Sessions

1.1 Circular Material Technologies and Solutions (Governance), chair: Apostolos Malamakis, room: A122

Driving Circular Bioeconomy Transition Across European Cities and Regions
Katerina Medkova, LAB University of Applied Sciences
Kristiina Brusila-Meltovaara, LAB University of Applied Sciences
František Janke, Technical University of Kosice
Petra Zahumenská, Technical University of Kosice

Cities and regions play a central role in environmentally sustainable and circular economy transition, particularly through local circular bioeconomy and bio-based systems. This paper examines how policy implementation, stakeholder collaboration, and smart digital practices support systemic change across national and city levels. The study compares findings from six European countries in 2023 and 2025, collected through questionnaires and their thematic analyses. The study seeks to establish how cities and regions act as implementers of EU circular bioeconomy objectives, translating policy into operational systems, such as separate biowaste collection, intermunicipal cooperation, monitoring frameworks, and innovation ecosystems.

The findings indicate that while national-level policy frameworks remain largely unchanged, the most tangible developments occur at the city level. These developments are reflected in coordinated governance structures, the use of digital monitoring solutions and structured stakeholder engagement, supporting incremental system improvement. Furthermore, the results also reveal limited change in several regions between 2023 and 2025. The paper provides examples of good practices that could be utilized to enhance the systemic transition towards circular bioeconomy. The findings emphasize the slow pace of systemic transitions and the importance of continuity and long-term planning.

The study contributes to smart city and regional development research by illustrating how sustainable circular transitions are formed through coordinated governance across multiple levels and localized implementation. This research provides empirically grounded insights and contributes to ongoing scholarly discussion aiming at strengthening resilience and furthering sustainable, circular urban and regional systems.

From Policy to Practice: Circular Economy Governance in Central Macedonia through OECD Mission (Practical case example)
Chrysanthi Kiskini, Regional Development Fund of Central Macedonia
Kyriaki Kissa, Regional Development Fund of Central Macedonia
Leonidas Bakourosleo [dot] bakourosgmail [dot] com (,) Regional Development Fund of Central Macedonia

The transition to a climate-smart circular economy requires effective governance mechanisms that align policies, stakeholders and implementation capacities at the regional level. This paper presents the case study of Central Macedonia, conducted within the framework of the Circular Cities and Regions Initiative (CCRI), in which the Regional Development Fund of Central Macedonia participates as a Fellow on behalf of the Region of Central Macedonia, and in parallel with the OECD on the Circular Economy in Cities and Regions.

The case illustrates a structured, multi-level governance approach to support the shift from a linear to a circular model. Through a series of stakeholder engagement processes, including workshops and targeted consultations with public authorities, businesses, research institutions and civil society, the region mapped existing practices, identified key barriers and developed a comprehensive overview of governance conditions for circular economy transition across sectors such as waste management, agri-food systems, construction and tourism.

The findings highlight governance as a critical enabling factor, revealing challenges such as fragmented policy coordination across levels, regulatory complexity and gaps between strategic planning and implementation. At the same time, the process demonstrates the value of participatory design and international collaboration in strengthening institutional capacity and accelerating policy implementation.

The Central Macedonia case study provides practical insights for other regions seeking to operationalise circular economy strategies. It demonstrates how structured dialogue, governance mapping and policy alignment can support evidence-based decision-making and foster scalable solutions for sustainable regional development.

Piloting National Coordination for ERDF Implementation: Mid-Term Findings from Finland’s Green Transition Project
Sanna Tyni, Oulu University of Applied Sciences
Milla Anttila, Häme University of Applied Sciences
Natalia Sergina-Kishlar, Oulu University of Applied Sciences
Noora Jansson, Oulu University of Applied Sciences

The Innovation and Skills in Finland 2021–2027 EU Structural Fund Programme advances national carbon neutrality objectives through its CarbonNeutral Finland action line, promoting energy efficiency, circular economy solutions, and greenhouse gas reduction. Since 2022, “The Nationwide Coordination Project for the Green Transition” (NCP) has been strengthening implementation by supporting applicants, fostering collaboration, and disseminating effective practices. The model is similar to those utilized in the EU-co-funded partnerships (e.g. FutureFoodS and Agroecology) and is now being piloted for the first time in a structured manner within the national ERDF funded themes in Finland. A mid-term evaluation was made to assess the progress, relevance, and capacity to contribute to national climate objectives and regional sustainable development. The qualitative developmental evaluation covered all 26 national projects funded during the first two funding rounds. Research was based on the documents, electronic survey (36 respondents), and interviews (total of 13 people). Three core perspectives were evaluated: strategic alignment, implementation and governance model, as well as the role and effectiveness of the National Coordination Project. According to results, the CarbonNeutral Finland ERDF theme package is strategically well aligned with national climate objectives and that the projects have progressed largely as planned. The nationwide coordination model has provided clear added value through guidance, knowledge sharing, and stronger coherence across the project portfolio. Although, the evaluation identified opportunities to sharpen strategic focus, harmonize monitoring practices, and further strengthen coordination to accelerate Finland’s green transition.

