Problem addressed

Approximately one in six young adults ages 20-34, 14 million in total, are not in employment, education or training (NEET) in EU, which means they are unable to find a place in the current education or job market offering. 50 % of 18-29 years olds in the EU had unmet needs for mental health care in 2022. 

If support cannot be accessed on time, problems become more complex and prolonged. This can lead to social exclusion (loneliness), marginalisation and resentment towards society. At the same time, the society loses the young person’s potential.    

Innovative solution

Zekki collates the available support services and offers them to young people according to their current needs 

Zekki offers support for strengthening wellbeing and finding a personal path (independently or with the necessary support).  Zekki can offer clarity to a personal situation, encouragement, appropriate and timely support and help, and a direct pathway to support services. Zekki is offered to young people as an accessible, open and mobile-optimised website, which young people can use to reflect on how they are doing. It is marketed on social media aimed at young people, on the websites of various NGOs (youth services, recreational organisations), and by professionals who work with young people (e.g. teachers, study guidance counsellors, youth workers). Zekki begins with a rapid 3X10D Survey consisting of ten questions. Based on the answers, young person gets encouraging feedback, formulated by professionals, and recommendations for the appropriate services. 

Key results and benefits

Young people themselves and the professionals who have used Zekki give very positive feedback. E.g. young people opinions (scale 1-5): Zekki was easy to use: 4.7; Zekki helped me to figure out my situation: 3.5; I got new information or tips of support suitable for me: 3.5; I will use Zekki again: 3.4

In 2021, Zekki won European innovation council's the best European social innovation (EUSIC) award.

publications in English:

Evaluating situation of life with the 3X10D survey – How reliable is the assessment?https://unlimited.hamk.fi/hyvinvointi-ja-sote-ala/evaluating-situation-of-life-with-the-3x10d-survey-how-reliable-is-the-assessment/

A Human-Centric Co-creation Platform for Solving Wicked Social Challenges A Human-Centric Co-creation Platform for Solving Wicked Social Challenges https://osuva.uwasa.fi/handle/10024/13531

https://national-policies.eacea.ec.europa.eu/youthwiki/chapters/finland/75-mental-health

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41597-022-01818-0

Potential for mainstreaming

Zekki is a scalable social innovation. The technical and visual implementation, and the simple logic enables it to be transferred to different contexts and scaled according to country- or region-specific needs or for specific groups, like immigrant youth or young people with disabilities (e.g. autism) or families or elderly people. The development approaches used (co-creation, service design, training processes, communication), are scalable.