Lappset Group launches a large-scale research and development project for a fitness exercise park
(29.1.2008)

FUN PLAY AND EXERCISE FOR PEOPLE OF ALL AGES From the beginning of the year Lappset Group initiated the large-scale Eureka research and development project named Dynamic Garden, managed by Lappset and co-financed by the Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation (Tekes). The intention of the project is to produce a fitness and outdoor exercise park, available for all, suitable for people of all ages, and enhanced with technology. Lappset Group and Tekes are together investing approximately 1.5 million euros into the project.

 The goal for this Dynamic Garden project, with a duration of three years, is to create a high-standard designed, unrestricted and technologically enhanced fitness and outdoor exercise park where exercise and play provide meaningful experiences and diversity for people of all ages. The Dynamic Garden outdoor exercise park will be designed to encourage and motivate persons interested in exercise and exercise enthusiasts to play, exercise and through this improving the participant’s healthy wellbeing.

The objective is to create an entirely new product and service entirety, the usability of which, its health improving factors, and design will receive special consideration. The planning of the outdoor exercise park will be founded on wide-ranging research work on, for instance factors related to human wellbeing behaviour, exercise motivation and the global wellbeing markets. The fields of study also include outdoor exercise park related services.

”We believe that there will be a great demand for fitness enhancing outdoor exercise parks in the future, on both the Finnish and international markets. Today’s busy lifestyle means that people no longer have the time to sufficiently take care of their wellbeing and even the time a family has to spend together is shrinking. Lappset has a firm belief that this will change and the value bestowed on outdoor pursuits, playing and spending time together will experience a renaissance. We have a quickly aging population, and also for overall public health reasons it is important to keep senior citizens active. By developing balance and improved motor skills, it is for instance possible to help prevent falling accidents. Of course play and the joy of exercise will also fend off depression and apathy”, states Pertti Ura, Managing Director of the Lappset Group.

International partners involved in the Eureka project

The Eureka project is a European partnership network, with projects that develop competitive products, processes or services for the global markets. One of the criteria for the Eureka projects is the involvement of participating partners from at least two European Union countries. Eureka provides companies with a safe way to become international, indeed its purpose is to improve the competitiveness of European companies on the global markets.

In addition to Lappset Group, participation in the Dynamic Garden project from Finland includes the Industrial Design Unit of the University of Lapland together with the company Carousel Oy who are responsible for concept planning and design and the body responsible for the project’s research in the field of exercise. The project also sees involvement from companies and corporations specialised in exercise and technology solutions from Germany and Spain, having their own project division. The company participating from Spain is Brainstorm Multimedia S.L. and AIJU, and from Germany SportKreativWerkstatt.