Eloseminaari themes were creativity, meaningfulness, and visions for the future

The fall semester at the University of Arts, Design and Architecture began on Thursday, August 21, with the traditional seminar Eloseminaari. The day began with a visit to the Amos Rex museum and continued with a joint seminar at Kulttuurikasarmi downtown Helsinki.

In his opening speech, Dean Tuomas Auvinen noted that it has become more widely understood in the society that the significant challenges of our time require urgent solutions. In this work, he emphasized, creativity is essential, and that is already recognized in many organizations.

The keynote speech of the day was given by Frank Martela, who led the audience in reflecting on the sources of internal motivation. According to him, the meaning of life can be summed up as follows: “It is about making things meaningful to you in a way that makes you meaningful to other people.”

Saara Saarinen and Sari Laine, experts from the Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra, discussed future-oriented practices and encouraged participants to envision the kind of future we want to build together. Sitra's goal is to strengthen Finnish organizations' ability to anticipate the future and innovate, and the School of Arts, Design and Architecture also contributes to this work.

Auvinen also reminded everyone of the important theme of Caring and enjoyment in our work, which aims to promote self-care, care for others and the well-being of all. 

"Let's continue the good work also this academic year," he said.