Young people have gained new insights into the construction industry as they have led the fictional Rakenna Tulevaisuutta Oy in the game arenas of Yrityskylä Yläkouluten across Finland. The business game, developed in collaboration with RT and its member companies Hartela, Are, Caverion, YIT, Peab and Kerabit, has received excellent feedback from both students and teachers.
In the business villages, young people have been able to learn about various job roles, educational paths, career opportunities, and responsible and environmentally friendly construction from various perspectives. The goal is to inspire young people to enter the construction industry and broaden their understanding of the diverse opportunities in the field.
In the 2025–2026 academic year, the Yrityskylä Yläkoulu game arenas will reach approximately 16,000 young people at the Tampere, Lahti and Oulu locations. Approximately 8,000 young people will visit the games in Rovaniemi and Joensuu. Five different organizations or companies will present their activities at each Yrityskylä. Young people will be divided into groups where they will play one organizational game. In one city, an estimated one thousand young people will play the Build the Future game during the academic year.
“The Build the Future business game is being played by 3,000 ninth-graders in Tampere, Lahti and Oulu during the autumn and spring. The cooperation with Young Entrepreneurship and Economy NYT has been excellent. In addition to the cities mentioned above, we also got Business Villages in Rovaniemi and Joensuu, where a total of 2,000 young people are playing our business game. It is nice to continue the cooperation in this spirit,” says the project manager responsible for the Business Village cooperation at RT. Janne Suntio.
The game teaches teamwork, solving challenges together, and learning about responsibility.
Based on the first feedback, Rakenna Tulevaisuutta Oy has received enthusiastic feedback from both students and teachers. “A great whole, and the students loved it,” was summed up in the teachers’ feedback.
The feedback from the young people highlighted an interesting company that takes responsibility issues into account from many different perspectives, as well as playing together with other teammates. Below are excerpts from the feedback from the young people.
“I was interested in the fact that the company was thinking about environmental issues.”
“I learned that discussion and reflection with the group is important, and I remembered the critical situations the group encountered and how they were resolved.”
“It is a good company and sounds really reliable and high quality.”
“I learned that in a company you have to be able to express your own opinions and take responsibility.”
“It was a nice and interesting company. I could work there myself.”
“It is important to take care of the safety of employees and the financial affairs of the company.”
“I learned more about the construction industry and the game was fun to play.”
Rakenna Tulevaisuutta Oy can be found in the Business Villages in Pirkanmaa (Tampere), Häme (Lahti) and North Ostrobothnia (Oulu) in the academic years 2025–2027, and in the Business Villages in Lapland (Rovaniemi) and North Karelia (Joensuu) in the academic year 2025–2026.
Photos: Yrityskylä / Youth NOW
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Janne Suntio
Project manager
janne.suntio@rateko.fi +358 50 449 7559Construction industry training center RATEKO