Sustainable Espoo development program 

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

Espoo wants to be the most sustainable city in Europe now and in the future. Cities are responsible for 75 percent of global CO2 emissions causing global warming and loss in biodiversity. We know our responsibility in solving this challenge. One of four cross-administrative strategic programrs, the Sustainable Espoo program works to develop sustainable and low-carbon solutions in the city's own operations and in cooperation with local partners and international networks. The program is currently on its 3rd consecutive round, the current one lasting until the end of the current council term in 2025.

In addition to reducing the city’s carbon emissions, the program’s aim is to experiment and develop solutions that make everyday life easier for the people of Espoo. Its focus areas include smart energy, smart mobility, circular economy, city design and built environment. In practice, the city of Espoo together with local partners and international networks, creates innovations that are both sustainable and commercially successful. Espoo’s role is to coordinate the co-operation, bring together different actors and build a project portfolio aimed at solving systemic challenges.

The program’s results include carbon-neutral district heating during the 2020s and co-designing new city districts, such as the Kera district where measures to reduce emissions will result in 56% lower emissions compared to the average in an area of similar size in Espoo. The program supports Espoo’s goal to become carbon neutral by 2030. In 2016 and 2017, Espoo was nominated as the most sustainable city in Europe in a study by Tilburg University. In 2022, Espoo was chosen as one of the cities delivering the new EU Mission on 100 Climate-neutral and Smart Cities by 2030, acting as an experimentation and innovation hub for all other European cities to follow suit by 2050. In March 2024, Espoo was awarded with the EU Mission Label underscoring its role as a pioneer in green and digital transition.