Haaga-Helia’s RDI impact vision charts the future

Societal impact is one of the most important goals for organizations engaged in research, development, and innovation (RDI) work. RDI work is a crucial tool and method for steering issues that require development, affecting the environment, well-being, and the success of companies and nations, in the desired direction. RDI offers means to develop crucially needed solutions to pressing challenges, new services, products, and activities, and build collaboration networks and ecosystems.

Impact, however, is a very challenging concept: True impact only becomes apparent after years, and often the significance of individual actions is obscured in a complex reality. When examining impact, it is often not possible to discern a clear cause-and-effect relationship; rather, impact arises from the combined effect of many factors.

Additionally, at the organizational level, a common challenge in examining impact is that it occurs at the project level, and the organization does not collect or combine impact data from projects – nor does it manage impact in a way that would allow the project portfolio to produce the desired impact.

Haaga-Helia aims to achieve managed impact through its RDI activities

This autumn at Haaga-Helia, we have launched an RDI impact vision that describes the impact we see our projects producing now and the impact we want our projects to produce in the future. The RDI impact vision helps determine the types of projects we undertake and, on the other hand, allows us to illustrate the societal impact of our projects on multiple levels.

The RDI impact vision arose from the need to manage, conceptualize, and illustrate the impact of our RDI project portfolio. Our projects produce significant impact (see, for example, the RDI impact reports for 2021, 2022, 2023), but we want to more strongly direct the impact towards themes central to us and, on the other hand, be able to describe our impact more comprehensively. Practically all Haaga-Helia’s RDI projects produce impact on either multiple or at least one area of the impact vision.

At the core: a human being boldly creating new solutions

At the core of our RDI activities is the human being boldly creating new solutions. We conduct research and development projects with a human-centered approach and use creative problem-solving skills to seek new and innovative solutions. It is particularly important for us to involve students in the projects. The best contribution of universities of applied sciences to the national economy and favorable productivity development are graduates who have been exposed to RDI work, especially development and innovation, during their studies. With these skills, new companies are founded, existing ones are developed, and new expertise is brought in to build well-being and success.

Our ongoing projects develop solutions within networks of various partners and actors. For example, in the Ulysseus European University Alliance, our main goal is to create an open, human-centered, and entrepreneurial university for future citizens. In this alliance, we develop innovation ecosystems and related research and development projects and educational programs to address current societal challenges together with participating universities, higher education institutions, companies, public entities, and the third sector. Central to this is the strong idea that solutions are boldly created together in networks.

Another interesting example of how the core of impact lies in solution-creating individuals and the communities they form is the SHUTTLE project, which develops and studies digital communities where students, teachers, and representatives from the working world are brought together to engage in strategic collaboration.

Well-being and learning at work

The second pivotal goal of our RDI activities is to increase wellbeing and competences at work. We research and develop solutions to strengthen collaboration and trust in workplaces from both leadership and expert work perspectives. We support the continuous learning and holistic well-being of individuals and communities.

Currently, our projects are developing AI skills for SMEs (AI-Smart SME) and updating the skills of media and marketing industry personnel to meet current media group standards (MediaGuru). Our projects are also enhancing the financial management skills of volunteers and other actors in small sports clubs (Experts in Financial Management) and promoting the availability of skilled labor and sustainable work for companies operating in Helsinki-Uusimaa region (UUTOS). Additionally, our projects support the physical, mental, and social well-being of students and the higher education community through movement and exercise (3AMK Moves).

Successful and responsible business

The third area of impact we aim for depicts our goal to support successful and responsible business. We research and develop solutions for sustainable business and enhancing competitiveness. Responsibility includes economic, social, and ecological perspectives.

Our projects are currently implementing this goal in various fields and methods: For example, the FAIR project helps small and medium-sized enterprises leverage the opportunities of the digital and green transition through artificial intelligence, the Urban&Local project creates an ecosystem of local food and restaurant actors in the Helsinki metropolitan area and develops related experimental platforms. The PATA project enhances the interaction between sellers and buyers, improves the customer experience, and thereby boosts the business of companies engaged in sales.

An interesting example is the Finnish Hotel of Tomorrow FHOT 2.0 project, which anticipates the new obligation for tourism, accommodation, and construction companies in the coming years to report on their environmental processes and sustainability actions, calculate their carbon footprint, and shape their business results according to directives. The AI Incubator (site in Finnish only) provides practical advice and training for SMEs on applying artificial intelligence in various business areas.

Sustainable future

The most extensive societal impact area of our RDI impact vision is our goal to actively build a sustainable future. We conduct socially impactful RDI work within our networks, supporting opportunities for a good life globally. As a measure of a sustainable future, we use the UN’s sustainable development indicators, which examine sustainable development very broadly.

Excellent examples of our ongoing projects aligned with this impact goal are the TeProd and NEEMA projects. The TeProd project, aimed at Ghana and Namibia, develops the skills and understanding of higher education teachers regarding the green and digital transition, so that this knowledge can be incorporated into curricula and thus more broadly into societal knowledge. NEEMA, on the other hand, builds a new multidisciplinary and multinational curriculum to help address challenges related to food production and nutritional resilience in West Africa (Food and Nutritional Resilience, FNR). Additionally, an interesting highlight is the AIE – Artificial Intelligence as a Promoter of Equality project, which explores the use and development of AI with the goal of achieving equality in the workplace.

RDI impact vision creates opportunities for stronger impact

As a university of applied sciences, one of our significant statutory duties is to conduct applied research, development, and innovation activities that serve higher education, promote working life and regional development, and renew the region’s economic structure. The RDI impact vision helps us manage and highlight the impact of our RDI activities. It enables us to better ensure that we influence multiple levels and the areas we desire. As a higher education institution, it is important to us that each of our individual projects creates a better tomorrow, especially in the areas defined by our RDI impact vision.