For the 10th time, our partner university Häme University of Applied Sciences, HAMK, hosted the Freezing Week, which is now known far beyond Finland. Around 40 participants from various European countries accepted this invitation. They made their way to Hämeenlinna, around 90 kilometers north of Helsinki, at the beginning of February. Ludwigshafen University of Applied Sciences was represented by three professors from different departments - Prof. Dr. Stefanie Hehn, Prof. Dr. Christina Stadler & Prof. Dr. Martin Klose. Sophia Richter completed the trio as program manager for continuing education courses.
The theme of the International Week was "Data-Driven Empathy" - particularly from the perspective of design and technology. The primary aim of the content focus was to find out how cross-disciplinary topics can be developed from a design thinking perspective. The initiators wanted their international colleagues from different fields not only to test and try out design methods, but also to have them collect and analyze data on empathy themselves.
Design thinking is a human-centered approach to practical and creative problem solving and learning that is often introduced through work on multidisciplinary industry projects. The design thinking process begins with gathering data to understand the people the work is intended to benefit. This phase is called empathy. It sets the focus for the rest of the process.
After this theoretical crash course, the practical part of the workshop began. The reassuring thing about the design thinking process is that it is inherently open-ended. This means that the outcome is not determined in advance, but is a real result of the process. In real time and with the support of design probes, data could be collected and analyzed over the freezing week. The task was to create a holistic participant experience for the 10th anniversary Freezing Week in 2024.
In small teams, the participants planned and built sample kits with tasks for the other teams. Later, the completed kits were returned to their original team, which then analyzed the data and developed actionable insights. At the end of the workshop, the results were presented in plenary. The results were overwhelming - learning how to cook Finnish food or how to make a campfire were just some of the ideas for the perfect Freezing Week in 2024, along with a socializing app for networking.
The workshops were accompanied by exciting presentations from keynote speakers who provided insights into the use of artificial intelligence or demonstrated measures for processing and analyzing data. The aim was to show how these methods can be used to promote sustainability and gain insights that can be integrated into work processes.
The Riihimäki campus, about 20 minutes by bus from Hämeenlinna, offers interactive degree programs such as Computer Applications. Robots welcomed the group to the campus tour and showed the way to the recording studios and the test stations for games developed there.
The Ahvenisto Outdoor and Nature Reserve offered a real Finnish "winter experience" despite the relatively little snow. The local outdoor pool was built for the modern pentathlon at the 1952 Olympic Games and is located in a scenically impressive setting. Lake Avenisto is a popular place for swimming - for the brave, there is the chance to cool off on the ice after a sauna session. To warm up, there was traditional Finnish coffee and delicious korvapuusti - cinnamon buns with cardamom - around the campfire. The group also got together outside of the regular program, for example for dinner in the Piparkakkutalo - the gingerbread house. It remains to be seen whether this year's participants will return to Finland next year, if only to find out which of the findings from the Design Thinking workshop have actually been put into practice. ERASMUS plus and Staff Mobility also make it easier to travel to partner universities.
Text: Sophia Richter
