Geospatial Challenge Camp (GCC)
Challenge-based course for tackling real-world challenges in cross-disciplinary teams
Geospatial Challenge Camp (GCC) is a challenge-based course that aims at engaging young scientists and students to solve real-world sustainability challenges with digital data and location technologies. The course is a skills development and innovation service of Geoportti Research Infrastructure and Location Innovation Hub, organized together with UTU, Aalto University and CSC - IT Center for Science.
GCC is a 10 to 12-week-long challenge-based course (5 ECTS) that aims to provide participants a chance to tackle relevant real-world challenges in cross-disciplinary teams. GCC has been organized by Geoportti RI, LIH, UTU, Aalto and CSC during 2023 and 2025 with an overall theme of Health and Well-Being. The participants are doctoral and post-doctoral researchers and master's students from Finnish universities and research organizations.
During the camp, the multi-disciplinary teams of young scientists work in close collaboration with industry to co-create digital innovative solutions for solving societal challenges. Teams identify and analyse complex location and time-related phenomena, and then design and build digital impact-driven solutions, which would improve the current know-how and capabilities of managing these problems in society. The teams work actively with their peers, mentors, and stakeholders during the course, and focus on designing geospatial data and digital technology solutions, which could have sustainability impacts for the users of the solution and for society at large.
Learning objectives of the camp for the participants are:
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Improved confidence:
in working in a multi-skilled team, knowing how to assess and communicate progress and results of the teamwork to stakeholders with diverse backgrounds
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Improved scientific skills:
in conceptualizing complex location-related problems in the society, and better understanding of how these problems can be tackled with geospatial data, geoprocessing, automation, and digital technologies.
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Skills to plan and manage teamwork:
which runs over several weeks, and manage sub goals, milestones and deliverables, and recognize the roles and responsibilities of members in a project team, linked with the team deliverables.
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Technical, hands-on competencies:
to identify, use, assess, process, and enrich geospatial data and digital technologies and provide novel solutions to needs posed by the stakeholders of the challenge.