Design-driven Circular Economy Transitions in European Regions
Aino Vepsäläinen, LAB University of Applied Sciences
Saija Malila, LAB University of Applied Sciences
Hanieh Banakar, LAB University of Applied Sciences

Transitioning to a circular economy requires a strategic shift from linear models toward regenerative and restorative systems. However, only a small share of global economic activity currently operates according to circular economy principles, highlighting the need for new approaches that combine design practices with supportive policy frameworks.

This study explores what role design plays in enabling systemic regional transitions towards a circular economy. The study examines the integration of circular design principles and circular economy strategies across seven European regions representing diverse socio-economic and political contexts. A multiple case study approach is applied, emphasising context-dependent analysis, multiple data sources, and comparative examination to develop an in-depth understanding of design-driven circular economy development.

The research is situated within the Interreg Europe project Design Collaboration for Sustainable Business (DeCo), which aims to strengthen the role of design in regional circular economy shifts. The empirical analysis draws on a baseline assessment conducted across the partner regions.

The findings suggest that while design holds significant potential to accelerate circular transformation, its application varies depending on regional policies, industrial structures, institutional capacities, and levels of stakeholder collaboration. Rather than relying solely on the replication of isolated best practices, effective transitions emerge through cross‑regional learning processes in which systemic, industrial, social, and cultural approaches reinforce one another. At the same time, the study identifies transferable good practices and policy insights that regions can adapt and combine within their own contexts to strengthen the strategic role of design in circular economy development and advance sustainable systemic change.

2.1 Active and Inclusive Well-being, chair: Kati Peltonen, room: A127

Designing Inclusive Well-being Services: Lessons from a Tailored Support Model for Immigrant Parents (Practical case example)
Mariia Baliasina, LAB University of Applied Sciences

The case presentation examines how data-informed service design can enhance well-being and strengthen social inclusion of immigrant parents who are weakly connected to the labour market due to their childcare responsibilities. The case is based on the HOT project that developed group-based activities to support their integration, agency, and well-being in the regions of Päijät-Häme and South Karelia.

The key point is the heterogeneity of the target group. Baseline data collected through initial assessments and guidance sessions are used as a foundation for individualised engagement. Variables such as gender, number of children, education level, and language skills proved critical in shaping both the content of the provided activities as well as their delivery.

The project demonstrated how responsiveness to participants’ backgrounds supported participation. For example, facilitation methods evolved to support diverse interactions between the participants, while family routines impacted the schedule of the activities. Gender-sensitive considerations influenced special arrangements, and shared languages initiated peer support.

The findings of the HOT project highlight that the value of participant data lies not in its collection but in its application to inclusive design. Effective group functioning emerged only when services aligned with the target group participants’ lived realities. The case contributes to discussions on how smart regions can integrate a human-centred adaptive approach into service ecosystems to support equitable well-being and social integration.

Urban Nature, Well-being and Active Living: A Multiple Case Study from the City of Lahti
Ilkka Väänänen, LAB University of Applied Sciences
Taru Suutari, City of Lahti
Sanna Kangas, LAB University of Applied Sciences

Urban nature can play a pivotal role in promoting active lifestyles and well-being. This multiple-case study in Lahti (European Green Capital 2021) combined three sub-studies to examine how easily accessible, high-quality green spaces support physical activity and health across different groups. In sub-study I, older retirees integrated nature into their daily routines (especially during summer), perceiving it as vital for recreation, physical vitality, and mental well-being. Sub-study II found that walks in a local “health forest” provided working-age participants with immediate stress relief and a strengthened sense of connection to nature. Sub-study III, an eight-week outdoor physical activity intervention for sedentary adults, found no significant changes in participants’ beliefs about green exercise – potentially due to high baseline interest and limited intervention intensity – even though participants completed a recommended regimen of three weekly 30-minute sessions. Taken together, these results underscore that accessible urban green environments can facilitate greater physical activity and immediate psychological benefits for diverse populations. At the same time, achieving measurable shifts in underlying beliefs about green exercise may require more intensive or prolonged interventions. Overall, the findings highlight the importance of incorporating nature-based solutions and everyday contact with green spaces into urban living to support healthier lifestyles and improved physical and mental well-being for citizens.

