# Finnish-Ukrainian Academia Collaboration in The Field of Gaming Activities - Savonia AMK

> Beyond academic visits, the program also included networking with local game developers.

## Overview of Collaboration
During early August 2025, a productive cooperation was held between Savonia DigiCenter, the GameOn project, and the Robert Elworthy Economics and Technology Institute (ETI) in Kropyvnytskyi, Ukraine. Dr. Olexiy Izvalov, representing ETI, visited Kuopio to participate in events and meetups aimed at strengthening academic ties in game development, meaningful gaming, and the social impact of games.

Dr. Izvalov is an Associate Professor at ETI and serves as the Regional Coordinator in Ukraine and a member of the Executive Committee of the Global Game Jam (GGJ). The collaboration was initiated through the professional connection between Dr. Izvalov and Savonia RDI Specialist Ville Heiskanen, who serves as the GGJ Regional Coordinator in Finland.

## The "Ctrl+Alt+Disinfo" Project
In 2025, participants from 27 countries, including Ukraine and Finland, took part in the “Ctrl+Alt+Disinfo” game jam, part of the “United with Ukraine Game Jam” project. This initiative, supported by the US State Department, focused on creating games that teach critical thinking and raise awareness of propaganda and disinformation.

Key project milestones included:
*   **Roundtable Discussions:** Managing Director of the European Games Developer Federation, Jari-Pekka Kaleva, participated in discussions in Kyiv alongside Dr. Izvalov and representatives from Poland and the USA.
*   **Participation:** By February 2025, 999 developers had created 172 games, with over 50% of participants and projects originating from Ukraine.
*   **Project Status:** Although the US State Department ceased funding on March 4, 2025, many developers continued their work, supported by European partners and the GGJ network to continue tackling disinformation through gaming.

## Academic and Professional Exchanges
During his visit to Kuopio, Dr. Izvalov engaged in several academic and industry-focused activities:
*   **Savonia DigiCenter:** Presentations on the current situation in Ukraine, highlighting the challenges of working under power shortages and air raid alerts.
*   **University of Eastern Finland (UEF):** Tours of the HUMEA laboratory (hosted by Paavo Vartiainen and Samu Sorola) and the Department of Computer Science (hosted by Marko Jäntti), with discussions on rehabilitation, hackathons, ethical AI, robotics, and the green transition.
*   **Kajaani Game Development Lab:** Spectating student presentations to exchange ideas on event organization.
*   **Industry Networking:** Visits to the game studio Hanki Games and participation in the IGDA Kuopio monthly meetup, where Dr. Izvalov presented the results of the "Ctrl+Alt+Disinfo" game jam.

## Future Outlook
The partners are currently exploring future collaboration opportunities, specifically applying practices from the GameOn initiative to support the rehabilitation and societal reintegration of Ukrainian soldiers returning from the front lines.

## Contributors
*   **Ville Heiskanen**, RDI Specialist, Savonia UAS
*   **Olexiy Izvalov**, Associate Professor at Robert Elworthy Economics and Technology Institute
*   **Kimmo Pakarinen**, Project Manager (GameOn project)

## References
1. Two Decades of Game Jams: Gorm Lai, Annakaisa Kultima, Foaad Khosmood, Johanna Pirker, Allan Fowler, Ilaria Vecchi, William Latham, Frederic Fol Leymarie ICGJ ’21: Proceedings of the 6th Annual International Conference on Game Jams, Hackathons, and Game Creation Events Pages 1 – 11. [https://doi.org/10.1145/3472688.3472689](https://doi.org/10.1145/3472688.3472689)
2. Resources for the game creators to make games about disinformation [Online]. [https://unitedwithukraine.games/resources/](https://unitedwithukraine.games/resources/)
3. Game Jam During Military Invasion: Difficulty Level We Did Not Ask For: Oleksii Izvalov ICGJ ’23: Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Game Jams, Hackathons and Game Creation Events Pages 42 – 45. [https://doi.org/10.1145/3610602.3610608](https://doi.org/10.1145/3610602.3610608)