Creative Steps 2.0 was a success!

Original publication day July 4, 2016

Creative Steps 2.0 was an opportunity for students to support the development of selected creative businesses. The 2-week innovation process took place in Rovaniemi and Tornio (Northern Finland), involving 15 students with different academic backgrounds including Visual Arts, International Business, and Information Technology. It was facilitated by Anzelika Krastinaand Anitra Arkko-Saukkonen from Lapland University of Applied Science (Lapin UAS).

Students were divided into 4 Creative Teams, each of which dealt with 2 companies – one from Finland and the other from Sweden, Northern Ireland or the West of Ireland:

Creative Team Spring: Denis Ivanov, Arina Kruglova, Marianne Kammonen, Remi Kamanyi – Companies: Urban I.D. & Black Hole Studio

Creative Team Summer: Alena Perervenko, Marina Avetsian, Kun Song – Companies: companies Jo-Jo The Dog Films & NuTech Renewables Ltd

Creative Team Autumn: Nikolett Plesér, Anna Romozian, Ranwen Yang, Laura Ukkola – Companies: Forest Camp Entertainment & Grace of Sweden

Creative Team Winter: Nina Niskala, Deen Issah, Ekaterina Bogoiavlenskaia, Tien Tran – Companies: Susivilla & Sallyann’s Handmade Bags

All of the Creative Teams sessions were held online and were also recorded in order to facilitate the participation of creative businesses. Students had to follow a very defined innovation path consisting of 10 creative steps:

(0.The framework of a Business Case)

I Identifying the Business Case

II Enabling Online Tools

III Formulating Potential Business Idea

V Idea Evaluation Checkpoint

VI Enhancing Business Expertise

VII Creative Clinic

VIII Business Idea Prototyping

IX Proving Market Demand

X Pitching

As part of Step VI, students attended the Barents Reunion, which is an event promoting cooperation among people in the Barents area. During Step VII – the Creative Clinic – the Creative Teams received feedback from experts on how to further develop their ideas. Another key stage was Step X, when teams pitched their idea to the businesses involved as well as to the Creative Cave Pool (CCP) – that is, a group of business/investment advisers and executives from different countries.

Creative Clinic as source of inspiration

The Creative Clinic included a variety of experts. Pia Suonvieri, freelance producer at FlowMotion Productions, talked about the challenges and opportunities linked to entrepreneurship in peripheral areas. She emphasized the importance of working together encouraged students to speak up, dream big, be passionate and compassionate.

Mikko Manninen, digital media entrepreneur from Koivu Interactive, spoke about mobile live-streaming. Mikko noted the important of planning live-streamed content and not stream “just because you can”.

Amongst the speakers there was also Kirsi Mikkola fromElectronic Commerce Finland Ltd. Kirsi spoke about the extent to which digitalisation has changed the way of doing business. She also noted that companies need digital experts who can project manage and are able to figure out new ways of operating.

Finally, Service Designer Mira Alhonsuo encouraged the audience to ideate and develop their services/products with the customers.

To watch the Creative Clinic presentations, please click here.

Final step

After two weeks of hard and intensive work, it was finally time for pitching the business idea and prototypes developed. The CCP included:

Tiina Pelimanni, Finland, business developer in Team Botnia

Cecilia Nordlund, Sweden, business advisor at Åkroken business incubator

Mary Carty, West of Ireland, executive director of Blackstone LaunchPad, National University of Ireland Galway

Jonathon Kavanagh, West of Ireland, investment executive with the WDC Investment Fund

Kevin Sexton, Northern Ireland, founder & leader of the Mobstats

Creative Steps 2.0 taught students how to move from a simple idea to the pitching of a business solution. For some students, Creative Steps 2.0 was a source of inspiration encouragement to become an entrepreneur.