TAAVI KARU

Taavi works on a daily basis as the Head of the Võru Kreutzwald School, where he practices change management every day. He also has experience with municipal committees and working groups. By their very nature, hackathons are one possible way to give momentum to ideas that have the content to grow into successful change. Taavi has been at the forefront of making many ideas a reality, as well as keeping them an idea, and offers his support to help the team achieve a successful change.

SIIM PÜTSEPP

Siim has been: a beer seller, copywriter, car wrecker, grape grower, broadcaster, entrepreneur, paramedic, creative director, builder, mascot, development manager, marketer, sheep farmer, columnist, strategy manager and now mentor. He knows something about some things, and not much of anything about others. When asked what a person is missing out on if they don’t take part in the hackathon, Siim said: ‘The realisation of their own idea, or one that is pleasant. You have a chance, but you won’t do it. Why?’

KAIRI TILGA

On a daily basis, Kairi heads the Estonian Cooperation Assembly, which is part of the Office of the President and focuses on topics of democracy and human development. Democracy is not just about politics and elections every four years, it is about everyday participation in the life of your street, neighbourhood, school, community, and country. Kairi often thinks about how to raise the level of everyday participation and inclusion, how to better identify nearby resources, and how to strengthen communities. Communities where people act together, notice and help each other ensure that society adapts and copes better in times of crises. I will be happy to explore these topics further with the teams participating in the Vunki Mano hackathon!

ERKKI PEETSALU

Erkki Peetsalu has been active in the Estonian media scene for over 30 years, with a wealth of experience in both journalism and communication – as a content creator, consultant, lecturer, and trainer. As a mentor with long-term experience in media and entrepreneurship, he has supported many organisations, is a driving force behind several community initiatives, and empowers community leaders. As a mentor, the most interesting thing for Erkki is to get into a new topic as a ‘blank page. By trusting the process, by viewing it from the point of view of a neutral stance and by giving his undivided attention to the team, it is possible to see the unseen.

DANIEL KOTSJUBA

Daniel Kotsjuba is a designer. His work from recent years has involved the dissemination and implementation of user-centred design in the private and public sectors. He has led service design projects, trained and promoted networking and collaboration. Daniel has a special interest in inclusive design, that is, design that takes into account different groups in society. Today, he works as the head of the Social Design curriculum at the Estonian Academy of Arts.

‘Based on my experience so far, I am convinced that the prerequisite for social change is cooperation and co-creation. I’m coming to Vunki Mano to get together with the participants to understand what problem we should be solving, and to think about how it would make sense to do it,’ said Daniel.

KADRI MOPPEL

Kadri works daily as a service designer at the Social Insurance Board and also in her family marketing business, with this being the first time that she has served as a mentor at a hackathon. However, she has been involved in the Vunki Mano hackathons in the past, both in the preparation of the event and as a member of the team. In order to obtain a Master’s degree in Service Design, she wrote her final paper on the Vunki Mano hackathon entitled ‘Hackathon as a co-creation supporting event, based on the example of the Võrumaa design project “Vuni Mano”’, where she studied the theoretical nature of social innovation and proposed suggestions for the better involvement of stakeholders in the idea hackathons. She believes that co-creation is the new norm in the development of public services and community solutions. According to Kadri, the Vunki Mano hackathon helps to add a new dimension to the topics covered through service design and co-creation elements.