Supporting Educational Re‑engagement of NEET Learners through a Self‑Paced Online Mathematics Course: Applied Research Evidence from Finland
Päivi Porras, LAB University of Applied Sciences
Jarkko Hurme, Oulu University of Applied Sciences
Henry Lähteenmäki, South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Sciences

Educational disengagement among young adults presents a significant challenge for regional development, employability, and social inclusion. This applied research study examines the design and evaluation of a self‑paced online mathematics course developed to support NEET (Not in Education, Employment, or Training) learners in Finland as part of a wider initiative to lower barriers to educational re‑engagement. The course combines foundational mathematics, digital study skills, and field‑specific calculations within a pedagogical model that emphasises self‑directed learning (SDL), authenticity, and feedback‑rich assessment. The learning environment integrates automated STACK assessments and interactive JSXGraph‑based tasks to provide immediate, instructional feedback and support learner autonomy. Empathy and inclusivity are embedded into course design through accessible task structures, guidance, and learner‑centred progression.

The study employed a mixed‑methods approach across three pilot implementations (2024–2025). Quantitative data included pre‑ and post‑tests of mathematical skills and Self‑Directed Learning Readiness Scale (SDLRS) measures, while qualitative data were gathered through participant feedback questionnaires. Results indicate statistically significant improvements in mathematical performance among course completers. Higher levels of desire for learning and self‑control were positively associated with successful course completion, although high SDL readiness alone did not guarantee persistence. Participant feedback highlighted the value of interactivity, immediate feedback, and flexible pacing, while technical onboarding barriers and life‑situation constraints affected participation.The findings demonstrate that a well‑designed, flexible, and feedback‑rich online mathematics course can effectively support NEET learners’ skill development and re‑engagement with education. The study contributes applied evidence for developing inclusive digital learning solutions that promote well‑being and competence development in smart regions.

Perspectives on Entrepreneurial Well-being (EWB) Among Prospective Entrepreneurs Aged 50+: A Pilot Study 
Sari Soutukorva, LAB University of Applied Sciences
Minna Mukka, LAB University of Applied Sciences
Kati Peltonen, LAB University of Applied Sciences

Entrepreneurial well-being (EWB) rarely considers later-life entrepreneurship, despite its growing importance for active ageing and labour market participation. Existing research largely focuses on entrepreneurs who have already launched a business. This pilot study explores perspectives on EWB among individuals contemplating later-life entrepreneurship.

Participants were aged 50 and above, had prior work experience, and were considering entrepreneurship. They were recruited through the project “Sustainable entrepreneurship from experienced experts aged 50+”. Data were collected in two phases (October 2025 and March−April 2026) through a written reflection assignment comprising open-ended questions on the meaning of EWB, factors perceived to decrease or promote it, and related needs. Of the 21 project participants, eight returned the assignment. Data were analysed using inductive qualitative content analysis.

According to eight participants, a balance between work demands and recovery from work, the meaningfulness of work, and a sense of community were cornerstones of EWB. Financial and administrative challenges, workload, time management, working conditions, a lack of social support and professional networks, psychological factors, and personal life challenges were perceived as challenges to EWB. Conversely, organisation of work, well-being management, utilisation of expertise, social support, professional networks, along with goal orientation and meaningfulness of work were perceived as enablers to EWB.

Work control, resources, and psychosocial factors should be considered when developing evidence-based practices to support EWB among prospective entrepreneurs. Future research should build on these findings through longitudinal studies examining how perspectives evolve during the transition from employment to entrepreneurship.

1.1 Circular Material Technologies and Solutions & 1.2 Future Perspectives of the Biobased Economy, chair: Ville Uusitalo, room: A128

Near-Infrared Hyperspectral Imaging and Machine Learning for Advanced Fiber-Type Discrimination in End-of-Life Textiles
Mourad Kharbach, LAB University of Applied Sciences
Enni Arvez, LAB University of Applied Sciences
Mervi Pulkkinen, LAB University of Applied Sciences
Niko Rintala, LAB University of Applied Sciences

The transition toward textile circularity is fundamentally constrained by the inability to rapidly and reliably identify fiber compositions in end-of-life textiles. Modern textiles frequently consist of complex blends of natural, regenerated, and synthetic fibers that hinder their utilization in recycling. In particular, low-percentage synthetic additives (e.g., elastane in cotton fabrics) compromise recycling purity while remaining difficult to detect using traditional methods.

