June 27, 2025
Helsinki is Building a More Sustainable Future through Global City Collaboration
In early May, senior officials Laura Uuttu-Deschryvere (left) and Kimmo Heinonen (right) from the City of Helsinki visited Tokyo
As cities around the world struggle with the challenge to decarbonize to meet climate goals, senior officials from 61 global cities gathered in Tokyo in May for the 3rd Global Network for Sustainability (G-NETS) Senior Officials Meeting, a forum designed to share solutions to common urban issues.
Finland’s capital of Helsinki is making active efforts to become carbon neutral by 2030, for instance greening its heating sector. With the City’s recent decisions to shut-down the coal-fired energy plants, the emissions will fall around 43% in Helsinki. Officials from the city governments sat down to discuss how they benefit from sharing knowledge on platforms such as G-NETS.
Working Together Since the Beginning
The City of Helsinki has participated in G-NETS gatherings since the inauguration of the forum in 2022. While Finland’s capital participates in a number of city networks, G-NETS has brought Helsinki three main benefits, according to Laura Uuttu-Deschryvere, Head of International Affairs for City of Helsinki.
First, there is the importance for Helsinki to be part of global city networks outside of those in Europe, representing a unique chance to trade views with representatives from around the world; second, the city has enhanced friendly ties and bilateral cooperation with the Tokyo Metropolitan Government (TMG), which hosts G-NETS; and third, Helsinki can benefit from the knowledge exchanged by mayors/governors, senior officials and working-level staff.
“I don’t know any other global network that has these three levels,” said Uuttu-Deschryvere. “You see the knowledge on different layers. It is the relationships, the learning exchanges, and the global approach, which are very important. We share the same challenges and it is very important that we solve them together.”
Uuttu-Deschryvere speaking on the theme of Digital Technologies, one of the session topics under the Promoting Well-Being category at the 3rd G-NETS Senior Officials Meeting
Enhancing Well-Being for Helsinki Residents
Uuttu-Deschryvere joined G-NETS sessions on well-being, gathering information to share with colleagues. Some of the sessions centered on cutting-edge initiatives that Helsinki and other communities are using to improve residents’ lives. The Finnish capital is trying to provide its services also digitally so residents can use them at any time or place.
For instance, Helsinki has had some success in expanding leisure opportunities for young people through apps. On the other end of the demographic spectrum, Finland is an aging society like Japan, and it is using digital technology to support the elderly. Among the topics discussed at G-NETS, elderly services came up as one of the points of interest that stood out to Uuttu-Deschryvere as being particularly relevant to the needs of her own city. Helsinki is using digital services to enable elderly people to live at home for as long as possible instead of in institutions, she notes.
With its focus on circular economy, energy efficiency, education technology, built environment, health and well-being, and smart mobility, Helsinki is also harnessing the power of startup companies with efforts such as Urban Tech Helsinki, a startup incubator to promote clean and sustainable urban solutions.
Harnessing Startup Power for Cleaner Cities
In 2024, Helsinki participated in a G-NETS Working Group Joint Project and became a target city for the Overseas Urban Challenges Course (King Salmon Project), conducting a proof of concept with inQs Co., Ltd., a photovoltaic technology startup company based in Tokyo. Based on its research into solar power, inQs has developed photovoltaic devices that can generate power even in indoor and low-light conditions.
Through the project, the company has installed heat-shielding/insulated and energy harvesting glass windows that can draw power from heat-generating light sources at a startup facility owned by the City of Helsinki. Meanwhile, officials from the company have been introduced to venture capitalists and University of Helsinki researchers, enhancing inQs’ opportunities for growth.
Demonstration to the City of Helsinki in 2024
“Knowledge-based startups can often find solutions for the actual problems,” said Kimmo Heinonen, head of Innovation Services at Business Helsinki. “As a city, we challenge startups to come up with solutions to real problems the city or the citizens have.”
Heinonen is in charge of Testbed Helsinki, a program to test new products and services in a real-world environment.
Heinonen presenting the City of Helsinki's challenges at the Reverse Pitch event at SusHi Tech Tokyo 2024
Building a Better Future through Intercity Cooperation
Touching on efforts to build a greener, circular society and Helsinki’s goal of carbon neutrality, Uuttu-Deschryvere said that while the city has succeeded in cutting emissions from the heating sector, decarbonizing the transport sector is more complex.
It is important to balance the need for low-emissions public transportation and other measures and the use of private vehicles, a subject of political debate, she explained. These are kinds of challenging issues that policymakers can better tackle with a deeper understanding gleaned from the forum such as G-NETS.
“We continue to be committed to working with G-NETS, and also on a bilateral basis with TMG,” said Uuttu-Deschryvere. “We have many possibilities to cooperate with TMG because we share the same values and think the same way in many respects. The challenges we face are very much the same with our aging populations and our willingness to build sustainable cities, and I think there are many ways we can cooperate. We are ready for that. TMG has built something incredible with this network and we are very grateful.”
Laura Uuttu-Deschryvere
Head of International Affairs for the City of Helsinki
Her previous roles include Project Director, Strategy Division, City of Helsinki; Marketing and Communications Director, Helsinki Business Hub; and Assistant Director, Marketing Manager, and Project Manager, EY. She has been in her current role since 2021.
Kimmo Heinonen
Head of Innovation Services, Business Helsinki, City Executive Office, City of Helsinki
His previous roles include Development Manager, Culminatum Innovation Oy Ltd., and European Social Fund Coordinator, Ministry of Labour, Government of Finland. He has been in his current role since 2010.