Oivallus (‘a sudden insight’ in Finnish) project explores the future of education in a networked economy. It is conducted by the Confederation of Finnish Industries EK. The project builds on critical dialogue within multidisciplinary groups of specialists, including Anni, Jenna and Martti from OK Do.
Oivallus report I: "New ideas originate in the boundaries of different fields. In the future, challenges will be solved in learning networks."
The goal of Oivallus is to make governmental decision-making in education policies meet the future perceptions and needs of the Finnish industries. What will the working life be like in the 2020s? What kind of knowledge and skills will the labour market and entrepreneurs need? The project seeks to explore and outline future operating environments and learning networks.
“If you are not in real time, you’re dead.” – Kevin Kelly
Waves of development, such as globalisation, climate change, growing complexity and dynamics of systems, as well as changes in life values shape the operating environment – how we work, what companies do, what industries produce, and what sort of housing and urban conditions we will live in.
The Oivallus report asserts, for example, that in the future work will require more creativity and interdisciplinary thinking and doing, the motivation behind entrepreneurship will lie in purposeful life instead of mere profit, the collaboration between different generations will become closer and the public sector will increasingly develop services together with citizens and companies.
“You are what you share.” – Charles Leadbeater
In many areas, the future remains a mystery. However, one trend is clear: we will respond to the waves of development by networking with and learning from a range of experts and actors in different fields. These systems of interconnected people and organisations are known as learning networks.
In addition to taking part in the project as thinkers representing the creative sector, OK Do designed the communications concept and the visual identity of the Oivallus interim reports – the first of which, published in November 2009, is presented here. The work was done in collaboration with graphic designer Jonatan Eriksson and photographer Kaarle Hurtig.
“Anticipating the future is not about guessing, but about creating it.” – Oivallus
While the first part of the Oivallus project focused on the content of future education, the next part will explore how to teach and learn the required know-how. Oivallus is funded by EK, European Union and Finnish National Board of Education.
Currently forest industry provides around one third of the net export revenues of Finland (The Finnish Forest Industries Federation, 2009). What will forest (www.upmforestlife.com) mean to Finland in the future?
"What is Oivallus ('a sudden insight' in Finnish)?" – A project exploring the future of education in a networked economy.
"A new target or method of use is as good an innovation as a completely new one." Experimental cooking mechanisms and mixes of ingredients make the cornerstone of the molecular kitchen at restaurant Luomo in Helsinki.