The Yrityskylä learning environment enables pupils to learn about society and how the world works
Established in 2009, the Yrityskylä Business Village is intended for the sixth and ninth-graders to learn about society, the economy, working life and entrepreneurship. The concept has been developed in Finland, and it won the World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE) Prize in 2014. The learning environment is coordinated by Economy and Youth (TAT). Yrityskylä offers municipalities and schools a high-quality programme that focuses on the joy of learning. The programme is based on the national curriculum.
The Yrityskylä learning environment for the sixth-graders is a miniature town where the children work in a profession and get paid for their work. They also act as consumers and citizens as part of society.
Martela provides the Yrityskylä learning environment with furniture for the sixth-graders in all its ten locations. The Yrityskylä business villages are located in Espoo, Helsinki-Vantaa, Tavastehus, Eastern Finland, Southeast Finland, Central Finland, the Tampere Region, Ostrobothnia, Northern Ostrobothnia and Southwest Finland. The newest Yrityskylä Tavastehus opened in 2022 in Lahti for the sixth-graders as well. Yrityskylä Business Villages are now reaching about 83 percent of sixth-graders and 73 percent of ninth-graders.
Responsibility comes first
Responsibility is a key aspect of cooperation for us. The pupils learn about the design and implementation of sustainable, user-centric environments. Understanding the meaning of the circular economy is an important social aspect. In the Yrityskylä business village, pupils can work as Martela’s CEO, work environment consultant or interior designer.
In 2021, Martela reached 53,958 sixth-graders all over Finland at Yrityskylä Business village. The feedback from the pupils of the Business Village tells about the success, one of which was: “Greetings to Martela. See you when I come to work for you!”
