Espoo Is Improving Students' Mental Well-Being and Daily Activity with the MARKED App
In Espoo, a new application developed by MARKED aims to enhance students' mental well-being and daily activity.
The MARKED app allows users to earn points by engaging with mental well-being content, which can then be used to try out various physical activities. This is one of the pilot projects under the EU-funded initiative coordinated by Espoo's Sports and Recreation Unit, named "Modernizing Sport to Foster a New Active Generation." The overarching goal of all these pilots is to improve recreational opportunities for residents in an increasingly digital world and boost the daily activity levels of Espoo's citizens. In total, 11 companies and associations across Finland are organizing these pilots.
The inception of the MARKED service stemmed from the need to provide tools for supporting students' psychological well-being and developing socio-emotional skills. CEO Ida Nevalainen aimed to integrate these aspects into education. It quickly became evident that learning materials focused on self-awareness and mental well-being should also be accessible to young people.
This need gave rise to the MARKED app, developed in collaboration with students and teachers. The app provides materials supporting comprehensive well-being, making them easily accessible to the youth.
The gamification aspect of the app encourages young people to explore mental well-being. By doing so, they can collect points redeemable for cultural and sports services. The app combines support services with various leisure activities.
Pilot Project Is Engaging Young Students
The app is being piloted in Espoo's project in collaboration with students. Several educational institutions in Espoo have joined the trial. The project's impact will be monitored through anonymous surveys targeting users. The aim is to determine whether gamification effectively enhances students' well-being and daily activity levels. The points system is designed to equalize access to sports opportunities and lower the threshold for young people to try different forms of physical activity and participate.
"We look forward to seeing how leveraging digitalization can increase student engagement and physical activity while supporting the development of socio-emotional skills. It's great that Espoo wants to be a pioneer in digitalization and boldly experiment with various solutions," says MARKED's developer Ida Nevalainen.
The results of the pilot project will be published on MARKED's website and social media @markedsuomi. The pilot project concludes in January 2024.
If you wish to try the app or learn more about the initiative, you can contact via email at info@markedsuomi.fi.