Unleashing the Potential of Multidisciplinary Teamwork – Student Experience of Flavoria Innovation Festival 2024

Pyry Ruonavaara, alumni of the Turku University Department of Finnish Literature, participated in the Flavoria Innovation Festival last year. Pyry’s team was awarded for their solution for the marketing themed company challenge provided by Turun Osuuskauppa, and he was one of the students chosen for the Study Trip to Japan. In this blog post, Pyry offers a glance into his experience of Flavoria Innovation Festival, and what has followed after the course.

Joining Innovation Festival – Worries and Expectations

To be completely honest, joining Flavoria Innovation Festival was a decision outside my usual comfort zone. As a literature major, I was worried whether there would be a way for me to apply my expertise on a course revolving around product development and food innovations. “Sure, I know how to write and make a pretty presentation”, I thought, “but what else could I possibly offer in a group project like this?”.

The necessity and the role of humanities and art seems often to be debated over in the Finnish society. Hearing the debate also affects us students – before joining the course, I was worried how other students would perceive me and my skills. Maybe they would prefer a team member with a more objectively analytical way of thinking, or one with “harder skill set” instead…?

I joined Flavoria Innovation Festival expecting to learn from other students while taking a supporting, more of a passive role in the team. However, I also joined with an open mind and the will to try and see what a student of humanities could do in an environment like this.

Sustainability has always been a great interest of mine, and as I’d love to work around such topics in the future, I thought the course could be a very useful experience. And, of course, I was tempted with the possibility of getting to participate on the Study Trip to Japan, too.

Solving Challenges in Multidisciplinary Teams

It soon became clear that my prior worries were needless.

The other students were interested in my ideas, not just the other way around. I was happy, and a little bit surprised, to see that my core skills – such as writing, creative thinking, and creating visuals – were of great help to my team. I was lucky to be a part of a team that was very cooperative, compassionate, and flexible, and that I felt appreciated by.

Me (on the right) with fellow team members

Working together with students of different fields of study helped me understand that every person has their unique strengths and skill sets – and that the best results are achieved when we learn to combine these skills, balancing each other out.

Our group’s challenge was provided by Turun Osuuskauppa (TOK), which is known for managing the S Group stores, restaurants and hotels in the Turku metropolitan area. Our assignment was to come up with a solution for familiarising the international clientele of Turku with the products and services of the stores.

During the Innovation Festival Week, my team created a new concept of communications for TOK, including a content and brand strategy that would better appeal to and serve the international target groups. One of our core ideas was that TOK should actively participate in welcoming people to Turku, making shopping as convenient as possible for people who are still learning the Finnish language. We also wanted to showcase Finnish products, emphasizing the variety of locally produced, natural, and high-quality items.

Peer Support, Feedback from Mentors, and Personal Growth

Each challenge group was divided into smaller teams, and despite the competitive aspects of the course, the teams were very supportive of each other. Each challenge group had a supervisor, who offered assistance and advice to the teams whenever needed, and who also made sure the groups stayed on schedule.

Each team also got plenty of opportunities for meeting mentors and receiving feedback for honing their ideas and pitches. We also had a chance to present our solutions-in-progress to the company representatives two days before the last pitch.

On top of solving the challenges, each team also was to give a five-minute pitch presentation in front of the Innovation Festival participants, and a jury consisting of the mentors and the company representatives.

From my experience, the feedback from different mentors was sometimes conflicting, and sometimes the feedback was very straight-forward. The course can be quite intense – there are many differing insights, opinions, and decisions that the teams must push through and sort out during the week.

However, I think the intensity of it all was also one of the most fun and rewarding parts of the course.

Life After Flavoria Innovation Festival 2024

Participating in Flavoria Innovation Festival helped me discover many skills that I did not even know I possessed, or that I had taken for granted. Without the course, I might not have never realized that I handle pressure well, or that I am good at coordinating tasks.

Soon after the Innovation Festival had ended, I was also invited to join the Study Trip to Japan. I will write about the trip in more detail next time!

Thanks to Flavoria Innovation Festival and the study trip to Japan, I was inspired to create a new project – Students’ Sustainability Fair called Verso. The idea behind Verso is to encourage and inspire students to connect with like-minded people – because in order to build a more sustainable world, multidisciplinary cooperation is necessary.