. “There’s been a lack of cyber security education and JAMK is now the first University of Applied Sciences to respond to this need. In future, cyber security related content will increasingly be included in Bachelor of Engineering studies,” states Jarmo Siltanen, Head of ICT and R&D Manager, JAMK University of Applied Sciences.

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portunities for business There are many types of cyber threat. Cyber criminals and cyber terrorists, for example, have different objectives. “The scale extends all the way from nerdy hackers to state cyber warfare,” Siltanen explains. Even though a cyber attack is a nightmare scenario, cyber threats can provide new opportunities for business. It has been calculated that the worldwide market for protection against cyber attacks will have reached 80 billion dollars by 2017. Two projects currently running at the University of Jyväskylä – Cyberwar and Truly Project – aim at com-

mercialising the outcomes of research studies. The Cyberwar project seeks to develop a method of protecting information systems by studying abnormal models of behaviour among masses of data, and then performing an analysis and determining the seriousness of the observed behaviours for information security. Truly Project aims to develop methods to protect digital media such as video games, movies and music. “These projects are supported by scientific breakthroughs achieved during almost five years of research. The aim is to create new international business activities within a few years,” Neittaanmäki states. ■

New laboratory to test cyber threats THE JYVSECTEC PROJECT, which is coordinated by JAMK and partially funded by the ERDF, aims to develop information security expertise in collaboration with specialized companies. The companies involved in the project are Cassidian Finland Oy, Descom Oy, Relator Oy, Ajeco Oy and Jyväskylä Regional Development Company Jykes Ltd. “At the moment a laboratory is under construction to develop and test solutions for protection against information security threats, and at the same time provide related training. The objective is to create an internationally significant cluster in the security sector which will work closely with companies and other players,” Jarmo Siltanen says.

Cassidian Finland Oy, which is involved in the project, is the world’s leading player in the field of security and defence systems. According to Vesa Arkko, Senior Manager at Cassidian Finland, JYVSECTEC supports the further development of the company’s cyber security expertise and business activities. The project has attracted interest not only in Finland, but also within Cassidian’s international network of contacts. “The field of cyber security is a growing area of business. Cyber security affects all companies and organisations, because the pursuit of economic advantage and ideological conflicts lead to increased cyber attacks. We believe that Finnish cyber security expertise will become a significant export product,” Arkko says. ■

Cyber security affects all companies and organisations because the pursuit of economic advantage and ideological conflicts lead to increased cyber attacks. Vesa Arkko, Senior Manager at Cassidian Finland 19

Right there where it’s happening Mobile devices permit learning beyond the walls of the classroom too. At the University of Jyväskylä mobile learning is being developed in partnership with companies and users. In addition to learning, the focus is on supporting the well-being of children and young people. Words by Pia Tervoja Photos by Petteri Kivimäki

“SMART PHONES AND TABLET COMPUTERS ARE PART OF CHILDREN’S EVERYDAY EXPERIENCE. SCHOOLS, TOO, HAVE TO STAY ABREAST OF DEVELOPMENT.”

”EVERY DAY YOU GET a new game as a reward, provided you’ve answered all the questions. But it’s not just because of the game that we take part. The programme tells you how to make the push and improve your eating or physical exercise, for instance,” explain fifth-graders Ella Linna and Heini Huovinen. Class 5A of Jyväskylä’s Keljo school tested a mobile application supporting life management skills, the purpose being to underpin pupils’ feeling of control over their own lives. The application monitors a pupil’s everyday affairs and generates reminders about the amount of sleep and the importance of social contacts, among other things. Class teacher Maarit Hentunen is content that her own class was chosen to take part in the University of Jyväskylä’s Personal Mobile Space project, which is engaged in studying mobile service solutions developed for promoting and maintaining well-being and learning as well as evaluating their usefulness. ”Smart phones and tablet computers are part of children’s everyday experience. Schools, too, have to stay abreast of development,” Hentunen says. She considers mobile devices support learning in a variety of ways. Some pupils learn best by reading, some by listening and others by doing. Mobile devices permit different kinds of learners to find motivation. ”With the help of mobile devices pupils can also learn

from each other. For instance, we experimented with self-made audio-books. The pupils recount a particular period of history which is simultaneously recorded on a phone and the other pupils get to listen to it and make comments.”

