Rakennusteollisuus RT and Southeast Finland University of Applied Sciences XAMK invited 9th grade girls from Hamina to plan a new residential area in Hamina's Tervasaari on Women's Day.
"Girls still apply to study construction less often than boys. Our common goal of promoting the attractiveness of the construction industry among women and girls connects us with educational institutions and companies. The goal of the future Hamina project was to inspire girls to apply for studies in the construction industry, and on the other hand to arouse the interest of contractors in the residential area of Tervasaari, which was conceived by young people," says the project manager of the Construction Industry RT training center Rateko. Janne Suntio.
All in all, about twenty girls participated in the day, and they were divided into groups of five. Helping the work of the young design teams, in addition to Suntio, were tutor students from XAMK. Each group presented their plan at the end of the day.
"There is a large park in the middle of the residential area. A playground will be built in the park for children and an outdoor gym for adults. In winter, ski tracks are plowed into the park. Otherwise, the idea is that the park's paths, plantings, water features and other details will be designed in such a way that they are suitable for people of all ages," said team 3 about their own plan.
"The group works were all really high quality and innovative. I hope as many as possible got the spark to work in the construction industry in the future", says Suntio.
The teams' outputs were evaluated by YIT's responsible foreman Merja Tihula, Hamina's city architect Milla Koskivirta and city surveyor Aki Oksanen. The event was part of XAMK's junior league project, the project manager of which is Paavo Kriktilä.