Laurea University of Applied Sciences has a  long-standing collaboration with the City of Vantaa, one of biggest cities in the Greater Helsinki region. The collaboration is most often focused in health and social sector and takes form in  different living lab-type of joint activities.

According to the Vice Mayor of the City of Vantaa, Jukka T. Salminen, the biggest advantages of the cooperation are the new innovations it can bring to the table. “In different settings we have been able to exchange novel ideas and thoughts, and some of them have even reached implementation with concrete results.”

Extremely valuable has been the possibilities and new ways of thinking offered by Laurea students as they pose the right type of questions, according to the Vice Mayor. Laureas LearningByDeveloping (LdB) model has proven to be an effective method to engage students in real –life learning cases, and it is especially suitable to health, wellbeing and social sector as the City of Vantaa is more and more focused on bringing real added value to its citizens.

For example the Smart Living Lab hospital –project established in cooperation with the Vantaa Hospital Services and Laurea, where the focus is on research, developing and testing of new technological innovations in an hospital environment together with companies and end-users both patients and staff. Living Lab environment in the project is  Katariina hospital in Vantaa.

“Smart Hospital is a good example of how companies can join in the development process together with other actors, which is  really the future of RDI-initiatives for the social and welfare sector. This contact to companies brings new jobs and new important networks for all the actors involved” In the mean time, collaboration can enhance the important aspect of international collaboration and gives the city a possibility to participate in  international projects, concludes Jukka T.Salminen.

Laurea UAS sees the European Network of Living Labs a crucial part of these internationalization aspirations and hopes to  find partners through ENoLL that are working with this theme. Laurea is  one of the co-organisers of the Smart Hospital Living Lab –workshop at the 5^th ENoLL Summer School in Amsterdam on Wednesday the 3rd of September 2014 and we are hoping to meet all parties interested in this topic there.

In the mean time for more information or questions, you can contact:

Tuija Hirvikoski, Director, Laurea University of Applied Sciences: Tuija.Hirvikoski@laurea.fi

Anna Kivilehto, Senior Manager, Support for RDI, Laurea University of Applied Sciences: Anna.kivilehto@laurea.fi

(Source in Finnish: http://www.laurea.fi/fi/tietoa-laureasta/tiedotusvalineille/Laurea_Katsaus_2_2014/Sivut/Vantaan-kaupungin-ja-Laurean-yhteishankkeet.aspx)