Classroom walls disappear The experiences of pupils and teachers at Keljo school correspond with the picture formed by the research team at the University of Jyväskylä’s Agora Center, Faculty of Information Technology and the Finnish Institute of Educational Research regarding the potential of mobile services. ”Mobile services can enrich and diversify learning and bring new-style ways of working to learning situations.

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EXAMPLES OF MOBILE SERVICES DEVELOPED AT THE UNIVERSITY OF JYVÄSKYLÄ Nature Tour The mobile service functions during a nature tour as a tool for observation and documentation. The service permits species of flora and fauna to be captured in the form of photographs and sound recordings, and observations to be sent to a server from which they can later be accessed via a www user interface. A Visit to the Zoo A map of Ähtäri zoo functions as the basis of this service. At various animal enclosures marked on the route the user can open a

At best the teacher and pupils exit the classroom, allowing learning to expand into different operating environments. With a mobile device to accompany you, learning can take place wherever,” says Researcher Jenni Rikala. ”Previously you had to go into the computer room, but now information technology is right there where you are and where the real things happen”, Professor Pekka Neittaanmäki continues.

Easily adopted In the course of the Personal Mobile Space project a number of mobile services have been developed for use by people of different ages. ”We took as our point of departure teachers’ and

brief profile of the animal in question. Also includes mini-games involving the animals. Catch the Flag Is a kinematic team game in which the players try to steal flags from opponents directed by the game on a virtual playing field visible on a mobile device. In order to take possession of the flag a player has to approach the flag in the real world and then run away from his or her opponents. The game, with its emphasis on physical movement, is best played during the school break.

Last autumn fifth-graders Veeti Jäntti, Innocent Nchimiyimana, Emil Koskinen, Heini Huovinen, Maria Karvonen and Ella Linna tested a mobile service that supports life management skills. Smart phones were also used in a number of other ways for study purposes.

pupils’ needs and the ideas they put forward. On the basis of these we came up with application prototypes to be tried out in different target environments and situations, such as in schools, in a zoo, and on nature tours. User experiences have been positive and enthusiastic,” says Postdoctoral Researcher Tuula Nousiainen. ”The aim is to promote 21st century skills, such as the learning and development of collaborative problemsolving, communication, ITC expertise and creativity,” states Research Professor Marja Kankaanranta. ”The development of learning solutions is challenging because information and communications technology is evolving at a breathtaking pace. We’re pondering what the future might have in store for us,” comments Research Coordinator Mikko Vesisenaho. ■ 21

Circus works its magic “Circus isn’t just made up of individual stunts – it’s about the way the performers use their bodies to express themselves in movement. Circus is a way of life, a way of thinking.” This view of the essence of circus comes from Seija Hakkarainen, who has brought together a contemporary circus group in Jyväskylä. Words by Tommi Salo

THE MAGIC OF THE CIRCUS has been around for centuries, but where does it come from? According to Seija Hakkarainen, Executive Director of Circus Uusi Maailma (Circus New World), it is created by boldly breaking the bounds of normal everyday life. Making a place where social norms no longer apply. Globally Wanted, for example, which was first performed in late 2011, has been described as ”intimidating and yet enjoyably fulfilling”. It is a mystical and twisted family reunion, with love, violence, loneliness and crippled minds and bodies. The contemporary circus group behind Globally Wanted, Circus Uusi Maailma, is based in Jyväskylä. Founded in 2006, it performs in Finland and abroad – both indoors and out. Acrobatics, music, non-verbal theatre, dance, parkour and light are all used as means of communication in the performances.

Contacts with Germany and Russia In addition to Finland, Globally Wanted has been performed in Germany and Sweden. Circus Uusi Maailma has also appeared in Russia. “Globally Wanted was well received in Germany, where there is hardly any contemporary circus. It was seen as communicating in a sensitive way and yet at a deep level,” Hakkarainen says. She adds that Globally Wanted may also be performed abroad

in 2013. Hakkarainen says that Circus Uusi Maailma is looking for international contacts, mainly in Russia, the Baltic countries and Eastern Europe. Also, there is an interesting touring network in Netherlands, and a fertile ground for contemporary circus in France, where Cirque Nouveau was born in the 1970s. July 2013 will see the first performance of a new show, Border Line. Set in the future, it is the story of six people who are stuck in a bunker. It will be performed in the old Kangas paper mill in Jyväskylä and can also be booked for indoor spaces in Finland or abroad. Hakkarainen believes that Game Over, which will be performed for the first time in 2014, will also attract international attention. It combines the logic of electronic games, persecution and torture. In addition to its performances, Circus Uusi Maailma organises acrobatics courses and workshops for both children and adults. The acrobatics courses not only teach physical skills and techniques but also emphasise the dimensions of expression and performance. “Interest in circus is growing all the time. It’s to do with basic human nature. People are always looking for new forms of selfexpression,” Hakkarainen states. www.uusimaailma.org

