How KI students want to get young people moving

“It’s important to understand what context your product or service should operate in,” says Andreas Lundquist from KI Innovations, one of the organisers. “By working with design thinking, you are reducing the risk involved in a project. It is resource-efficient to go out and talk to people, compared to product development and clinical studies.”

The KI students, who are divided into seven groups, start by interviewing the approximately 30 high school students from Akalla and Åsö compulsory school, with the goal of understanding their situation better.

On the clock

Then the student groups spread out with flipcharts and Post-it notes.

Out on the terrace, Yan Peng Zhao, who studies bioentrepreneurship, takes out a watch.

“Okay, you have fifteen minutes to write down your ideas. Everything is allowed, abstract, concrete. It can be a product, a service or something completely different,” he says.

The students laugh and emit a groan. Some write feverishly, others become blocked. The various proposals make people laugh.

“Discard, no way,” laughs Angelo Mezzoiuso when his proposal to expand public transport to get more young people to use the bus is read out loud.

Mixed messages

On a sofa in front of a table with post-it notes, a group of students think they have received contradictory answers from the high school students.

“There were some major differences between the boys and the girls,” says Bikram Bucha, who studies public health science and epidemiology. “The girls thought the boys were too competitive in sports. At the same time, the girls also said that they like to compete.”

Perhaps, the students reason, the solution is that the competitive elements must be organised in different ways to suit everyone.

An app to create motivation

Down in the basement, a group of students are finished with the development of an idea. A social media app for children with a focus on physical activity.

Later in the day, the seven student groups will test their ideas on the high school students. After refining them, they will each present a finished proposal to a jury. Thereafter, a winner will be selected.

While the students continue to work in their groups to present their proposals convincingly, Lauriane Baillet, assistant principal at Akalla Elementary School, waves goodbye to her high school students outside on the stairs.

“Many of our students come from homes without a tradition of studying,” she says. “This is a way for them to see that there are people similar to themselves who attend these courses. Being able to spend a day on campus can inspire further studies.”