How does Finland implement sustainable urban development strategies?

InnoCities is a network of 16 university city regions in Finland. The cities support and promote new ways of thinking and act as pioneers of change. Their work is driven by the desire to renew business and promote sustainable lifestyles.

Sustainable urban development in the EU is organised around sustainable urban development strategies. In Finland those strategies are ecosystem agreements that all university cities have signed with the government. In the agreements, the cities and the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment have outlined the goals of the cities that aim to accelerate the clean transition, digitalization, and the adoption of new technologies, such as innovative well-being solutions.

These 16 city regions, comprising InnoCities, implement sustainable urban development in Finland. In practice, they experiment with new solutions, develop startup ecosystems, invest in pilots, conduct demonstrations, and accelerate digital investments together with their key stakeholders. Collaboration helps solve local problems that have a global dimension. The goal is to promote the sustainable lifestyle and wellbeing in cities and business renewal.

The variation among the projects is huge. For example, there is a mobile EdTech testbed in Helsinki that allows companies to co-develop their innovations with students. And this is not just for the advanced schools. The mobility of the testbed has ensured that more than 5600 students from all over Helsinki have had the opportunity to participate already.

Another example is from the city of Oulu. They are educating experts for the hydrogen economy on all levels of education. But the projects are not limited on education. The city of Kokkola is focusing on developing battery chemistry ecosystem, Jyväskylä focuses on sports business and Lappeenranta on green electrification, just to mention a few.

There already 164 projects in progress. In addition to the cities’ own projects, funding is also allocated to cooperative projects that connect a minimum of three cities with similar goals.

EUR 140 million in funding

The funding for InnoCities mainly comes from the ERDF. The cities are also participating in the funding. The cities account for around a quarter of the funding. The total amount of public funding for the entire programme period totals approximately EUR 140 million.

The InnoCities’ coordination team in the Council of Tampere Region monitors the implementation and its impact, supports cooperation between the cities, funds the common projects of the cities, and communicates about the work of InnoCities.

“We have built a model for the cities to manage and monitor impact. Currently we are working on telling impact stories about the results we have already achieved. We also maintain a dashboard of the progress of operations in the cities,” says Niemi.

The work in InnoCities will run until 2027. It is a long-term investment in strengthening the innovation capability and the prerequisites for growth of cities in Finland. We are on the right track and the work continues!

Updated March 27 2025.

Photo: Laura Vanzo, Visit Tampere

InnoCities use cooperation to create innovation and sustainability.