Kerrostalo (A Block of Flats) T JIRI HALTTUNEN

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JARMO LAHTINEN Winter W

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Globally Wanted T JARMO LAHTINEN

JIRI HALTTUNEN

Seuraava Maailma (A Following World) T

“INTEREST IN CIRCUS IS GROWING ALL THE TIME. IT’S TO DO WITH BASIC HUMAN NATURE.

“Moving my company to Jyväskylä was easy” Opportunities for leisure activities and the availability of good housing attracted Jarkko Ässämäki to the Jyväskylä Region. Support was also provided to help him relocate his company. Words by Tommi Salo Photos by Petteri Kivimäki, Suomen Ilmakuva Oy RELOCATING A COMPANY involves challenges for both the business and its employees and their families. Jarkko Ässämäki, owner of Minestrone Oy, took up the challenge in 2010. He moved from Tampere to the Jyväskylä Region with his family in spring 2010 and transferred his business to Jyväskylä at the beginning of 2011. Minestrone Oy was started in 2004 and its main activity is foodstuff imports. Jarkko Ässämäki’s family found a new home in Laukaa near Jyväskylä. His wife got a nurs“I ENJOY LIVING IN ing job in Jyväskylä and places were available for his two children at a local THE JYVÄSKYLÄ day care centre, which can also provide REGION. round-the-clock care if necessary. EVERYTHING IS “I enjoy living in the Jyväskylä ReFAIRLY CLOSE AND gion. Everything is fairly close and THERE ARE PLENTY there are plenty of services available. OF SERVICES Even my social life has improved, beAVAILABLE. EVEN cause in Tampere I didn’t have the MY SOCIAL LIFE HAS chance to do very much apart from runIMPROVED.” ning my company,” Ässämäki says. He especially likes the opportunities for sports and leisure activities in Jyväskylä Region. He enjoys riding enduro and diving in the local lakes, and he is also a part-time diving instructor.

Help to find new premises In addition to his private life, Jarkko Ässämäki started a new ‘business life’ in the Jyväskylä Region. He trans24

ferred all the activities of the company he owns to Jyväskylä as soon as he had found suitable premises. He was able to find premises totalling around 1 000 square metres for his office and storage facility very close to the centre of Jyväskylä.

Moving was surprisingly easy “Moving my company to Jyväskylä was surprisingly easy. The biggest challenge was finding suitable premises, but I got help from the regional development company, estate agents and my own contacts.” Products for Minestrone come to Jyväskylä from the Netherlands and Baltic countries. They include nuts, dried fruit and energy drinks. In Jyväskylä orders are made up ready for shipping to customers around Finland. In terms of customer service, Ässämäki cannot see any real difference between Jyväskylä and Tampere. ■ HUMAN TECH CENTER FINLAND

ADVICE AND CONTACTS FOR COMPANIES SETTING UP IN JYVÄSKYLÄ By Tommi Salo

Jarkko Ässämäki

The professional staff at Jyväskylä Regional Development Company Jykes Ltd. have helped numerous companies of different sizes to expand their activities or completely relocate to the Jyväskylä Region. When a company has made the decision to come to the Jyväskylä Region, Jykes’ Location Services work with the company to draw up a practical action plan. The end result is that the company starts operations in Jyväskylä. Location Services provide practical help rather than simply producing reports. Companies can access a range of services including advice on financing, information on premises and staff availability, and support in finding clients

and partners. All stages of the establishment process are closely monitored and help is also offered during the relocation stage. “Companies that are setting up here don’t necessarily have solid and accurate information on the Jyväskylä Region. Our aim is to help companies to grow their business and create new jobs,” says Harri Heinänen, Sales Manager at Jykes. He adds that the Jyväskylä Region offers companies extensive partnership networks, high level skills, motivated and committed employees, and an excellent location in the centre of Finland. The fact that Jyväskylä is one of Finland’s most important growth centres also boosts the region’s attractiveness. ■ www.jykes.fi

