The competition European Innovation and Creativity Camp was won by students from six different countries with their concepts FaceSchool and YouSchool. A group of 95 students were given 24 hours to propose solutions to a problem. At the closing conference in Stockholm they presented their koncept.

The competition European Innovation and Creativity Camp was held on 24–25 November in Brussels. The project was part of the European Year of Creativity and Innovation. The teams consisting of students aged 15–18 from 25 European countries were given 24 hours to work together and propose an innovative solution to a complex problem. This time the problem was in the area of education. The teams were to propose solutions for how best to involve students in their education and make education more interesting for their future.

Working together quickly

The young people in the teams had never met each other before and had to learn quickly how to work together to develop their joint ideas into concrete proposals.

“It was big challenge working with new people from different countries. We had to learn about each others’ education systems before we could make suggestions on which solution to develop. I learnt a lot about cooperation and how to communicate my ideas clearly,” says Tiina Karppinen, a student from Finland.

FaceSchool and YouSchool

The winning team developed the concepts ‘FaceSchool’ and ‘YouSchool’. Their solution was based on involving students in their education via social media and social networking websites. The team consisted of students from Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Estonia, the UK and Norway. Their proposal was designed to get students “addicted to their education”.

Creative thinking in the education system

The host of the competition was Maroš Šefčovič, European Commissioner for Education, Training, Culture and Youth. Along with 8 other judges, he assessed and selected the most innovative solution.

“This year is the European Year of Creativity and Innovation. In assessing the young competitors and international teams in the competition we were especially keen to see innovative and creative solutions to the problem. There should be more initiatives to develop critical and innovative thinking at all levels of the education system. Competitions like the European Innovation and Creativity Camp are a good way to get students involved in creative thinking and reasoning,” said Mr Šefčovič.