Full schedule#

The Challenge Camp runs over 13 weeks and includes three onsite events:

  • Kick-off: 2 days, 12–13 February 2026, City Center Campus, University of Helsinki

    • Day 1: Porthania Building, Urbarium (P114) (Thursday 12th)

    • Day 2: Main Building, Studium 1 (Friday 13th)

  • Midterm seminar: 25 March 2026, Entrepreneurial Hub Konttori, University of Turku

  • Final event: 11 May 2026, Porthania Building, PIII, at the City Center Campus, University of Helsinki

In addition to the onsite events, participants will have weekly 2-hour online sessions on Wednesdays from 14:00 to 16:00, starting once groups have been formed and begin working on their challenges. These online sessions provide guidance, feedback, and collaboration opportunities, complementing the independent work required throughout the course.

Note: Weeks with onsite events do not have online meetings, and there will be a couple of fully independent weeks for uninterrupted group work.

Timetable and co-creation process#

The course runs for 13 weeks with the following structure:

Weekly timeline

Details

Kick-off week
Kick-off:

  • 12-13 February 2026 Kick-off (on-site, 2 full days)

  • A half a day seminar with all the participants and collaborators

  • A 1,5-day workshop with the participants and key mentors

  • Introduction to the challenge theme, meeting and networking with stakeholders, forming teams

Week 1
Challenge introduction:

  • Getting familiar with the context of the challenges

  • Q&A with challenge owners (online)

Weeks 2-3
Challenge specification:

  • Exploring the broad challenge, getting familiar with data and tools

  • Defining each team’s focus/problem, gathering resources and contacting stakeholders

  • Online mentoring

Weeks 4-6
Ideation/prototyping:

  • Rapid ideation of solutions, testing data and tools

  • 25 March 2026 Midterm seminar (on-site, full day)

  • Presentation of the solution ideas and feedback

Weeks 7-11
Solution building:

  • Teams work at their own pace

  • Online mentoring for support and check-ins

  • Practice pitching

Weeks 12-13
Finalization:

  • Preparing final outputs

  • 11 May 2026 Final event (on-site, half a day)

  • Groups present their solutions to the rest of the course, stakeholders, and public audience