ToolCamp 2026 – Oulu's largest STEAM event

Will be published later 

• ToolCamp is open to all children and youth of grades 0–9, as well as upper secondary students. 

• Challenges are solved in groups of 3–5. 

• The event suits children and youth of all ages. It combines different school subjects and teaching methods. 

• The event may be visited openly. 

Future jobs: come up with a solution that prepares youth for the future job market and promotes continuous learning. 

Specialists: Tiina Haapaniemi, tiina.haapaniemi@businessoulu.com and Reeta Räisänen, reeta.raisanen@businessoulu.com 

Imagine that you want to learn either Japanese or French, but your school does not offer the opportunity to study these languages. Perhaps you want to choose another more interesting elective subject. How could we solve such an issue through remote solutions? Your task is to come up with a way to offer remote teaching for rarer languages or other elective subjects. How can we make learning fun and inspiring even if the teacher and other students are not in the same room? What makes your attention wane and how to keep students focused? Come up with creative ideas and solutions and how to implement them in practice. 

Specialist: Maikki Manninen, maikki.manninen@ouka.fi 

The amount of electronic waste keeps growing. We are consuming more and more electronics. How could the life cycle of electronic waste be made more sustainable and longer? Design a product that is produced by following the principles of circular economy. 

Specialist: Katja Viinikka, karja.viinikka@kiertokaari.fi 

Making everyday exercise normal. What should we do to increase (everyday) exercise for children, youth, and families? Consider different solutions to increase exercise. 

Specialist: Piia Moilanen, piia.moilanne@ouka.fi 

Design an AI assistant that can help different students to learn better. What is it and what does it do? 

Specialist: Olli Rantala, olli.rantala@ouka.fi 

Reusing recycled textiles through digital production methods. Think with as much innovation as possible. The goal is to ensure the longest possible life cycle for individual fiber materials through sustainability or recycling. Laser cutters and 3D printers can be used on top of traditional processes. Composites can be made as well. Is there anything else younger brains can come up with? 

Specialists: Jani Ylioja, jani.ylioja@oulu.fi, Ivan Sanchez Mialara, ivan.sanchez@oulu.fi 

Hi there inventive children/youth! 

I wonder, will you 

come up with a method that’s new: 

of how to spread awareness of your rights 

since the UNICEF’S Rights of the Child are too long to write: 

Convention on the Rights of the Child, full text 

Convention on the Rights of the Child, child-friendly version 

Specialist: Janika Harju, janika.harju@ouka.fi 

The Reading City Book Bot: a Book Bot works at the Oulu Central Library Saari that inspires citizens of Oulu to read and guides library customers. What does the Book Bot look like, what does it do, and what is it like? What kind of literature does it recommend and how does it inspire people to read? Does it learn from its users? Build a prototype of the Book Bot either physically or digitally. Design the Bot’s functions, user interface, and personality. Take photos of the Bot, write a short introduction, or make a video. Through these, the Bot might be published on the Reading City webpage. 

Specialists: Elina Kauppila, elina.kauppila@ouka.fi and Ritva Nikola, ritva.nikola@ouka.fi 

You have probably noticed that there are diverse children and youth in your daycare group or school. It is important that we understand each other and respect differences. Being different does not justify bullying, and everyone must have their own space, peace, and value – regardless of appearance or personality. How could we create understanding among children and youth? Even when we are so very different, and yet so very similar. 

Specialist: Karoliina Lisko, karoliina.lisko@eduouka.fi 

Study the animals of Northern Finland and come up with a solution that promotes their protection and the preservation of their habitats. 

Specialists: Outi Mustonen, outi.mustonen@eduouka.fi and Anne Ylitalo, anne.t.ylitalo@ouka.fi 

Come up with an innovative solution for power-use challenges. Identify what kind of societal and technological challenges there are in electricity usage. Create a prototype to solve these challenges. 

Specialist: Tapio Koivu, tapio.koivu@stek.fi 

Shared responsibility 

• All participants share the responsibility for the challenges 

• The participants make decisions regarding contents, processes, and solutions together. 

Roles 

• Participants are dependent on each others’ contributions in creating solutions (everyone in the group has a special role). 

Cooperation documentation 

• Participants must describe their cooperation in detail. 

• Participants must document their cooperation (photos, video, models etc.) 

• Participants should describe their successes, challenges, choices, refusals, and different roles. 

• Each member of the group should be able to answer questions regarding the group’s work, contents, processes, and solutions. 

Life cycle 

• The product or service designed by the participants should be as durable and long-lived as possible. 

• All materials should be as recyclable as possible, or it should be designed to use as much recycled materials in production as possible. 

Environmental sustainability 

• The product designed by the participants should utilize a minimum amount of natural resources, and it should be environmentally friendly. 

• Participants should describe and explain their material choices. 

Ethics 

• The product or service designed by the participants must consider different user groups and special needs. 

• Osallistujien suunnittelema tuote tai palvelu ottaa huomioon erilaiset käyttäjä- ja erityisryhmät.

Using technology to support information search and documentation 

• Participants should use technology in different stages of the process. 

Cooperating with technology 

• Participants cooperate together digitally 

• Participants present their knowledge and solutions with technology 

Digital planning and preparation 

• Participants should use digital planning and preparation in implementing their solution. 

Describing and explaining the solution 

• The solution of the participants should be innovative. 

• The solution of the participants should be implementable in real life. 

• Participants should be able to explain how they ended up with their solution. 

Target groups 

• Participants should choose a target group for their solution. 

• Participants should test their solution with the target group. 

• Participants should be able to explain their solution and its significance to their target group. 

• Participants should improve their solution based on the target group’s feedback. 

Process description 

• Participants should describe the steps of the STEAM process. 

• Participants should describe what they learned during the process and how they can use what they’ve learned in the future. 

Clarity of documentation 

• The communications of participants must be clear. 

• The participants’ documentation and solutions should consider visuality 

• The participant’s presentation shows that their work has followed the STEAM process. 

Commitment, attitude, and creativity 

• Participants demonstrate commitment and motivation to the entire process. 

• Participants continue working despite setbacks. 

• Participants find unique and different solutions in challenging circumstances.