Interreg Cooperation Day Visits Researchers' Night in Jakobstad 25 September

People keep flowing through the doors. Somehow, we have managed to create a layout in the entrance hall that gently guides all 200 registered visitors exactly where we want them to go.

Right past the poster exhibition.

Campus Allegro is located in the City of Jakobstad on Finland's west coast. Both Centria and Novia Universities of Applied Sciences are located here, and thanks to funding from the European Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, we are opening our doors to the public. Tonight, in the European Researchers´Night, local residents are invited to discover what research, development and innovation look like in practice. In other words, what universities of applied sciences do besides teaching.

The programme signs point in every direction. On the first floor, visitors can build their own musical instruments, try virtual reality headsets, test video games created by start-up companies, and join a social bingo game. Up on the fourth floor, robots, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and nature-inspired painting are on the menu.

But wait a moment before rushing upstairs.

Take a look at the Interreg projects first.

What an impressive portfolio of projects Centria and Novia have built. Along the walls are thirty posters presenting initiatives from across the region: projects that develop local communities, strengthen regional cooperation and maintain extensive international networks. Every poster tells a story of practical development work and collaboration between researchers, citizens, businesses, associations, policymakers and regional stakeholders.

"Here, take a voting slip and choose your favourite poster! There's a chocolate bar waiting for one lucky voter. Which project looks the most interesting?”

As I weave my way through the crowd, distributing ballots, I hear snippets of conversations. I overhear a group of boys, perhaps ten or eleven years old.

"That one looks like a fishing boat."

"Let's vote for that one. I love fishing."

At that point, I could practically predict the outcome. And indeed, the winner was clear. MaDaMe project received a magnificent six votes. Congratulations to the MADAME team!

As one of the event organisers, I spent most of the evening moving from one activity to another, but despite the constant running around, I managed to collect around thirty voting slips. Apart from MaDaMe's landslide victory, the votes were spread remarkably evenly among the other projects.

Triumph of imagination

But I had been handing out two different kinds of slips that evening. My own Interreg project is REAVES and related to that my interests are in creative sector.

To those sitting quietly in the lobby, enjoying coffee and pastries between activities, I offered an additional challenge:

"Can you invent a service, a machine or an event that combines culture, creativity and technology?"

The following Monday, I sat down to read the answers.

And honestly, they almost brought a tear to my eye.

People are wonderful.

I love imagination. I love the simple act of sketching out an idea with pen and paper. Reading those responses gave me hope that artificial intelligence has not taken everything from us just yet. We still have our own ideas.

And what ideas they were.

A machine that turns singing into energy. The more people in the choir, the stronger the electric current.

A machine that plants flower seeds in carefully designed patterns, transforming flower beds into works of art.

An event where participants design their own clothing collections. With the help of professional designers and AI, ideas born in the imagination become real garments worn by real models.

An event where a miniature city is built. Through programming, lighting, sound and motion technology, the city comes alive and begins to perform its own urban culture.

Not bad at all.

For an evening dedicated to research and innovation, there may have been one particularly important discovery hiding among the posters, robots and virtual reality headsets:

Human imagination is still doing just fine.

PS. (The REAVES project rewards the best idea with movie tickets, but the question is, which one is the best?)

Laura Palovuori

RDI-Expert, Centria University of Applied Sciences

The REAVES project – Resilient Ecosystems for the AV & M Sector (#P002) is co-financed by the European Commission and the European Regional Development Fund under the Interreg Baltic Sea Region programme https://interreg-baltic.eu. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the Interreg BSR Member Countries nor the EUSBSR. Neither the EUSBSR nor the granting authorities can be held responsible for them.