IN BRIEF

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THE ENTREPRENEURIAL UNIVERSITY LETS THE BRIGHTEST STUDENTS SHINE By Pia Tervoja The societies of the Nordic countries and USA differ in the opportunities and challenges they offer to entrepreneurship and entrepreneurship education. “In American society the culture of entrepreneurship is in-built and entrepreneurship starts with the students’ own initiative,” says Juha Perälampi, Senior Lecturer at JAMK University of Applied Sciences and Manager of the JAMK Busi-

ness Incubator. Perälampi, who was a speaker at Stanford University’s ‘Building the Entrepreneurial University’ conference, states that the strength of the Nordic countries and Finland is that their citizens have a high level of education and skills. “In economic terms we are a stable and well developed society. By nature we are hard-working, reliable people who always manage to pull through.” He believes that one threat facing Finland is

excessive equality, which can lead to important potential and human resources being wasted. “We should also recognise the brightest people and encourage them to shine. One way to do this is to create an entrepreneurial university. JAMK University of Applied Sciences is making strong progress in this direction. This means a comprehensive approach, where entrepreneurship is part of the overall strategy and permeates all units at both the personnel and student levels,” Perälampi explains. ■

ENVIRONMENTAL TECHNOLOGY DEAL OPENS A BUSINESS CHANNEL FROM JYVÄSKYLÄ TO CHINA 10 km

By Tommi Salo MK Protech Oy, a Jyväskylä-based environmental engineering company, is planning a sludge treatment plant for the city of Kunming in southwestern China and will also supply key equipment for the project. The total value of investment in the plant will be EUR 25 million, of which MK Protech’s share comprises overall planning of the plant’s process section, the training of personnel, start-up of the process and the supply of key equipment. The plant will be built by Chinese contractors under the supervision of MK Protech. According to current plans the plant will be completed at the end of 2013. Planning the delivery of the sludge treatment plant was started subsequent to 2005, when the cities of Kunming and Jyväskylä signed a friendship agreement covering the exchange of knowhow in business, culture, science and technology. At that time representatives of the two cities began discussions about environmental-branch expertise in Central Finland. ”The plant process would not have got under way without the establishment of ties to Kunming by Jyväskylä Regional Development Company Jykes Ltd. We had just the right technology

Kunming

Lake Dianchi

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for the needs of the people there,” says MK Protech’s Sales Director Heikki Kutinlahti. Signing an agreement for the plant is a groundbreaking step because the assumption is that it will open up new environmental-branch business opportunities for Central Finland-based firms with Kunming partners. ■ www.mk-protech.fi

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JYVÄSKYLÄ FESTIVAL 9.–14.7.2013 Jyväskylä Festival is a warm-spirited urban festival that offers concerts, non-verbal theatre, seminars, clubs, a children’s programme, free events and even instruction.

HOUSING FAIR 2014 WILL UNVEIL MODERN HOMES FOR ALL TO SEE By Tommi Salo The Housing Fair to be organized in the summer of 2014 in Jyväskylä will showcase the latest trends in Finnish housing design and construction and set a direction for future building. On display at the Housing Fair will be 37 single family dwellings and one block of flats which all visitors to the fair will be able to explore over a period of a month. Staged annually in Finland, the Housing Fair attracts approximately 150 000 visitors to the host city. The Housing Fair in Jyväskylä will see the creation of a modern residential area situated close to the city centre in which residents will be able to enjoy the best aspects of a close-tonature lifestyle and compact urban existence. Where construction of the homes and area is concerned particular attention will be paid to the use of wooden materials, Green Factor piloting in Finland, lighting and ecological values in house building. In the Housing Fair area the spirit of one of Finland’s most famous architects, Alvar Aalto, will also be honoured by combining the diverse housing models of today with imaginative, boundary-breaking architecture. ■ X Housing

Fair in Jyväskylä 11.7.–10.8.2014. www.jyvaskyla.fi/international ANTERO TENHUNEN /HOUSING FAIR FINLAND COOP

