72-hour traffic challenge 2026

72-hour traffic challenge 2026

The challenge will be held in Kuopio from November 2nd till the 5th, 2026 for students of the University of Eastern Finland and Savonia University of Applied Sciences.

What is this about?
The 72h Traffic Challenge is a hackathon focusing on urban development and traffic, where solutions to real problems are designed. The challenge is aimed for students from selected educational institutions, regardless of their field of study.

Why should you participate?

Come and experience one of the toughest and most interesting student competitions of the year, with a wide range of organizers. Meet new people, challenge yourself, learn a lot of new things and get a head start on the job market!

The winning team will be rewarded with a Liveable Cities - excursion in Copenhagen during the spring of 2027!

The main language of the competition is Finnish, but all materials will also be prepared in English, so international students can also participate in the challenge.

Visit example from 2024

Prize: Liveable Cities excursion to Copenhagen

Destination

The winning team of the competition will be awarded a two-day Liveable Cities study trip to Copenhagen.

Date

The trip will take place in early 2027 (the exact date will be agreed with the winning team). The prize includes round-trip travel (train tickets and flights), accommodation in double rooms, transfers between destinations in Copenhagen and meals. The trip is organized by Ramboll Group.

Monday 2.11.

11:45 Coffee break
12:00 Opening of the event and greetings
13:00 Announcement of the topic
13:10 Introductions
14:30 Event ends

14:30-21:00 Working spaces reserved for teams at Savonia University of Applied Sciences

Tuesday 3.11.

8:20-9:40 Introductions to the task
10:00-12:30 Sparring

8:00-21:00 Working spaces reserved for teams at Savonia University of Applied Sciences

Wednesday 4.11.

13:00-15:30 Practice presentations

8:00-21:00 Working spaces reserved for teams at Savonia University of Applied Sciences

Thursday 5.11.

8:00 Electronic submission of the written part of the competition work and presentation
8:30 Presentation of the competition works
12:00 Event ends
Kuopio City Hall

Evaluation criteria

Meeting the objectives 25 points

Compliance with the assignment
Comprehension and scope
Viewing from different perspectives
User-centricity
Effectiveness
Sustainable development
Accessibility

Innovation and insight 25 points

Novelty
Innovation and attention value
Modifiability
Versatileness
Expertise
Diversity of changes and impacts considered
Creativity

Teamwork 10 points

Team role assignment
Participation
Team spirit and caring

Utilization of media 15 points

Use of social media
Publicity
Collaboration with media representatives

Feasibility 10 points

Technical feasibility
Scalability of the idea
Finance

Presentation and reporting 15 points

Clarity
Enthusiasm
Time management
Overview
Visuality
Comprehensiveness
Originality
Ingenuity and storytelling of presentation
Methods and sources used (disclosure)

Competition rules

Participants agree to these competition rules when participating in the competition.

Competition organizer

The competition organizers (hereinafter referred to as the organizer) are the City of Kuopio, the University of Eastern Finland, Savonia University of Applied Sciences and Ramboll Finland Oy.
Competition participants
Students from all fields of study at the aforementioned educational institutions, regardless of year, can participate in the competition.
The competition must be registered in advance in the manner specified by the organizer (website).
The main languages of the competition are Finnish and English.
The competition organizer will divide the teams.
If the number of people registered for the competition is too large compared to the size and maximum number of teams, the organizer has the right to limit the number of participants. The criteria for limiting the number of participants are based on the aim of getting students from as many different fields as possible into the teams.
The teams will choose a project manager from among themselves, who will act as a contact person between the team and the organizer during the competition.

Competition schedule

The competition will be held in Kuopio between 2.11.-5.11.2026 according to the program and schedule announced by the organizer.
Teams must participate in all events announced in advance by the organizer during the competition. It is not necessary for all team members to be present, but one member's presence is sufficient. The events and their exact schedule will be announced on the competition website when the competition starts.

Competition entries

Teams can work on competition entries in any location they wish (e.g. educational institutions, team members' homes, and public spaces such as libraries, cafes). The organizer will reserve spaces for the groups to use at the organizer's premises.
Teams can utilize various sources of information during the competition, such as personal interviews, Internet materials, and literature. The sources used must be stated in the competition entry in accordance with the instructions given at the start of the competition and good practice.
Competition entries must be reported and returned in electronic format.
The team can choose the method of implementation and the programs used for reporting include PowerPoint, Word and Excel. Video reporting is also possible. The work must include a PowerPoint presentation. In addition, a 1-2 page Word-formatted thesis statement must be prepared.
The written thesis statement (1-2 pages) and presentation materials must be returned by Thursday, November 5, 2026 at 8:00 AM. The organizer may choose not to grade any

Panel of judges and evaluation

The winning work is selected by a jury, which includes representatives of the organizing body. The chairman of the jury is a representative of the City of Kuopio.
Each judge scores the works based on predetermined criteria.
The work with the most jury points wins and the winning team is awarded a prize. The vote of the chairman of the jury is decisive in the event of a tie.

Rights and obligations of participants

The winning team undertakes to present the competition work on two occasions at the request of the competition organizer. The occasions and their dates are agreed upon with the competition organizer and the winning team. It is not necessary for all team members to be present at the presentation. Possible presentations held outside the Kuopio region and their travel costs are agreed upon separately.
Participants permanently transfer all copyrights to the material they produce during the competition and their competition work to the competition organizers.
Participants have the right to use their participation in the competition, their competition work and other material produced during the competition in their studies, as a reference and in their portfolio and CV.

Rights and obligations of the competition organiser

The competition is public and related material (names of competitors, photographs, videos, etc.) may be published in public media (Internet, social media, magazines, YouTube, etc.).
The competition organiser has the right to publish the competition works prepared during the competition, photographs of events and other material created during the days, e.g. on its website and other media channels.
The copyright to the material and competition works produced during the competition is permanently transferred to the organisers. These parties have the right, e.g. to utilise, publish, pass on, modify, combine and further develop the material and competition works produced during the competition in their operations.

Are you interested?

Registration for the competition is now open! Register here

If you have any questions about the competition, please contact:

Vili Ampuja
tel. +358 50 431 8274
vili.ampuja@ramboll.fi

Aleksi Vesanto

Puh. +358 44 7512228

Aleksi.vesanto@ramboll.fi

72-hour traffic challenge 2026