The Faculty of Technology of LAB University of Applied Sciences is executing an EU co-funded project titled OmniTexLux - AI-enhanced identification of textiles. In the project, identification of textiles using modern technologies and AI is being developed to facilitate material sorting and support recycling activities. The study done in the project investigates the potential of Near-Infrared Hyperspectral Imaging (HSI, 900–1700nm) coupled with machine learning for high-resolution classification of textile fiber categories and separation of pure materials from blended structures. The dataset comprised over 99 textile samples representing these textile materials: Cotton, Linen, Lyocell, Nylon Biobased, Polyamide, Polyester, Rayon and Viscose. Other textile materials are still under study. Preliminary results suggest that HSI captures chemically meaningful variance sufficient to distinguish polymer origin, even in structurally heterogeneous textile matrices.

While hyperspectral methods are well established in food and agricultural quality assessment, their application in textile valorization remains underexplored. This work gives an indication that combining spectral imaging with chemometric modeling offers a technically viable pathway toward intelligent sorting infrastructures. By improving material traceability and classification accuracy, this strategy contributes to closing material loops and reducing the environmental burden of the textile sector.

Structural Timber Reuse in Finland: A Comparative Framework for Direct Reuse and Engineered-Product Pathways
Ramin Khaledi, LAB University of Applied Sciences

Structural timber reuse in Finland has a practical foundation, but it is not yet supported by a repeatable route from recovered members to design-ready use. RTS/UURAKET provides a project-level process for assessing, documenting and verifying selected reusable construction products, including reused glulam beams and columns. This paper examines what remains missing when that process is viewed as a basis for scalable structural timber reuse. Using a qualitative, document-based comparative method, the Finnish guidance was analyzed as the national baseline and compared with selected mechanisms from Norway, Germany, the United States and Australia. Research on secondary timber in engineered wood products was also reviewed to support an alternative reuse route. The results show three connected gaps: limited upstream reuse-readiness information from a building’s first life, no standardized translation from recovered-member evidence to structural design inputs, and no timber-specific routing model for deciding between direct reuse, engineered-product feedstock, downgrade or exclusion. International examples show useful partial mechanisms, including R-class grading, glulam reassessment, proof loading, recycled-specific design properties and non-structural fallback routes, but none can be transferred directly to the Finnish context. The paper therefore proposes a two-pathway framework. Pathway A supports direct structural reuse of verified recovered members, while Pathway B routes suitable material toward engineered-product feedstock under grading, quality-control and product-compliance requirements. The framework is intended as a basis for Finnish pilot testing, standardization and regulatory coordination, not as a ready-to-apply design standard.

The Development and Scaling of a Closed-Loop Nutrient and Energy System in Päijät-Häme
Anne-Marie Tuomala, LAB University of Applied Sciences

This study investigates the development of a regional closed-loop nutrient and energy system in Päijät-Häme, Finland, implemented within the EU Horizon Waste4Soil project Päijät-Häme Living Lab and coordinated by LAB University of Applied Sciences. The system integrates farmers, food and beverage industries, and energy producers—including Viking Malt, Hartwall Brewery, and Lahti Energy—to convert industrial side streams into agricultural resources. The model was first piloted in autumn 2023 through the application of digestate from a new biogas plant to local farmland, followed by expanded field trials in 2024 and adoption by five farms in 2025.

The methodology includes: (1) system boundary definition to map material and energy flows; (2) primary data collection on digestate composition, soil properties, crop performance, and biogas plant operation; (3) multi-season field trials comparing digestate with conventional fertilisation; (4) socioeconomic assessment among farmers to evaluate adoption drivers and perceived benefits; and (5) replicability and scalability analysis to identify enabling conditions for wider deployment.

Results indicate that digestate application reduces synthetic fertiliser use, improves soil health, and enhances regional nutrient self-sufficiency. The biogas plant at Hartwall Brewery, processing brewing residues in three reactors (6,400 m³ total capacity), produces renewable energy and supplies nutrient-rich digestate that completes a “field‑to‑field” nutrient loop. Expected outcomes include reduced greenhouse gas emissions, increased renewable energy substitution, strengthened farmer–industry collaboration, and a validated model for sustainable food–energy integration. The findings demonstrate a replicable pathway for implementing EU circular economy and climate strategies at regional scale.

From Waste to Commercially Reusable Resource? Evolution of Horse Manure Utilization Models in Finland
Päivi Karhunen, LAB University of Applied Sciences

Storage, transportation and disposal of horse manure is a challenge for particularly those stables which are located in urban areas. Solutions have been sought from utilizing manure as biogas or fuel, and more advanced composting technologies. Research on the topic has mainly focused on the technological feasibility of these solutions, whereas their economic and business aspects have received less attention. This paper uses the concept of organizational field, rooted in institutional theory, to analyze how the regulation concerning horse manure has developed from treating it as waste to recognizing its potential as reusable resource, what kind of technological solutions and business models the changes in regulation have triggered, and who have been the key actors in the field. The paper is based on documentary data such as the EU-level and national legislation, as well as media and company reports, and on existing applied and academic research. The paper shows how the solutions for using horse manure are evolving towards more value-added direction. The legislative change that re-defined horse manure from waste to energy resource triggered initiatives for using it in energy production, whereas most recent composting technology solutions enable its reuse as bedding at stables. The paper concludes by discussing whether these new solutions have the potential for being both environmentally and economically sustainable, as they would localize the manure processing to the stables themselves. This would decrease the high logistics costs associated with processing manure by external actors but require significant investments in equipment by stables.