EVENTS 8.–10.3. Building Trade and Home Renovation 2013 Special exhibition for constructional engineering and professional building repair. Venue: Jyväskylä Paviljonki International Congress and Trade Fair Centre www.jklpaviljonki.fi 22.–23.3. The 3rd European Conference for Social Work Research – ECSWR 2013 Venue: Rantasipi Laajavuori www.jyu.fi/en/research/congress/ecswr2013 17.–19.4. FinnGraf 2013 FinnGraf 2013 will provide a full picture of the various combinations of media production. Venue: Jyväskylä Paviljonki International Congress and Trade Fair Centre http://finngraf.fi 15.–16.5. Infratech 2013 Exhibition Finland’s largest seminar and exhibition event for the public utilities industry. Venue: Jyväskylä Paviljonki International Congress and Trade Fair Centre www.yhdyskuntatekniikka.fi 24.–25.5. Mobile Telephony in the Developing World Conference – Mobile Technology, Gender and Development Venue: University of Jyväskylä http://mobiletelephony-developingworld. blogspot.fi 5.–7.6. Language and Super-diversity: Explorations and interrogations The aim of this international conference is to investigate the perspective and potential offered by super-diversity to language study – for example, linguistics, sociolinguistics, sociology of language, linguistic anthropology, applied linguistics, discourse studies, new literacy studies, pragmatics, ethnography and multi-modality. Venue: University of Jyväskylä www.jyu.fi/en/congress/superdiversity

areas of music and emotion. Venue: University of Jyväskylä www.jyu.fi/hum/laitokset/musiikki/en/icme3 1.–3.7. Reliable Methods of Mathematical Modelling, RMMM-2013 RMMM 2013 brings together scientists working to achieve reliable methods of mathematical modelling, which are among the latest developments on the field of scientific computing. Venue: University of Jyväskylä 4.–5.7. 12th European Conference on Information Warfare and Security, ECIW 2013 ECIW will address elements of both theory and practice of all aspects of Information Warfare and Security, and offers an opportunity for academics, practitioners and consultants involved in these areas to come together and exchange ideas. Venue: University of Jyväskylä http://academic-conferences.org/eciw/eciw2013/ eciw13-home.htm 9.–14.7. Jyväskylä Festival Venue: Jyväskylä Region www.jyvaskylankesa.fi 31.7.–3.8. Neste Oil Rally Finland 2013 Venue: Jyväskylä Region www.nesteoilrallyfinland.fi 24.–25.8. Alvar Aalto Design Seminar New Wave Venue: Jyväskylä www.alvaraalto.fi 28.–30.8. Interpersonal Violence Interventions – Social and Cultural Perspectives Venue: University of Jyväskylä, Agora 4.–6.9. Wood and Bioenergy 2013 Venue: Jyväskylä Region www.jklpaviljonki.fi PETTERI KIVIMÄKI

5.–7.6. ENROAC2013 – the 9th European Network for Research in Organisational & Accounting Change Venue: University of Jyväskylä, School of Business and Economics www.jyu.fi/jsbe/en/research/enroac2013

Every year, for four weeks in July-August, various living solutions and residential areas are showcased at the Housing Fair.

11.–15.6. The 3rd International Conference on Music & Emotion, ICME3 The conference will bring together leading researchers, teachers, and practitioners from different

Academy of Finland Research Fellow Geoff Luck will act as conference chair at the 3rd International Conference on Music & Emotion.

an ordinary girl who goes to an extraordinary kindergarten in Jyväskylä – she and her friends exercise more than twice as much at their kindergarten than most children their age. Laura goes to a private Treasure Island kindergarten in Jyväskylä, which is a new Finnish innovation based on humanizing. The new idea behind the Treasure Island kindergartens is that their imaginative adventures combine music and exercise.

LAURA IS

child in Finland could go to a Treasure Island kindergarten, Laura would make 220,000 new friends every year. And if every child exercised as much as the children who go to Treasure Island, our children would be the most active children in Europe – which would save us over 15 million euros a year in healthcare costs. And that’s not all: in a few decades we would have the healthiest adults in Europe. This would mean huge savings at the municipal level alone.

IF EVERY

new Treasure Island kindergartens are being established all over Finland and the Treasure Island model is being made into an international export concept. This exceptional nursery school innovation is complemented by the use of service vouchers, which are used to offer private kindergarten services to customers.

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F OR MORE information, please visit: www.aarresaari.fi

Above all, Treasure Island Kindergartens is a company that has understood the power of humanizing. The organization behind the concept of humanizing is Human Tech Center Finland – HTC, which assembles specialists, researchers and enterprises worldwide in order to develop new and successful products from a human perspective – products that are humanized. www.humantechnology.fi HTC’s impetus is provided by Jyväskylä Regional Development Company Jykes Ltd, the City of Jyväskylä, the University of Jyväskylä, JAMK University of Applied Sciences, Jyväskylä Educational Consortium, Jyväskylä Innovation Ltd, Ääneseudun Kehitys Ltd, Jämsek Ltd and the Regional Council of Central Finland.

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