"I will remember this for the rest of my life" – Building a sustainable future in interdisciplinary teams at the Sprint Innovation Festival 2025

The 2025 Sprint gathered up to 70 students from four different higher education institutions: in addition to students from Tampere University of Applied Sciences and Tampere University, 20 students participated from Germany (Technical University of Applied Sciences Würzburg-Schweinfurt, THWS) and Lithuania (Kauno Kolegija).

The goal of Sprint is for interdisciplinary student teams to develop various solutions to significant societal challenges during the Sprint weeks. The outcome can be a service, a physical product, or a business idea.

Under the overarching theme of 2025, students could choose a thematic track that interested them from three options:

1. Re-thinking Different Industries: Creating Regenerative Businesses
2. Building an Inclusive and Meaningful Work Life for All
3. Cultivating Stronger Communities in the Modern Era

All themes were intertwined with an understanding of sustainability.

The foundational principles behind Sprint include long-term pedagogical development, an emphasis on psychological safety and team building, and the integration of design thinking and innovation processes. In addition to the HUBS team organizing Sprint, numerous experts from the Tampere Universities community and coaches supported students throughout the course.

Great positive and uplifting team spirit! I loved the international atmosphere. This week was full of work but also full of fun. This was a great human to human, let’s do this together -experience.

Student feedback 2025

Online phase before campus days

The 16 student teams of Sprint began their work in a joint online kick-off on 5.3., followed by a data phase focused on exploring the theme in depth. Materials, assignments, and team spaces were available on Howspace, an online collaborative learning platform.

During the data phase, students engaged with scientific articles, blog posts, podcasts, and other materials related to their theme. The goal was to understand the challenges and identifiable problems behind their chosen theme.

The current Sprint model strongly emphasizes student autonomy – teams are encouraged to develop their ideas in a direction that feels inspiring and motivating to them. The team’s self-directed problem identification and careful exploration of their theme are key elements of this process.

The Sprint experience was highly engaging and dynamic, providing a great opportunity to collaborate with diverse teams. The problem-solving approach was hands-on, allowing us to apply creative thinking in real-world scenarios. The support from mentors and coaches was invaluable, making the learning experience even more effective.

Student feedback 2025

Four inspiring but intense campus days

The final four days of Sprint (11.−14.3.) took place in person at Tampere University of Applied Sciences. This was also when approximately 20 international students arrived in Tampere.

During the event days, participants attended multiple keynotes on topics such as user-centered design, innovation, prototyping, and pitching. In addition, the Sprint experience included sparring sessions with working life partners (so-called idea and expert clinics) and several workshops, from which Sprint students could choose the most interesting ones for themselves.

The workshops were highly engaging and interactive, providing a great platform for exchanging ideas. 

Student feedback 2025

Although the timeline was short and the Sprint campus days were action-packed, each team successfully identified key challenges within their theme, ideated impactful solutions, and built an initial prototype of their idea. The campus week culminated on Friday, when teams pitched their developed ideas to their peers and an Advisory Board that provided feedback.

Awarded teams and their ideas

The Advisory Board, which evaluated the final pitches, consisted of members from the TUNI community and industry partners. They assessed the teams' pitches, solutions, and impact, as well as the feasibility of their implementation. Additionally, an understanding of sustainability was a cross-cutting evaluation criterion.

Since each theme track had its own Advisory Board, three winning teams were awarded at the end of Sprint:

• Regenerative track: Team ReGenovate – A 24/7 smart fridge on campus providing surplus food at student-friendly prices.
• Working life inclusion track: Team BEN TEN – Career Nest – A service helping recent graduates develop job-seeking and networking skills.
• Community track: Team Clockwork – A platform where individuals can find new activities and connect with others

All student teams did an incredible job, especially considering how quickly they had to form a team dynamic and find a shared rhythm of collaboration. We thank all our students, experts from the Tampere Universities community, and our working life partners for their active and enthusiastic participation, as well as TAMK’s AV services for creating the event environment.

Thanks for you all! I will remember this event for the rest of my life!

Thank you very much, Sprint Crew. You made me have hope in Finland again with how you treated people with support and encouragement.

Student feedback 2025