The Impact Leadership Program integrates citizen-centric thinking into urban development and decision-making

This article series presents cases of innovations built here in Espoo that strive for a better tomorrow for all.

Innovation isn’t just about creating something new, it should be about opening streams of wellbeing for the people and planet, developing into smarter solutions and better living – happiness.  

What the world needs is a systemic change that organically spreads social inclusion and equity for all. That gives everyone safety and a place to belong. Simply leaning towards a more sustainable way of life for the people and planet. That’s what Espoo is about: a leading innovation hub that creates the kind of innovation the world needs.  

This article series presents cases of innovations built here in Espoo that strive for a better tomorrow for all.

Our aim is to build a future for our city and our community that is socially, culturally, economically and ecologically sustainable. This requires us to look at urban development and decision-making from a wider perspective than just the economic indicators. One of our tools for ensuring this wider lense is the Impact Leadership Program developed together with VTT Technical Research Center of Finland, one of Europe’s leading research institutions. The program aims to integrate citizen-centric approach into urban development and decision-making, utilizing knowledge and data to facilitate user-centric decisions and the development of accessible services that understand the diverse needs of citizens. 

As the program had been kicked off, the COVID pandemic started, and restrictions were set. The situation challenged us to think how we could best serve the Espoo residents even in these exceptional circumstances. The restrictions, for example, forced people to come up with alternatives to indoor sports. Espoo has installed 26 outdoor gyms across its regional centers and collects user data from the largest gyms via sensors to track equipment usage and movement sets. Additionally, the city gathers UX data to assess the impact of these gyms on citizens' exercise habits and regional comfort. Utilizing this data, we were able to employ the Impact Leadership Program to develop our outdoor gyms to meet the needs of citizens using them.