Following the carbon footprint of Espoo residents

The potential themes for the Following the carbon footprint - towards a sustainable lifestyle! hybrid event series were reviewed through an online survey held last autumn, and the themes that emerged were energy solutions of housing and simple everyday actions. The events were held in Sello, Lippulaiva and Tapiola libraries and were also streamed live online to ensure that as many interested residents as possible would be able to view the events.

The first hybrid event was held in Sello library in Leppävaara on Wednesday, 18 May 2022. The event was hosted by Elina Wanne from the City of Espoo’s Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Development. The opening address was by the City’s Director of Sustainable Development, Pasi Laitala, who spoke about the work done in the Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Development.

In their address, HSY Climate Info’s Energy Expert, Marikka Sand, and Project Manager Auli Honkanen spoke about sustainable housing, different housing solutions and opportunities for saving money. Saving water and managing the indoor temperature were a few of the examples given by them regarding sustainable housing solutions.

Jari Lyytimäki, Leading Researcher at the Finnish Environment Institute, addressed some of the pressure points of sustainable life in his speech. Together with the residents, he contemplated on why our day-to-day life is not yet sustainable and how we could achieve this. Some of the major pressure points that he brought up were discouragement, inferiority complex, over-optimism and superiority bias.

The evening was completed by Ville Taajamaa, Project Manager of the City of Espoo’s Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Development. He led the audience through the UN’s Agenda 2030 programme, its sustainable development goals and Espoo’s role in achieving these goals.

The second hybrid event was held in the Lippulaiva library, opened in Espoonlahti this spring, on Wednesday 1 June 2022. This event was hosted by Veli-Pekka Korhonen from the City of Espoo’s Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Development, and the opening address was held by Meri Löyttyniemi, the Chair of the Espoo Development Programme for Sustainable Development, who spoke about the Espoo programme and the cooperation of Espoo residents in the field of sustainability.

In her address, Communications Expert Kirsi-Leena Helle from HSY’s Climate Info contemplated on what sustainable life would actually look like for a resident in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area. She led the audience in thinking about practical actions through which the residents could make their daily lives more sustainable.

As the event was held in the Lippulaiva library, it was only fitting that the next speaker was Citycon’s Sustainability Manager, Elina Ekelund. She spoke about the sustainable energy solutions used in Lippulaiva, of which the main example was the geo-energy plant used for most of the urban centre’s heating and cooling needs. Next, Library Advisor Topias Salonen spoke about the Lippulaiva library itself, its implementation and resident-oriented approach.

The event’s last address was held by Activist Granny Seija Kurunmäki, who told about her own path in becoming an Activist Granny and considered the reasons behind her own climate anxiety. She also gave the residents concrete tips for both climate activism and more sustainable life, the key to which she believes is moderation.

The third and final hybrid event was held in Tapiola library on Wednesday 15 June 2022. The event was hosted by Reetta Jänis from the City of Espoo’s Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Development. The opening address was given by Mayor of Espoo Jukka Mäkelä, who spoke about the role of sustainable development in the City of Espoo organisation.

Next up was Sari Laine, the Leading Specialist of sustainable everyday life at Sitra. She spoke about creating a sustainable way of life through cooperation. Her address provided the audience with concrete examples of changes that are easy to implement in one’s daily life.

Next, Specialist Joni Mäkinen from the City of Espoo and Innovation Manager Verneri Kohonen from Caruna considered what it means to be an ‘energy citizen’ and whether we could all become one. They shed light on both Caruna’s and Espoo’s vision on sustainable energy solutions.

The event and the series was ended by Project Manager Mia Johansson from the City of Espoo’s Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Development, speaking about the role of circular economy in Espoo. Among other topics, she shared concrete examples on how circular economy is already utilised in Espoo. Libraries are a great example of this, as customers can borrow many other necessities from libraries than just books, such as tools.

The hybrid event series ‘Following the carbon footprint – towards a sustainable lifestyle’ gave the residents plenty of concrete examples for making their daily lives more sustainable. The addresses of all the experts highlighted moderation, the significance of small actions and the importance of staying aware. Thank you for everyone for their participation in the event series!