Tackling urban emissions by increasing cycling — an international project brings together sustainable mobility experts

Experts, city representatives and researchers came together at the first Cycle4Climate Forum to discuss sustainable mobility and cycling promotion at Alberga Manor in Espoo on March 19–20. The two-day programme featured inspiring keynote talks, a panel discussion, engaging workshop sessions, and an exhibition of student work on the theme.

Transport is a significant source of CO₂ emissions in cities. The Cycle4Climate project – a collaboration between cities and universities around the Baltic Sea – aims to reduce urban transport emissions by promoting everyday cycling. Cities involved in this project will address the challenge through urban intervention pilots designed to influence mobility behaviour. The international forum demonstrated a strong interest in sustainable mobility. Over 70 participants attended across the two days, engaging with the topic from various perspectives.

Mari Päätalo from the City of Espoo’s Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Development delivered opening remarks outlining the current state of cycling development in Espoo. Sanna Ojajärvi (Finnish Network of Cycling Municipalities) and Timo Perälä (Winter Cycling Federation) delivered keynote presentations exploring ways to influence mobility behaviour. In addition, Henrikki Tenkanen (Aalto University) introduced the possibility of using data to plan future mobility.

Participants exchanged insights and experiences in cycling promotion during the workshops and co-created ideas for advancing sustainable urban mobility. The first day focused on the challenges and opportunities faced by the Cycle4Climate partner cities Espoo, Gävle, Pärnu, and Riga. On the second day, the group developed shared visions for sustainable mobility in 2030.

“I was proud to present Espoo’s cycling development work as part of the Carbon Neutral Espoo roadmap. While Espoo has a solid cycling infrastructure, there’s still much to improve – and that work is ongoing. We also took a small group bike ride, a great opportunity to showcase Espoo’s safe and smooth cycling routes in action. Through Cycle4Climate, I hope we can inspire people who live, work and visit Espoo to choose more sustainable ways of getting around”, says Development Manager Mari Päätalo from the Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Development, City of Espoo

Metropolia's Design Expertise in Facilitating Sustainable Urban Development

Cycle4Climate is part of Metropolia’s Smart and Creative City innovation hub, which develops solutions to the challenges and opportunities of urbanisation by creating sustainable, beautiful, and inclusive urban environments. Within the project, Metropolia provides design expertise to support the co-creation and evaluation of cycling promotion measures with the partner cities.

The initiative is also linked to Metropolia’s new Design for Regenerative Cities research and development programme, which brings together diverse fields of expertise to apply creative design approaches for revitalising environments and communities.

“Participation is a powerful source of creativity. When different voices, experiences, knowledge and perspectives are heard, it leads to new insights, innovations, and creative solutions that wouldn’t emerge alone. In Cycle4Climate, this takes shape through hands-on urban pilots in four cities – guided by expertise, everyday experience, and a shared vision for more vibrant urban life”, explains Anna-Stina Tähkävuori, Innovation Director at Metropolia.

“Collaboration with Baltic Sea region partners offers a great opportunity to learn from different urban contexts and combine diverse expertise to support more sustainable urban mobility”, she adds.

Metropolia University of Applied Sciences and the City of Espoo organised the Cycle4Climate Forum as part of the Cycle4Climate project. The project is coordinated by the University of Gävle and includes partners from Riga Technical University, the University of Tartu, and the cities of Riga, Gävle, and Pärnu.

In Espoo, the project activities continued with a Sustainable Commuting Event on April 9 in Otaniemi, where the focus was on highlighting opportunities for sustainable commuting, especially cycling. In May, the nationwide Cycling Week will once again be celebrated.

More information:

Zita Tedjokusumo
Project Manager, Metropolia University of Applied Sciences
zita.tedjokusumo [at] metropolia.fi (zita[dot]tedjokusumo[at]metropolia[dot]fi)