About the competition
The world is changing. Luckily, it can be changed for the better. The Spring Idea Competition offers young people an opportunity to impact matters close to them. The competition aims to strengthen the young people’s agency and confidence in the future.
The Spring Idea Competition is a competition for young people aged 15–19. The competition is open to teams of 3–5 people with their own idea. The idea can be big or small and can solve a problem or seize an opportunity. You can participate as part of your studies or in your free time all over Finland.
This spring, the Spring Idea Competition invited 15-19-year-old youths to develop ideas that improve the world, and thousands of young people responded the challenge. Now, out of hundreds of ideas, six of the most promising have been selected for the Spring final. It’s time to choose the winners of Spring.
The winners chosen by votes from youth and the Spring jury will receive a summer job and a study trip to Copenhagen as a prize. During the summer job and study trip the teams will have the opportunity to develop their ideas further with the help of leading experts.
Spring invites young people all over Finland to vote and choose the winner of the competition. You are now able to explore the Spring-finalist teams and vote for your favorite. The winners of Spring will be published during the live final broadcast on 7.5.2024 at 13:00. You can watch the live broadcast on Yle Areena, during which a public vote will be organized, which you can participate in as well.
Competition Stages
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- The competition’s application period is open from 1.11.2023 to 29.2.2024. The idea can come from your local environment, global opportunities or challenges. Check out the Inspiration Library.
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- Spring’s expert jury will select the 12 most promising ideas to go forward. The shortlisted teams will be invited to Helsinki for a weekend-long idea incubator from 12 to 14 April 2024, during which the idea will be further developed. At the end of the incubator, a jury of experts will select six ideas for the final.
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- At the final on 7 May 2024, the teams will present their ideas to the public. The winners of Spring will be chosen by a combination of a public vote by young people and an expert jury. The young people will vote for the ideas that are most relevant to them to win. Three winners will be selected.
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- The winning three teams will be rewarded with a summer job to turn their ideas into reality. The summer job also includes a study trip to Copenhagen.
SPRING SPARRING PARTNERS 2024
Top experts from a wide range of disciplines develop ideas together with young people. Discover the 2024 team of sparring partners below.
BACKGROUND AND PARTNERS
Spring was founded by Matti Alahuhta, Sari Baldauf, Antti Herlin, Martti Hetemäki, Bengt Holmström, and Jorma Ollila. They are responsible for Spring’s costs and form its steering group. Spring is implemented by the Children and Youth Foundation. The partners of the competition are the Finnish National Agency for Education, The Union of Upper Secondary School Students, National Union of Vocational Students in Finland, the Finnish Student Alliance – OSKU ry and Finlands Svenska Skolungdomsförbund FSS.
A nationwide network of student-driven entrepreneurship societies is also involved in inspiring and supporting the young people taking part in the competition, including Boost Turku, Seinäjoki Entrepreneurship Society, LUT Entrepreneurship Society, Tiimiakatemia Jyväskylä, Helsinki Think Company, Oulu Entrepreneurship Society, Pori Entrepreneurship Society, Tampere Entrepreneurship Society, Vaasa Entrepreneurship Society, Metropolia Turbiini Campus Incubator and Aalto Entrepreneurship Society.
Spring Idea Competition is designed together with young people. During autumn 2022, more than 150 young people participated in the design of Spring and all its elements. Teachers have also contributed to the content of Spring. Their input has been used to produce inspiring materials for schools, making it easy to integrate Spring into the curriculum.