Pedagogical leadership and a positive employer image at the heart of the design
The City of Helsinki aims to reinvent itself every year and surprise visitors with an innovative exhibition stand. A key objective of the stand was to highlight the shared event theme, The Joy of Learning and Teaching, and combine it with the City of Helsinki brand in a creative and engaging way.
We developed the concept around the idea of the City of Helsinki as a provider of the best possible environment for learning and teaching. The stand served as a platform for inspiring discussion about learning environments where all students and teachers can thrive through their individual strengths. Through interactive activations, the stand showcased both learning and teaching environments as well as the skills and themes emphasized in Helsinki’s curriculum throughout the learning journey. We wanted the stand’s activities to encourage participants to share, hear, and experience the joy of learning. When everyone is given the opportunity to learn in a way that suits them best, learning itself promotes wellbeing for learners — and from a recruitment perspective, the joy of learning directly translates into the joy of teaching.
Through a variety of interactive experiences, the stand highlighted the City of Helsinki’s learning and teaching environments and the skills emphasized in the curriculum across all stages of education. The functional elements demonstrated different teaching methods and learning styles in a practical and participatory way. In line with the Helsinki brand, the stand was colorful, approachable, and visually striking from afar, inviting visitors to engage and participate. This year’s color palette combined light blue and pink, with yellow details adding contrast. The stage area’s “spotlight” effect was playfully created with a yellow beam of light, which also doubled as a fun photo spot whenever the stage was not in program use.
The Joy of Learning Swing offered visitors a moment to sit down in a playful swing installation and put on headphones amid the busy exhibition atmosphere. Through the headphones, visitors could listen to interviews and reflections from students and teachers across different educational levels in Helsinki, sharing how they experience the joy of learning. By presenting diverse perspectives and experiences, the installation also encouraged visitors to discuss learning environments where both learners and teachers can succeed through their own strengths. A collaborative coloring artwork became one of the stand’s most visible and popular features, attracting visitors of all ages throughout the event. The puzzle table also gathered enthusiastic participants and highlighted mathematics and natural sciences, which were among the City of Helsinki’s key educational focus areas.
“Project management was first-class — a truly functional and stress-free process. For us, it was an effortless turnkey solution. We could trust that schedules would hold, the project would move forward smoothly, and the stand would be ready exactly as we wanted and when we needed it!”
— Rosa Luopajärvi, City of Helsinki
ME Studio was responsible for the comprehensive design and production of the City of Helsinki’s Educa 2026 exhibition stand, covering everything from concept development and interactive content ideation to visual design and implementation coordination. The project was carried out in close collaboration with the client and key stakeholders, ensuring a smooth process and a final result aligned with the project objectives.
ME Studio also managed the hosting and stage moderation during the professional event days, while an experienced producer acted as the stand host throughout the event, ensuring a high-quality, seamless, and engaging visitor experience from start to finish.
Throughout the project, collaboration was guided by active, transparent, and solution-oriented communication from the initial planning phase to the post-event evaluation. This ensured the consistent visibility of the City of Helsinki’s objectives and brand across every aspect of the implementation.
