Sitra’s Ratkaisu 100 challenge prize sets out to tackle wicked problems

In today’s world, social problems are becoming more intractable and are affecting people’s everyday lives. To solve them, we need to revive our faith in the future and find new ways of doing things – together. Sitra is running a social challenge prize in honour of the 100th anniversary of Finland’s independence and the 50th anniversary of the Finnish Innovation Fund.

 The purpose of the “Ratkaisu 100” challenge prize is to define a social problem that affects all Finnish people and for which teams from a range of backgrounds will develop solutions to improve our everyday lives. The team with the best idea will be awarded one million euros to bring their idea to life. The ultimate goal of the challenge prize is not to find a solution but to make it a reality: turning words into action and enabling the practical implementation of the winning innovation.

“Our society’s challenges are complex and affect people’s everyday lives. Many of these problems cannot be solved without open co-development and participation in problem-solving from all sectors of society,” says Sitra’s President Mikko Kosonen.

“A challenge prize is an excellent way of finding new problem-solvers and solutions to a specific challenge, while boosting co-operation and creating a solution and future-oriented way of doing things.”

Sitra is tasked with anticipating the future and finding new operating models for society. A challenge prize is a tried-and-tested way of tackling multi-faceted challenges and taking a new approach to solving complex problems.

The Ratkaisu 100 challenge prize has three stages.

1. We will ask people to define a social challenge affecting the whole of Finland.
2. Teams assembled by problem-solvers from all walks of life will be tasked with solving the chosen problem.
3. In the anniversary year of 2017, the teams will compete against each other to develop the best solution for solving the challenge.

What challenge should Finland solve? We are asking you.

To identify which challenge Ratkaisu 100 will solve, we need a better understanding of how major transformative trends are manifested in people’s everyday lives. For this purpose, we will initiate an open discussion to narrow down the scope of the challenge.

Everyone is invited to join the discussion on the challenges we actually face in society and our everyday lives. Specialists from different fields will help to define problems that can be solved through the challenge prize. Let us know what you view as Finland’s key challenge with a view to the future: it may be a concern, problem or opportunity. Share your ideas online at www.ratkaisu100.fi. During spring 2016, we will also organise challenge prize workshops in Jyväskylä, Oulu and Helsinki.

One of the challenges will be selected based on a joint decision, upon which the search for a solution will begin.

“A challenge prize is ideal for solving complex problems, which require a wide spectrum of knowledge from various sectors,” says Kalle Nieminen of Sitra, who is working on the challenge prize project. “At best, a challenge prize runs in parallel with other social development activities and accelerates change.”

“Now, more than ever, we need to pull together and engage in open-minded problem-solving,” Mikko Kosonen adds. “We hope that the Finnish people will genuinely take the Ratkaisu 100 challenge prize to heart, and that we can find new solutions that benefit our 100-year-old country.”

Apply for the competition in autumn 2016

Once the challenge has been defined, the teams with the sharpest ideas will be convened to start solving it.  During the competition stage, in 2017, the teams will be assisted in developing a practical solution to the problem. The solutions will also be subjected to a real-life test, being trialled and further developed during a piloting stage.

Ratkaisu 100 is part of the 2017 centenary celebrations of Finland’s independence and Sitra’s 50th anniversary programme.

For further information, please contact:

Mikko Kosonen, President, mikko.kosonen@sitra.fi, +358 294 618 403
Kalle Nieminen, Assisting Specialist, Societal Training and Development, kalle.nieminen@sitra.fi, +358 408 435 324
Heli Nissinen, Specialist, Communications, heli.nissinen@sitra.fi, +358 407 671 822