Urban planning plays a crucial role in accelerating climate action, as many local design solutions can influence the types of emissions generated in the urban environment and how well it is possible to adapt to the effects of climate change. The effects of climate change vary locally, and climate work increasingly requires knowledge of local practices and communities, as well as wide-ranging cooperation between different stakeholders.
What is a climate-sustainable city?
At the Finnish Meteorological Institute and the Finnish Environment Institute, we have developed a°guide to climate-sustainable urban planning (hiilineutraalisuomi.fi),°which brings together research data and best practices on climate change mitigation and adaptation. The experience gained in the project, the best practices of cities and the knowledge and skills of various experts play a key role.
A climate-sustainable city mitigates climate change, acts flexibly during changes in weather and climate, recovers from them, and develops its operations and preparedness for them. Our urban planning guide, which will be completed at the end of the year, is based on the identification and assessment of weather and climate risks, reducing climate emissions and promoting climate change preparedness and adaptation through multi-purpose and interactive urban planning.
Climate-sustainable urban planning is solving shared challenges
From an urban planning perspective, climate sustainability is not simple and planning work must combine several different interests. In the workshops we organised to develop the urban planning guide, many design problem areas emerged, the most typical example of which was related to making urban structures denser. On the one hand, a dense societal structure can be a prerequisite for low-emission mobility and energy production and, on the other hand, dense construction can make people vulnerable to the floods caused by heavy rainfall and the heat island effect, which are becoming more common as a result of climate change.
At its best, climate-sustainable urban planning can serve as a guiding principle that brings areas of design together and promotes solving shared challenges. However, to support practical planning, closer cooperation and the development of impact assessments are needed in order to align the different aspects of climate change mitigation and adaptation, not forgetting the social justice aspect of climate action.
Up-to-date data on the impact of climate change from an urban perspective and dialogue to promote climate work
The seminar series Climate-Neutral and Sustainable Cities, organised by the Finnish Meteorological Institute and the Helsinki Institute of Urban and Regional Studies of the University of Helsinki, shares research data on the impact of climate change in urban environments and supports the dialogue between the scientific community, municipalities and cities as well as other stakeholders in the private, public and third sectors on promoting climate change mitigation and adapting to climate change.
The seminar series will continue on Thursday 14 December 2023 with the theme of sustainable urban mobility (.acccflagship.fi). In the first seminar in the autumn on 24 October 2023, the impact of climate change on the city level was presented and the challenges and opportunities of municipal climate work were discussed.
The seminar series is part of the flagship programme of the University of Helsinki, the Finnish Meteorological Institute, the University of Eastern Finland and Tampere University for the shared atmosphere and climate (Atmosphere and Climate Competence Centre, ACCC), which aims to share research data on the impact of climate change in urban environments and to support the dialogue between the scientific community, municipalities and cities, as well as other stakeholders in the private, public and third sectors on promoting climate change mitigation and adapting to climate change.
The seminar events are aimed at stakeholders interested in promoting municipal and urban climate action, such as experts in community and urban planning, municipal and city authorities, decision-makers and NGO representatives, researchers, municipal residents and citizens of cities.
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Authors
Saara Leppänen
Finnish Meteorological Institute
Hanna Mela
Finnish Environment Institute (Syke)