3.3 Smart and Sustainable Innovations, chair: Minna-Maari Harmaala, room: A135

Towards Sustainable Innovations Through the Body – Hands-on Thinking as a Smart Value Creation Process
Paula Nurminen, LAB University of Applied Sciences
Hanna Heinonen, LAB University of Applied Sciences

Innovation can be understood as a process that does not emerge solely from cognitive ideation but is constituted through embodied action and thinking with materials. In this article, we examine embodied and material thinking as a method for smart and sustainable innovation. Our aim is to explore how hands-on engagement with natural materials and multisensory working processes can support creative ideation and deepen understandings of sustainability. The theoretical framework integrates perspectives from somaesthetics, new materialist thought, and regenerative design.

The empirical setting consists of the workshop Thinking by Hand, held at the MUOKS project's closing event. During the workshop, experts from diverse professional fields worked with natural materials. The workshop was preceded by a presentation on regenerative thinking, which oriented participants to consider ideation as part of a broader ecological and systemic entity. The research material includes participant reflections, a Likert-scale survey, photographic documentation, observational notes, and research diaries.

Our analysis shows that embodied and material engagement broadened systemic thinking and made abstract sustainability themes more concrete. It also generated insights unlikely to emerge through purely cognitive ideation. We propose that innovation should be understood as a relational process in which thinking unfolds through the interaction of body, materials, and environment. In doing so, the article contributes to sustainability-oriented design research by demonstrating that bodymind-based and experiential methods can function as strategic components of sustainable value creation. It further broadens prevailing understandings of what smart innovation may mean in a regenerative and sustainable future.

Commercialization Dynamics under Crisis and Stability: A Comparative Analysis of a Sustainability-Driven Technology
Alexander Matrosov, LAB University of Applied Sciences

This paper offers an observer-oriented comparison of early-stage commercialisation under exogenous shocks and under relatively stable market conditions. Core material is drawn from a research project which emerged during a pandemic-related disturbance as an empirical anchor to identify indicative factors capable of reshaping the commercialisation funnel, encompassing problem framing, solution scoping, validation, partnering, and pathway selection.

Shocks can make certain technologies more 'thinkable” and investable by altering problem visibility, urgency within institutions, procurement habits, and resource access. At the same time, they can heighten uncertainty, impose stricter compliance demands, and shorten decision timelines. Building on this, previous research is combined into a structured comparative framework that outlines expected practices related to sequencing, evidence needs, stakeholder engagement, and risk distribution during exogenous shocks versus stable market conditions. This framework is then applied through qualitative pattern matching to a long-term project case, evaluating how closely the observed practices align with or differ from the theoretical expectations.

For research organisations this paper offers analysis on how established RDI processes, governance arrangements, legal and intellectual property routines, and partner networks function when commercialisation takes place under conditions of radical novelty. The focus is on the capabilities needed to coordinate quickly, build credibility with external stakeholders, and select a feasible commercialisation pathway. In this way, the study provides a comparative lens for analysing commercialisation under disruption.

Beyond Resource Constraints: Life-Course Dimensions of Growth in the Smallest SMEs
Outi-Maaria Palo-oja, LAB University of Applied Sciences
Sami Heikkinen, LAB University of Applied Sciences
Sofi Granö, LAB University of Applied Sciences

The growth barriers of the smallest SMEs are commonly explained through resource constraints, capability gaps, business environment factors, and owner-manager preferences. However, less attention has been paid to how life-course considerations may shape whether growth is perceived as meaningful, realistic, or desirable. This study examines how life-course considerations emerge as growth-related constraints among the smallest SMEs and how they may complement established resource-based explanations of small-firm growth.

The empirical analysis is based on survey data collected from 1,020 small, limited liability companies in Finland. The study focuses on open-ended responses to a question about barriers to company growth. These responses were thematically analysed and used to construct an exploratory binary indicator of whether the respondent mentioned a life-course-related barrier. The analysis then examined the association between this indicator and growth intention using cross-tabulation and a Pearson chi-square test.

