Urban geographer Milla Kallio and University Researcher Julian Honkasalo feel passionate about resolving social problems. The entrepreneurial community Helsinki Think Company gave them the tools and courage to promote substantial change.
Urban geographer Milla Kallio embarked on an entrepreneurial path in 2015 while still a student by participating in Helsinki Think Company's multidisciplinary entrepreneurial programme 4UNI . Although a career of self-employment had previously seemed distant, Kallio realised during the programme that becoming an entrepreneur could allow her to influence what mattered.
"As someone with no entrepreneurial family background, the programme helped me see self-employment as an option. I realised that pursuing profit is not the only way to be an entrepreneur. Instead, it could give me the chance to change the world with my own expertise, one step at a time."
The 4UNI programme brings together participants who have not met before to develop solutions to current social challenges. Along the way, they acquire basic entrepreneurial skills, such as the ability to solve problems creatively and test and pitch ideas. Kallio appreciated the valuable opportunity to put her academic knowledge into practice.
"The workshops and co-working sessions were well organised. As co-creation activities were fairly new to the University at the time, it felt incredibly inspiring and intellectually stimulating to experience that kind of learning."
Applying academic knowledge
Helsinki Think Company organises thematic weekend challenges and ideas competitions that allow students and researchers to develop solutions bridging entrepreneurship and research. The activities are free of charge and open to anyone interested in applying their academic knowledge. The workshops and events teach participants to use their strengths and give professional confidence and the courage to foster social change.
In the 4UNI programme, Kallio met another urban geography student, Efe Ogbeide. Using what they had learned from Helsinki Think Company, the two established a company specialising in participatory urban development, FEMMA Planning .
Providing valuable lessons on entrepreneurship and co-creation, the programme proved transformative for both Kallio and Ogbeide. FEMMA Planning's guiding philosophy is about co-design and considering diverse individual needs. The two business partners are fascinated by how the results of their work will influence urban environments for up to centuries to come.
"Great people united by their passion to resolve social problems"
The opportunity to increase the social impact of research motivated University Researcher and Docent Julian Honkasalo to apply for the entrepreneurial programme SÄRÖ/FRACTURE.
Honkasalo has investigated issues including online hate speech, freedom of speech and the rights of transgender and non-binary individuals. He wishes to ensure that academic knowledge is not confined to academic communities, but used to improve people's daily lives. His reason for applying to the entrepreneurial programme was to address hate speech.
"Although a great deal of high-quality research on online hate speech has been conducted in Finland, the knowledge acquired is yet to reach those who need it. Academic insights should be made practical and easy to understand. This is where I see potential for entrepreneurship."
Honkasalo has previously felt sceptical and critical about entrepreneurship. It has somehow felt questionable and even greedy. But the programme provided him with the warm and receptive community he had long been seeking.
"Great people united by their passion to resolve social problems! It was brilliant to spend two months working closely with individuals who believe in the possibility of making a difference through their own ideas."
Entrepreneurial programme expanded the mindset of a double doctorate holder
Honkasalo feels that the mood in the academic community is often downcast and serious, as funding is hard to come by, competition is fierce, recruitment practices are opaque, and the risk of burnout is high. The harsh realities of academia may even stifle thinking, as people are under immense pressure.
In contrast, the entrepreneurship programme with its energising and bright atmosphere broadened Honkasalo's perspective.
"Having childlike enthusiasm for doing things, believing we'll come up with solutions and do something crazy, feeling that this can be done and I want to be the person to do it - confidence, excitement and drive took precedence over mere monetary ambition," says Honkasalo, who has doctoral degrees in both political and gender studies.
He is currently further developing his service in the Helsinki Incubators' TREMOR programme . Although the SÄRÖ/FRACTURE programme drew on Helsinki Think Company's expertise, it was organised under the auspices of Helsinki Incubators in 2023.
Read University Researcher Julian Honkasalo's takeaways on entrepreneurship and how they can benefit academic research, and find out what Milla Kallio thinks about entrepreneurship (in Finnish).
