Espoo-based companies have a wide-ranging positive impact on the world, says analysis carried out in cooperation with Upright

How does business affect society? In cooperation with Upright Oy, we looked for answers to this question by assessing the operations of Espoo’s partners in sustainable development. The results show that the business ecosystems of the circular economy of construction, renewable energy, the charging of electric cars and the cycle of plastics have a multifaceted positive impact on Espoo residents’ lives. When examining the effectiveness, we focused on the companies’ core business operations and their impacts. Every Espoo-based company can also consider this from their own perspective – how can the resources, products and services of our company be used to have a more positive impact on the world? In the future, understanding this will be increasingly important in order to obtain funding and attract employees.

The impact analysis performed is based on a model by the Helsinki-based technology company Upright. The model measures effectiveness in four dimensions: society, knowledge, health and environment. Based on scientific data, it uses a holistic approach to quantify in all these perspectives the resources used in relation to the value created. This creates a broad understanding of the company’s effectiveness: what kinds of resources the core business operations of the company consume and what kinds of values they can create.

Companies transform the resources they use into business operations that are used to make people’s lives and the operations of society possible. For this reason, the greatest and broadest impact of companies comes from their core business operations. Understanding the overall picture of effectiveness requires improving both the understanding of the resources used and the understanding of what value is being created for the surrounding world and how efficiently. This must be assessed from the different perspectives of sustainability.

Upright uses a mathematical model based on machine-learning tools and open scientific data to produce comparable effectiveness data about companies. The model focuses on the impacts of the companies’ business operations, i.e. products and services, and it examines effectiveness throughout the value chain; from the procurement of materials to the end use and disposal of the product. The estimate is based on publicly available data and no additional resources are required from the municipality or companies.

“We were particularly interested in Upright’s way of using open data to examine the effectiveness of companies’ core business operations from many different perspectives. In addition to environmental responsibility, Espoo values social, cultural and financial sustainability. The analysis provided us with many new insights into examining sustainability and corporate effectiveness,” says Tiia Tuuri, Development Manager at the Espoo Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Development. 

The aim was to assess the impacts of sustainable business operations and to obtain comparative data. Therefore, in the case of larger companies in particular, this meant limiting the data to the products and industries relevant to the theme being examined. “This analysis is one way of looking at effectiveness. It highlights the positive impacts of selected corporate ecosystems and themes when compared to the average company. We hope that the positive results will encourage other companies to develop their own business in a more sustainable direction,” says Reetta Jänis, Project Manager for the project “Solution path to sustainable growth ecosystems” (RAKKE).

The companies and divisions included in the analysis focus on solving various sustainability problems related to climate and materials. The results of the effectiveness analysis confirm what was already presumed: the ecosystems’ companies convert the resources they use into a wide-ranging positive impact on the world.

The net impact of the Espoo community is clearly positive, meaning that companies, when considered together, create more positive effects in relation to the resources they use. “The corporate speeches and discussions concerning the results presentations highlighted the importance of cooperation as a driver of sustainable business operations and corporate growth. It was great to see how committed the companies operating in Espoo are to sustainable development and the promotion of the circular economy. Sustainable growth benefits the entire value chain,” says Tiia Tuuri.

In terms of the analysis, a significant finding is that, despite the focus on products and services promoting sustainability, the value creation of ecosystems is not only limited to benefitting the environment. Services related to the electrification of transport enable considerable emission reductions in the transport services crucial for society. The recycling of plastic waste reduces the volume of waste while enabling the positive impacts of plastic on, for example, the improved preservation of food. Partners in the circular economy of construction develop sustainable and comfortable homes, and the business operations of renewable energy provide fossil-free energy for the entire society. The companies in the ecosystems also have a wide-reaching impact on the construction and maintenance of societal infrastructure, the creation and sharing of new data and the promotion of the overall health of people.

“The analysis was an excellent example of how effectiveness must be measured in a comprehensive manner. Virtually all companies analysed within the framework of this cooperation contribute positively to emission reductions, and the current discussion on sustainability is mostly focused on emission reductions. It should be remembered that companies’ positive and negative impact on the world is not only limited to emissions. Examining the overall picture provides us with a good understanding of their effectiveness,” says Erika Noponen, Head of Customer Success at Upright.

In the future, companies must increasingly be able to justify their own responsibility, sustainability and effectiveness to their employees, financiers and consumers. Growing a company’s influence and sustainable business operations requires not only reviewing and enhancing the utilisation of resources but also maximising the related positive influence.

“Investors of all kinds, from early-stage VC financiers to institutional major operators investing in the listed universe, are interested in the effectiveness of companies. From the perspective of obtaining funding, understanding your company’s effectiveness and communicating about it is nowadays a basic requirement, but companies also have the opportunity to be seen in a positive light and stand out from the competition. Many operators are looking for projects that combine the potential of big business and a great positive impact on the world,” says Erika Noponen.

Read the report:

The assessment was part of the project “Solution path to sustainable growth ecosystems” (RAKKE), which ended in March 2023 and was funded by the Uusimaa Sustainable Growth and Vitality Support (UKKE) funding.

‘Sustainable Growth with Partners’ seminars brought together more than 120 participants from 70 organisations 

We invite our partners to cooperate and join the Climate City Agreement 

Reetta Jänis, Development Manager, Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Development, City of Espoo, tel. +358 40 5519484

Tiia Tuuri, Development Manager, Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Development, City of Espoo, tel. +358 40 6369757

Erika Noponen, Head of Customer Success, Upright Oy, tel. +358 50 3089490