Savonia University of Applied Sciences

Savonia is one of the largest and most multidisciplinary universities of applied sciences in Finland, with campuses in Kuopio, Iisalmi and Varkaus, over 7,000 students and around 530 staff. Its traditional strengths are health technology, digital solutions and wellbeing services.

For NEXT-VET the relevant work sits in two places. The wellbeing and health sciences department researches exercise physiology, rehabilitation and mental health interventions in collaboration with hospitals, sports federations and VET institutions. The digital learning side has developed and tested platforms for neurofeedback training, stress management and cognitive skill development. Savonia also trains VET educators, which is how the project’s tools are meant to outlive the project: not as equipment, but as something teachers know how to use.