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Smart & Clean Helsinki Metropolitan area

Smart cities will create markets worth 1.5 trillion euros by 2020. We will be making the Helsinki Metropolitan area into a test platform to showcase the best of these solutions.

WHAT IS IT ABOUT?

Closed project: April 2014 to September 2016

Cities are at the centre of the search for solutions to help us adapt to climate change. Already today, cities generate 80% of global carbon dioxide emissions. However, the transformation to a low-carbon world economy will require a new kind of co-operation between cities, companies and populations. The Helsinki Metropolitan area offers a sufficiently large test platform for smart and clean solutions.

The purpose of the project was to prepare a plan for turning the Helsinki Metropolitan area into an internationally important reference area for ecological and smart solutions by 2021 and to showcase the best products and services of both Finnish and international companies. These would demonstrate how the opportunities created by digitisation and the circular economy can reduce emissions, make everyday life smoother and create a pleasant living environment.

What was achieved?

The project created a framework for co-operation among cities, companies and other organisations. Together with the cities of Helsinki, Espoo, Vantaa, Lahti and Kauniainen, Sitra founded the Helsinki Metropolitan Smart & Clean Foundation to further this co-operation. Tiina Kähö is the Executive Director of the foundation.

The main themes of the new foundation include traffic and movement, construction, energy, waste and water, as well as consumer cleantech, with digitisation and the circular economy as common, intersecting aspects.

Read more on the SmartClean blog series.

Who participated?

The main project partners were the Cities of Helsinki, Espoo, Vantaa and Lahti, the Uusimaa Regional Council, Helsinki Business Hub, the Climate Leadership Council and GreenNet Finland, as well as the Ministry of Employment and the Economy, the Ministry of Transport and Communications, and the Ministry of the Environment.

What next?

The established Helsinki Metropolitan Smart & Clean Foundation will continue carrying out the project plans. The foundation will be operational until June 2021.