Young people from all over Finland participated in Spring with a total of 133 ideas
The Spring Idea Competition, organized for the third consecutive year, inspired young people from Helsinki to Oulu to create ideas for a better future.
The Spring Idea Competition supported young people aged 15 to 19 to develop ideas that change the world in school or during their leisure-time. Participation was done in teams of 3 to 5 people, with a small or big idea, and by filling out the application form on the Spring website.
The Spring Team visited dozens of locations presenting the competition and hosting idea workshops to thousands of young people. This year’s competition was also the inaugural year for three regional idea events, where students came together in Turku and Helsinki to solve meaningful problems and create a more hopeful future.
Themes such as wellbeing among the youth and sustainability were prominent among this years’ applications. The rise of artificial intelligence was also a popular choice among the ideas.
– Particularly the teamwork and innovative attitude for developing ideas has been very fun to follow. Young people show resilience and come up with creative solutions even though it might feel very difficult to begin with, explains Katariina Tonttila, expert in the Spring Team.
The teams advance their ideas during the idea weekend, young people decide the competition winners
The Spring Team will evaluate the competition applications and choose the 12 most potential ideas and teams to proceed to the idea weekend organized at VALO Hotel Helsinki in April. The selection process emphasizes the teams’ ability to identify a problem, the purposefulness and insightfulness of the idea, the broader application and scalability of the idea, as well as the composition and motivation of the team.
The teams that proceed in the competition will be published on 14.2.2025 and the Children and Youth Foundation will contact the participants personally.
Three winning teams will be selected in the Spring final, to which six teams will advance from the idea weekend. While watching the final, young people get to vote for their favorite idea. The final broadcast, lasting for approximately half an hour, will be watchable in schools and by oneself from 23.4.2025 onwards. The voting is open until 5.5.2025 and every young person under the age of 20 in Finland will be able to vote for their favorite idea.
The three winning teams chosen by the vote will be awarded a summer job and a study trip to Lisbon, during which the teams advance their ideas into something real.
The Spring Idea Competition is produced by the Children and Youth Foundation in Finland. Spring is supported financially by Jenny and Antti Wihuri Foundation, Saastamoinen Foundation, and Yksityisyrittäjän säätiö.