The Flavoria Innovation Festival, organised by the University of Turku and WiseFood – Resource Wise Food Chains project once again brought together students to solve real business challenges on 11–15 November 2024.
The five-day Flavoria Innovation Festival brought together around 60 students from the Universities of Turku and Helsinki, Turku University of Applied Sciences and Turku Vocational Institute.
During the week, student teams solved real challenges given by companies in the fields of sustainability, circular economy and responsibility. The students were able to develop their skills through the Design Sprint methodology and received sparring from expert mentors. On Friday, the teams presented their solutions to companies at the closing ceremony.
Multidisciplinary teams and real business challenges
During the event, the students worked in multidisciplinary teams to solve the challenges presented by five companies: Juustopuoti, Birkkala Farm, Unica restaurants, Co-operative Turun Osuuskauppa and Raisio Plc. Topics ranged from developing environmentally friendly practices to new product development ideas.
The team of Sevil Khikmatova, Jim Slotte and Koushik Mittra solved the challenge of introducing international people to Finnish grocery stores, set by Turun Osuuskauppa.
“It was a pretty intense week, but we had a great team, and we became close during the week," says Slotte.
In the challenge presented by Raisio, the students got to consider possibilities for using the nutrient-rich by-product of oat bran.
The team of Emma Jokilammi, Aino Valtonen, Violetta Massala and Fanny Lundstedt tackled the challenge with a playful take.
“The Innovation Week was a fun experience, and it was great to see how much you can get done in five days. The feedback from the company representatives also helped us to develop our idea," says Valtonen.
There were many international students among the students, and the team of Amitha Wickrama, Niina Hytönen and Nhi Kieu particularly appreciated the opportunity to network and get to know local companies.
“Choosing one particular idea was a challenge, but the support of the jury helped. It was a fun and practical way to learn," says Wickrama.
The popular event will be continued
This year, participants were offered a unique opportunity to apply for a study trip to Japan, organised and funded by the City of Turku and the Sasakawa Foundation. A group of five students were selected for the trip based on their active participation, motivation letter and teamwork skills.
The Flavoria Innovation Festival once again received high praise from the participants. The week was a new learning experience for many students, and also provided an opportunity to network with other students and business representatives.
The next Flavoria Innovation Festival will take place in autumn 2025, and students from different institutions are again welcome to participate.
The Flavoria Innovation Festival was organised as part of the EU co-funded WiseFood – Resource Wise Food Chains project in collaboration with the City of Turku and Turku Vocational Institute.
