Sustainable Espoo Projects
Development work, experiments and cooperation related to the Sustainable Espoo programme are primarily carried out in projects enabled by external funding. The projects help us find solutions that facilitate the daily life of Espoo residents. The goal is to find local solutions for solving global challenges.
Projects and development work
The goal of the AutoMod project is to create a new kind of business ecosystem and platform in which utility robots can solve circular economy challenges in a smart city. In the future the AutoMod ecosystem can cover all of Finland and serve also other purposes than just circular economy ones. In addition to the City of Espoo, Forum Virium Helsinki and Metropolia University of Applied Sciences are involved in the project.
The Europe-wide CityLoops project develops methods and tools for planning the recycling of construction and demolition materials and organic waste in cities. We are involved in the project as a replicator city, which means that we are working closely together with the seven European project cities and will learn from their innovative experiments and new solutions. As a replicator, we will also make use of these cities’ results in Espoo.
Closed Plastic Circle - from Pilots into Practice is a continuation of the work started by the Smart & Clean Foundation in 2018, which aims to increase plastic recycling rate to 60-70 percent in the Capital Region and Päijät-Häme. After the foundation ceased its operations, the coordination responsibility of the Closed Plastic Circle -effort was transferred to the city of Espoo, and this project is one of our ways to implement the Closed Plastic Circle -work. The project focuses on developing the recycled plastic market by piloting new types of processes and improving the knowledge base.
The Future Workshop for Sustainable Development (TUPA) project strengthens the resident-based approach and their inclusion in Espoo’s sustainable development work The project develops and tests a new model of resident inclusion, in which a number of residents from different backgrounds resolve sustainability challenges together with the city’s operators. The objective is to better integrate the voice of residents into the sustainable development work done by Espoo, to better view the goals from the residents' perspective, to establish the resident-inclusion model and to scale it for wider use both nationally and internationally. The coaching provided in the project strengthens the city personnel’s competence in using methods of inclusion.
Read more about the Future Workshop for Sustainable Development (TUPA) project.
The Implementation Pathway for Environments that Accelerate Sustainable Growth project develops cooperation between businesses, educational institutes and research organisations, and creates concrete development environments to promote the green transition and digitalisation. The project will implement quickly-adoptable solutions and work on building the foundation for future jobs and competitive advantages. The project is implemented in cooperation with VTT, Aalto University, Omnia and partner companies.
The ‘It’s Like Riding a Bicycle’ project (‘Kaikki pyörät pyörimään’ in Finnish) promotes cycling in many ways in Espoo. We offer cycling courses for adults and cooperate with bicycle maintenance companies to support their operations. The partners involved in the project include the city sectors, residents, organisations and companies.
Read more about the ‘It’s Like Riding a Bicycle’ project.
The RAKKE project will strengthen cooperation between the public and private sectors and promote innovation and business activities related to the development of low-carbon transport, energy, circular economy as well as clean and smart urban solutions. The aim of the project is to build effective ecosystems together with 100 companies and developers and create a foundation for increasingly efficient project and development activities.
One of the objectives of the project coordinated by VTT and funded by the European Union is to promote the energy-positivity of the Kera region by means of renewable energy production and energy-efficient solutions.
Previous projects and pilots
The Communication Project for Sustainable Transport provides information, in line with the Espoo Story, on Espoo residents’ opportunities to make sustainable choices in their daily lives. The project team will cooperate with the city’s sectors, residents and partner companies. The project has received mobility management funding from the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency Traficom.
Read more about the Communication Project for Sustainable Transport.
In the project, Kera was developed as a district based on a circular and sharing economy, where new products and services are tried out in a genuine urban environment and cooperation is used to support the realisation of the circular economy.
Read more about KIEPPI project.
The objective of the project was to demonstrate the story of plastic, how a growing stream of plastic waste can be used to produce sustainable and low-carbon products. At the same time, efficient and user-friendly plastic collection methods suitable for schools were developed and piloted. In addition, the knowledge and skills of citizens, especially children and young people, on the circular economy of plastic were improved.
In the Smart and Clean Kera project, Kera is developed into an urban district where clean and smart solutions have been honed to perfection. The change is carried out together with partner companies, residents and other stakeholders by means of novel network-based cooperation. The aim is to create important solutions related to, for example, new energy solutions, means of transport and urban food production.
The goal of the project is to reduce transport emissions and promote sustainable modes of transport, such as walking, cycling and public transport. In accordance with the Espoo Story, the project will contribute to the achievement of the Carbon Neutral Espoo 2030 goal and the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development by 2025.
Read more about Low-carbon transport in mobility hubs project.