The open-ended responses showed that life-course-related concerns, including ageing, retirement, health, work capacity, succession, and possible sale of the firm, emerged spontaneously as growth-related themes. Respondents who mentioned a life-course-related theme reported substantially lower growth intention than those who did not: 35.6% compared with 78.0%. The association was statistically significant, χ²(1) = 54.29, p < 0.001, with Cramér’s V = 0.23.

The findings suggest that growth in the smallest SMEs should be understood not only in terms of resources and capabilities, but also in terms of the changing life situation and future horizons of the person leading the firm.

Export Promotion for Sustainable SME Internationalization: A Finnish Service-System Perspective
Lasse Torkkeli, LAB University of Applied Sciences
Anisur Faroque, University of Vaasa
Sascha Fuerst, Tecnologico de Monterrey, EGADE Business School

Smart regions need small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to scale solutions to international markets, yet export promotion often remains organized as a multi-actor service system that is difficult for firms to act on. This paper asks how public export support can be designed as smart regional infrastructure for sustainable SME internationalization. Empirically, the study uses a structured secondary data and design approach, with the empirical base consisting of public Team Finland and Business Finland service descriptions, official information on the 2025–2027 Team Finland strategy, and the 2025 evaluation of Business Finland’s non-funding group export services. These materials are interpreted through research on export assistance, SME internationalization, service ecosystems and responsible innovation. The analysis identifies four tensions: 1) targeting high-potential export opportunities while preserving transparent access for SMEs, 2) combining opportunity-driven projects with firm-specific barrier reduction, 3) embedding sustainability into capability development rather than treating it only as topic selection or project screening, and 4) using data for service follow-up without losing relational knowledge. The paper develops five design propositions for smart export support: a visible diagnostic entry point, needs-based segmentation, sustainability readiness support, orchestrated service handovers, and export “funnel” monitoring that incorporates sustainability related milestones. The paper contributes a research and design framework that helps integrate export promotion with smart value creation in regions. It also clarifies the need for international benchmarking of peer-country models for further development on the topic.

1.1 Circular Material Technologies and Solutions (Governance), chair: Sanna Tyni, room: A116

Climate-resilient and Circular Cities: Systemic Transitions through Sustainable Urban Planning
Apostolos Malamakis, Open University of Cyprus
Galateia Charitopoulou, Open University of Cyprus

European and global cities are simultaneously exposed to escalating extreme weather events and geophysical hazards, while remaining locked into resource-intensive, carbon-heavy development trajectories. This contribution explores how sustainable urban planning can drive systemic shifts toward climate-resilient and circular cities, linking spatial strategies with long-term transformations in infrastructure, governance, and socio-technical systems. Building on a comprehensive literature review and a multi-case study analysis of Copenhagen, Rotterdam, New Orleans and Tokyo, the study examines how integrated blue–green infrastructure, nature-based solutions and risk-informed planning regulations are mobilised as transition pathways rather than isolated adaptation projects. The analysis focuses on four dimensions: reduction of multi-hazard risk, enhancement of urban ecosystem services, institutional adaptability and multi-level governance, and citizen participation as a driver of social resilience.​​

Methodologically, the research combines qualitative synthesis of international policy frameworks with comparative assessment of city strategies using resilience indices, vulnerability mapping and documented implementation outcomes. Findings indicate that climate-resilient and circular transitions are most effective where: (i) urban planning regulations explicitly embed climate risk and circular resource use, (ii) blue–green and smart infrastructures are planned as multi-functional systems, and (iii) participatory governance and data-driven early-warning mechanisms support continuous learning and policy adjustment.​​

The paper concludes by outlining a planning-oriented transition framework that connects resilience, circularity and social justice, and discusses its transferability to other European urban contexts, including medium-sized cities in Southern Europe. This framework is intended to support local authorities, planners and regional actors seeking to operationalise climate-smart and circular systemic transitions within smart city agendas.​​

Science-based Knowledge Enhancing Climate-Smart Local Governance? The Case of Päijät-Häme, Finland
Marjut Villanen, LAB University of Applied Sciences
Maarit Virtanen, Regional Council of Päijät-Häme, Finland 
Heli Kamaja, LAB University of Applied Sciences
Susanna Vanhamäki, LAB University of Applied Sciences

