Aerobloom, who addresses indoor air quality problems, Debatify, who develops debating skills with AI, and Unprompted, who encourages more critical use of AI, were selected as the winners of the Spring idea competition from among 244 ideas.
Spring weekend event at VALO Hotel & Work in Helsinki. Photo: Miikka Pirinen / Spring.
In the Children and Youth Foundation’s Spring idea competition, young people learn to develop ideas and change the world. The three winning teams will be awarded with a unique summer job, during which they get to bring their ideas to life together with top experts in Finland from various fields. The summer job also includes a study trip to London.
The winners were decided by a public vote, in which all young people under the age of 20 could participate. The three teams that received the most votes were chosen as the winners of Spring. More than 5,200 votes were cast in total, with the winners receiving a combined share of 66,7 percent.
The voting was open from 30.3.–13.4.2026.
The Spring 2026 winners are
Aerobloom
A Helsinki–Espoo based team consisting of Bhuvan, Joa, Jose, Elmeri and Athreya developed an air-purification device that uses cyanobacteria to capture carbon dioxide, release oxygen and improve indoor air quality.
Debatify
An application developed by Prinit, Kaavya, Kiana, Joshua and Rudrakshi from Helsinki uses artificial intelligence to support the practice of oral debating and provides real-time feedback on communication skills and argumentation.
Unprompted
An application developed by Aarush, Rudransh, Muhammad, Sneh and Leo from Helsinki helps students and professionals strengthen their intuition and critical-thinking skills instead of relying too heavily on artificial intelligence.
“This spring’s Spring finalists proved that young people have the ability to identify real societal problems and develop solutions to them. It was wonderful to see how young people approached AI boldly and constructively in their own ideas,” says Head of Program Katariina Tonttila.
Lasten ja nuorten säätiö. Spring 2025. Kuva: Miikka Pirinen
The Spring Idea Competition
Organized for the fourth year in a row, Spring invited young people aged 15–19 to develop world-improving ideas in teams of 3–5 members. Spring inspired over 20,000 young people to brainstorm ideas at school and during their free time. In total, 244 teams submitted their ideas to the competition. From these ideas, the 12 most promising were selected for a weekend event held at VALO Hotel & Work, from which the Spring jury chose six teams to advance to the finals.
The Spring Idea Competition is produced by The Children and Youth Foundation.
The idea competition is supported by UPM, Saastamoinen Foundation, Jenny and Antti Wihuri foundation, The Foundation Brita Maria Renlunds minne, Yksityisyrittäjäin säätiö, and VALO Hotel & Work.
