Student collaboration provides exciting insights into how more people can be attracted to the municipality

A unique project between Jönköping Municipality, the Chamber of Commerce in Jönköping, and students from three schools at Jönköping University (JU) has taken place during the spring. On June 9, the students had a final report of their internship where they have, among other things, created a first version of a digital platform that can be used to attract here and retain labor in the region.

The municipality has for several years worked closely with the business community with activities to seek, attract, recruit and retain skills. During the spring, students from JU have had the opportunity to work during their internship period to analyze several of the challenges surrounding the supply of skills. The students have worked with everything from analyzing what makes you choose a certain place to establish yourself in to how you can communicate with different target groups.

The business department at Jönköping Municipality and the Jönköping Chamber of Commerce are project owners and students from School of Engineering (JTH), Jönköping International Business School (JIBS) and the School of Education and Communication (HLK) at Jönköping University have worked in different groupings on consecutive rounds of the project.

Started from scratch

Louise Xu, who recently graduated from the Media and Communication Science program at HLK, has been an informal project coordinator and kept the students' work together. She also did her VFU (Work-placement education) for eleven weeks at the Business Department in Jönköping Municipality, where her time was fully devoted to the project.

“The biggest challenge has been to find a balance between being a student and being an intern for the municipality. I almost got a role in the project that was senior to the other students, while still being one of them. There was an idea that I would work closer to the students with the creation of content for the site, but it did not really take off until towards the end of this collaboration,” says Louise Xu.

The students started from scratch and many different competencies have been required to handle the great breadth of the project, which is why the collaboration between the schools has been important.

“For us, this project was a new experience, especially when it came to execution. From the very beginning, it was clear that our project manager Marie Solberg (contact person for the business department and the students) really prioritized quality over quantity, and our well-being. If we had an opinion on certain decisions, they were carried out. I think that everyone in the project contributed to a positive spirit and good work environment,” says Rober Vorkapic, who recently graduated from the New media design programme at JTH and project manager for one of the student groups.

The students from JIBS joined the project in mid-April, which coincided with the the start of their ‘Marketing Management’ course.

“During the project, we interviewed students to gain a greater understanding of their professional competence and their perception of a career in Jönköping. We carried out research in the subject and used different marketing models to explain how Jönköping municipality should communicate with the target group in an effective way. The project has worked well, and I think we have proved to Jönköping municipality what benefits can be achieved by focusing on getting students to stay in Jönköping,” says Hanna Bexell, student on the Marketing management course at JIBS and project manager for one of the student groups.

The municipality is satisfied with the students and their work

Sven Rydell, Head of Trade and Industry at Jönköping Municipality and head of the project, thinks that the journey that the municipality and the Chamber of Commerce in Jönköping have made together with the students in this initiative has been very exciting.

“The students' inspiration has been completely magical. They have seen things with new eyes and contributed to the project with dynamism and energy,” he says.

The students have developed an advanced first version of a digital platform where you can attract the target groups' interest through, among other things, searchable jobs from the Swedish Public Employment Service, maps of, for example, residential areas and an integrated event calendar. The platform attracts curiosity about Jönköping by visually showing, for example, the waterfront environment in the city center, Dreamhack, the beach at Lake Vättern, HV71, the best viewpoints, cycle paths, residential areas and outdoor life.

“The students have really picked out the soul of what it means to live and work in Jönköping. Their work is as good as it can get, and they have covered nearly everything. Now we will go through the material, possibly make some adjustments, and think about how we can take the next step early this autumn,” says Sven Rydell.