Growth for Urban Nature: Call Open for Pilots Supporting Urban Greening

The PilotGreen project aims to increase greenery and comfortin cities by experimenting with new green infrastructure solutions in collaboration with businesses, cities, and citizens. The “Growth for Urban Nature” pilot programme seeks novel solutions to increase the quantity and quality of urban nature in built areas.

The pilots may relate to, for example, promoting biodiversity, engaging residents, and increasing contact with nature, maintaining green solutions or areas, and utilizing environmental art. The pilot programme supports the development of solutions and offers the opportunity to test them in a real urban environment. Testbed Helsinki, the City of Helsinki’s innovation testbed, supports, and co-funds the programme’s pilots.

The application period is open from January 13 to February 14, 2025. A maximum of seven solutions will be selected for the pilot programme, and they will be implemented in Helsinki during 2025. The total budget for the call for tenders is a maximum of 102,000 euros. The maximum cost of a single pilot is 19,000 euros, VAT 0% in procurement group A  (urban space green structures in urban spaces) and 13,000 euros, VAT 0% in procurement group B (technologies and services). An information session on the pilot programme will be held in Finnish, on January 23, 2025.

Objectives of the Pilot Programme

The goal of the PilotGreen project, coordinated by Forum Virium Helsinki, is to promote the business of companies operating in the field of green infrastructure and to support the construction of a climate-resistant urban environment that produces various ecosystem services, i.e., nature benefits.

The objectives of the pilot programme are:

• To provide companies the opportunity to develop new products and services and to receive feedback on solutions from customers and users.
• To bring visibility to new products and services that support urban greenery and biodiversity and to accelerate their development and adoption.
• To provide the city’s stakeholders with experiences of the functionality of the solutions and to create a more pleasant and greener urban space for the city residents.

Themes

The aim of the pilot call is to develop and test creative and bold solutions on the following themes:

• A. New types of green structures that can bring more diverse nature to the urban environment. 
• B. New types of technologies and services for the resource-efficient maintenance of green solutions and areas, as well as for the evaluation and monitoring of their benefits.

The pilot call is particularly focused on new types of green structures, such as modular and element-based ones, and the development of related technologies, digitalization, and services. The features of the solutions can include, for example, portability, interactivity, easy installation and maintenance, year-round use, as well as multifunctionality and adaptability. Environmental responsibility and the scalability of the pilots are central perspectives in the call.

Pilot Sites

The pilot programme offers the opportunity to test solutions in a real urban environment. The pilot sites for physical solutions are:

• The surroundings of Malminkartano Library

Malminkartano is one of Helsinki’s urban renewal areas. Malminkartano has a close-knit and active resident community. It also has a large percentage of immigrants and foreign-language speakers. In Malminkartano, pilots are primarily sought to activate a temporarily empty plot where the new  library will be built. The area is located near the current library, elementary school, and daycare center. In the solutions, it is desirable to consider children’s contact with nature, playfulness, and support for biodiversity. We also consider it an advantage to take year-round use into account in the design of the solutions. It is possible to test modular and transferable solutions on the area, which could be utilized as part of placemaking projects or in the yards of schools and daycare centers more broadly.

• Selected Rail Traffic Stations

In connection with the renovation of metro stations, we want to test new types of solutions that support biodiversity. Possible locations are the outdoor areas of the Itäkeskus metro station and Herttoniemi metro station managed by Kaupunkiliikenne Oy, as well as, where applicable, the surroundings of the Pohjois-Haaga train station. It is possible to test solutions suitable for green retrofitting and station areas that can increase passengers’ exposure to nature and comfort. Key perspectives can also include noise management, cooling, local utilization of stormwater, strengthening the local green network, strengthening regional identity, or utilizing environmental art.

• Other PilotGreen pilot areas

In addition to the above, you can propose one of Helsinki’s Smart City – Helsinki Innovation Districts areas as a pilot environment, which are Malmi, Malminkartano-Kannelmäki, Mellunkylä, as well as Pasila and Kalasatama. We consider it an advantage to have a pre-agreed pilot site, but we can also assist in finding a site. Key perspectives can be user-oriented improvement of renovation sites, emphasizing the uniqueness of the areas, as well as resident participation, strengthening the green network, managing stormwater and noise, and cooling the urban structure.

Co-creation and Support Available for Pilots

The PilotGreen project helps with the development, launch, placement, and communication of pilots. In addition, pilot implementers are supported in reaching users and co-creating the solution with, for example, residents and experts.

Student groups supervised by experts from Metropolia University of Applied Sciences and LAB University of Applied Sciences can be given a problem related to piloting or product development to solve.

Pilot Programme Schedule

The deadline for submitting tenders is February 14, 2025, at 4:00 PM. Selections will be published by March 7, 2025.

The pilots selected for the pilot programme will be specified in the spring of 2025, facilitated by PilotGreen, together with the city’s testbeds. The pilots will be installed to the areas in early summer 2025. The pilot period ends in the fall of 2025.

During the pilot, companies collect information about the functionality of the solutions, and if necessary, the solutions can be developed further already during the pilot period. At the end of the pilot period, the lessons learned are compiled into a final report. Students from Metropolia University of Applied Sciences and LAB University of Applied Sciences can help in measuring the functionality of the solutions and compiling user feedback.

Evaluation and Selection of Tenders

The call for tenders includes a description of the subject of the call, the application procedure, and the evaluation criteria. The pilot tender must include everything from planning to installation, maintenance, and dismantling at the end of the pilot.

Tenders are submitted using a form (in Finnish).

The PilotGreen project’s expert panel will evaluate the tenders submitted by the deadline and select the best tenders based on scoring and the total amount of funding available. The final selection is made based on the evaluation criteria. All participants in the tender competition will be notified of the results.

Information Session and Questions

It is possible to ask questions during the tendering period. Questions regarding the call for tenders can be sent in writing during the application period to mirka.raberg@forumvirium.fi (the subject of the message should be “Growth for Urban Nature, open pilot call”). The questions asked and their answers will be published as a separate PDF on this page.

An information session on the pilot programme will be held in Finnish on Thursday, January 23, 2025, from 2:30 PM to 4:00 PM. Register to participate! (The event is held in Finnish.)

The information session will present the themes, network with other actors in the field, and share practical tips for making a pilot tender.

In the information session, the themes will be presented and you will get a chance to network with potential pilot partners. We will also share some practical tips for compiling a pilot tender.