Science-based information is essential for understanding complex societal challenges such as climate change. It enables long-term, proactive reasoning by revealing future impacts and guiding solutions that are effective and grounded in evidence rather than opinion. In contrast, misinformation and lack of knowledge can undermine climate action, delay necessary policies, or even worsen the problem. Because political decisionmakers play a central role in shaping the future of society, the foundations on which they base their decisions are critically important. This paper examines how climate-related information is perceived and valued among political decisionmakers in Päijät-Häme region in Finland. A survey (n=54) was distributed by email to all political decision-makers in Päijät-Häme region in autumn 2025. Responses were obtained from all ten municipalities. In addition, 14 survey respondents were interviewed. The survey revealed that local decision-makers preferred climate change-related information to focus mainly on their own municipality. Of the respondents, 52% felt that adaptation to climate change was included in decision-making, but only 40% believed that decision-makers in general had sufficient information. The interviewees stated that climate issues were often bypassed by economic and other issues in actual decision-making situations. A slight majority of interviewees said that they rely on scientific knowledge when making decisions. Noteworthy is that peers, random online searches and interest groups were also mentioned as sources of information. The need for scientific knowledge was recognized among the interviewed decisionmakers. Yet, in practice, governance is focused on solving short-term and practical issues rather than proactively looking for science-based, long-term solutions.

From Compliance to Regeneration: A Multi-Dimensional Analysis of Barriers and Enabling Factors in European Circular Bioeconomy Transitions
Petra Zahumenská, Technical University of Kosice
Katerina Medkova, LAB University of Applied Sciences

Transitioning to a circular bioeconomy in Europe requires far more than upgrading technical infrastructure; it is a systemic transformation that calls for deep institutional and cultural change. This study presents an integrated analysis of five European regions located in Belgium, Finland, Greece, Slovakia, and Spain, using an adapted version of the New Zealand Tool framework. Across these diverse territories, we found a shared pattern of critical barriers, including institutional silos, fragmented governance practices, and chronic gaps in long‑term structural funding.

A key contribution of the study is the examination of five innovation models with strong potential for transferability between regions. Among these, the Catalan Regenerative Scale Framework stands out as a strategic approach that enables regions shift from merely meeting regulatory requirements to actively regenerating their social, ecological, and economic systems.

Our findings show that meaningful transformation depends on coordinated action across ten strategic domains, from positioning schools as local transformation hubs to deploying digital tools that make material and resource flows transparent. Overall, the paper offers both researchers and regional policymakers an empirically grounded roadmap to overcome linear lock‑ins and build more resilient territorial systems.

3.1 Designing Responsible and Sustainable Futures, chair: Aino Vepsäläinen, room: A122

Implications of Social Responsibility to Future-proof Smart Communities
Suvi Siven, Laurea University of Applied Sciences
Terhi Saarijärvi, LAB University of Applied Sciences

The development of future-proof smart communities is shaped by daily activities, including work in SMEs and value chains. The implementation of social responsibility has practical effects on operating environments, participants' well-being, and communities. This article aims to understand the current needs and challenges of CSR of Finnish SMEs based on the VALIOT project during the years 2023-2025. Secondly, the author’s aim is to suggest implications for future smart community development based on project observations of SMEs. The observations have been made during workshop discussions with representatives of companies and organizations participating in the project, as well as through participants' reflections on social responsibility. In these workshops and reflections, the participants discussed the development of social responsibility and responsible recruitment, as well as the associated competencies, challenges, and development. The results show that CSR is seen as an important area of development and opportunity for the regional SMEs participating in the project. This is based on integrating social responsibility factors, such as equality, into practice to support social responsibility in everyday life and community development. The key findings are: 1. The importance of qualifications in implementing social responsibility dimensions; 2. Meeting stakeholder social responsibility expectations by going beyond the mandatory minimum. The study promotes the practical implementation of social responsibility by showing how SME representatives view it as part of business and responsible recruitment practices. It also shows how the training provided in the projects supports SMEs and communities to strengthen the sustainability mindset and the added value of social responsibility.

Smart Skills for Socio‑Ecological Futures - Aesthetic Experience for Learning
Anne Pässilä, LUT University
Sari Suomalainen, Häme University of Applied Sciences
Allan Owens, University of Chester
Helinä Melkas, LUT University

This study explores how arts‑based learning can strengthen climate awareness, specifically soil awareness, within landscape design education. Grounded in Dewey’s view of aesthetic experience as key to environmental understanding, we examine how sensory, participatory methods support holistic design thinking and planetary responsibility.

Using a case study of three educators’ reflections on courses taught in 2024–2025, we analyse the use of arts‑based methods such as photovoice and embodied mapping. These approaches encouraged sensory engagement, participation, and creativity, opening learning dimensions related to belonging, ecological grief, care, and playfulness. Students engaged emotionally, physically, and imaginatively with landscapes, deepening their understanding of human–nature relationships.

We conclude that aesthetic experiences generated through arts‑based methods can transcend disciplinary boundaries, foster climate empathy, and cultivate ecological attunement. Slowing down and attending to the emotional qualities of place offers a pathway to supporting planetary responsibility in the education of future landscape professionals.

