Vappu Manty

2. Cities are the new powerhouses of the world. The most pressing global
challenges will be solved on a city level. Helsinki is a perfect test-lab for the
world’s megacities, and over the past decade Helsinki has become one of the
fastest growing cities in Europe.
In Helsinki, our strategic intent is to do things a little better every time, improve
things every single day. Experimenting is a self-reinforcing process, a bit like
the state of mind in Helsinki, where entrepreneurs motivate each other and
welcome mutual competition. These days it is an integral part of the city’s
official strategy.
But cities also need each other. This is why Helsinki is building a network of
global cities and other entities that share common goals and ambition. We want
to learn and share, inspire and innovate together with others that have an
equally future-oriented mind.
Welcome to Helsinki

3. Climate change affects us all. In order to
limit global warming to 1,5 degrees, all
societies need to transform. The shift
towards carbon neutrality needs to start
now. It requires both major structural
changes and everyday actions.
Helsinki is committed to promoting a
more sustainable way of life – for
everyone.
Climate
anxiety
Think Sustainably: A sustainable lifestyle

4. Helsinki takes the prevention of climate change
seriously and is aiming to reduce carbon emissions by
60 per cent by 2030. Helsinki has brought forward its target
of achieving carbon neutrality by 2035. Along with New York,
Helsinki will be one of the first cities in the world to report UN
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on a city level.

5. In Helsinki, 66% of residents
identified climate crisis as
their major concern when
thinking about the future of
the city.
5
Turvallisuustutkimus, City of Helsinki, 2018.

6. Helsinki is known to be uncompromising.
The extreme weather and Northern location
require everything to be as good as possible.
And when it comes to sustainability, there are
no half measures.
The objective of Think Sustainably is to be a
platform for action that encourages a positive
flywheel. The service helps develop solutions that
can be implemented to everyday choices and
scaled up to other cities globally.
The
objective

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11. We are looking for outcomes on two levels,
the individual and the communal level:
Individual
•What can be done on a personal level to
live a fulfilling, but a more sustainable life.
Community
•How Helsinki’s Think Sustainably initiative could
become the new normal, the standard of
a good life, where old approaches and habits
are replaced with better new choices.
Key outcomes
Think Sustainably: A sustainable lifestyle

12. The service has encouraged over 90% of the
participants to take concrete and measurable
steps towards sustainability, such as switching
to a renewable energy contract or selling leftover
food at reduced rates to cut food waste.
The lifestyle carbon footprints of the participants
will be measured later this year.
Our climate experts will co-create together with
the participants CO2 roadmaps, that shows the
impact of different chosen tasks.
Impact
measures
Think Sustainably: A sustainable lifestyle