Project Contacts:
- Tanja Oraviita — tanja.oraviita@vamk.fi
- Annika Hissa — annika.hissa@vamk.fi
About the institution
Vaasa University of Applied Sciences (VAMK) provides education in technology, economics, international business, health care and social services. It focuses on the energy sector and combines entrepreneurship with internationalism. VAMK has an extensive national and international cooperation network. VAMK is part of the Vaasa University Consortium. VAMK has 3250 students, 212 professors and lecturers, and other staff. VAMK is a non-profit higher education institution.
Western Finland Design Centre MUOVA (later MUOVA) is a design research and development centre of VAMK. It is networked with Aalto University (Aalto) and University of Vaasa (UVA). Aalto provides multidisciplinary education and research in art and design, economics, technology. UVA provides administrative-business sciences, languages, communication, technology, management, energy.
Muova’s team forms of experts in design, marketing, branding, and communication. It has developed expertise in design approaches, brand and design management, creativity and innovation, user centeredness,
design and product conceptualization and envisioning service design. Muova also concentrates in digital formats and virtual environments.
Muova promotes the international competitiveness of the society, including companies, SMEs and micro-companies in all sectors by the means of design, runs applied research and creates innovative methods using creativity and design. Muova specialises in solving company problems and fulfilling needs of the business world. It has executed hundreds of company projects, especially with SMEs and companies are always present in research projects.
Muova implements design methods and innovation to its projects and activity. This has also been applied in learning, e.g. as virtual creative learning environments and multidisciplinary – transversal teaching to VAMK’s students within courses, e.g. engineering. Muova has provided a number of educational solutions where Design Thinking, design principles and creativity have been transferred to other sectors. These include for instance CreaCIT (Creativeme; www.muova.fi/creacit) a virtual multidisciplinary learning environment for product development, eCIT creative and virtual learning material for the ACC sector (www.creaftopolis.net), CSF Creative Strategic Foresight (www.csfstudymodule.net) and DesignCamp, an intensive course of design thinking and problem solving for multidisciplinary non-design students and SMEs. But also D-THINK (http://www.d-think.eu/) where Design Thinking was applied to HE educators and trainers, and SocialUP where Design Thinking was applied to Social Enterprises (http://designthinking-socialup.eu/en/)