Co-Creating a Model for a Circular Hub – Best Practices from ARKI 135 (Practical case example)
Kaisa Spilling, Forum Virium Helsinki
Mette Hiltunen, City of Helsinki

ARKI 135 is a pilot for testing a model for a circular economy hub in the former Arabia ceramics factory block in Helsinki. To identify the best practices for circular hubs, we benchmarked various hubs across Europe. During the preliminary study and in the starting phase, we evaluated local and international hubs to establish a solid framework. Furthermore, we have been co-creating with the network and testing the operational model on a small scale over a 12-month period to validate our findings with small and medium -sized enterprises.

The hub's core activities are categorized into three strategic themes:
1) Connect, Share, and Learn, which focuses on creating a space for curious minds through curated events, specialised training, and active community-building communications.
2) Co-create and Innovate represents the hub’s primary value proposition. Programs offered by the hub and its collaborators provide direct support to SMEs in transitioning to circular business models.
3) Show and Tell is dedicated to providing a platform for inspiration. Through a physical showroom and a digital gallery, the hub offers high visibility for innovative products and services, inspiring both visitors and potential partners.

The ARKI 135 initiative launched as a city-led pilot project, utilizing the Arabia 135 block as an ideal urban testbed. Moving forward, expanding the partner network is critical for scalability and long-term growth. In this presentation, we reflect on our key learnings and propose sustainable operator models for public and private partners across the Helsinki region.

Toward Chromocene Urbanism: Chromatic Mediation between Environmental Responsiveness and Urban Experience
Ville Huhtanen, LAB University of Applied Sciences

Smart and sustainable urban design increasingly relies on sensing, adaptive materials and feedback systems to relate environmental change to human experience. Yet the ways in which such change becomes perceptually encountered, experientially significant and contextually intelligible remain uneven. This paper examines colour as one possible mediator within these relations. It began from the assumption that environmentally responsive chromatic mediation was only weakly developed in urban contexts. A structured integrative literature review was conducted through three complementary Scopus searches addressing situated chromatic experience, environmentally responsive chromatic and material systems, and environmental sensing and human–environment feedback. The searches yielded 322, 129 and 36 records respectively, followed by title-and-abstract screening and purposive full-text analysis of 17 core cases. The review challenged the initial assumption by identifying multiple existing forms of environmental mediation and feedback. It nevertheless showed that environmental or material condition, chromatic or informational manifestation, perceptual encounter, physiological response, experiential significance, intelligibility and action are related but non-equivalent dimensions. Chromatic experience and environmentally responsive chromatic systems are both well represented, but their conjunction with situated interpretation and agency remains uneven. Chromocene is therefore proposed as an exploratory relational approach for examining how environmental processes become chromatically manifest and how these manifestations participate in situated experience, interpretation, response and possible reciprocity.

2.3 Sport and Nature-Based Solutions, chair: Elina Hasanen, room: A135

Demand for Nature-Based Services: A Consumer Study in Finland
Riikka Puhakka, LAB University of Applied Sciences
Ursula Siltanen, University of Helsinki

The well-being and health benefits of urban nature are increasingly recognized. Well-being and health have become growing trends in urbanized societies, and nature-based well-being services are among the key tourism attractions for example in Finland. As urban residents may have limited skills and experience needed for outdoor recreation, the demand for nature-based services is likely to increase in the future.

This study examines the demand for nature-based services among Finnish consumers: how interested they are in purchasing such services, how much they are willing to pay for them, and what factors motivate or hinder their purchasing decisions. The study is based on quantitative survey data (n = 105) and qualitative interview data (n = 30) collected from Finnish visitors at the Vierumäki Resort and Päijänne National Park in 2025. The data was collected within the EU-cofunded project ‘Local nature as business booster’ (2024-2026).

The quantitative results indicated that consumers were most interested in guided canoeing and mountain biking trips, as well as a sauna steam ceremony with a herbal foot bath. Based on the interviews, purchasing nature-based services enabled consumers to gain new nature experiences, discover unfamiliar places, try new activities in a safe manner, and acquire new skills and knowledge. Barriers to purchasing nature-based services included, for example, price, limited availability of services or information about them, as well as a preference to spend time on nature independently, at their own pace. The findings provide valuable insights for entrepreneurs aiming to develop nature-based services for the market.

Healthy, Liveable Neighbourhoods Through Nature-Based Solutions: Engaging Vulnerable Groups in Co-Creating Place-Based Innovations (Practical case example)
Mikko Laak, Forum Virium Helsinki
Kaisa Spilling, Forum Virium Helsinki

This practical case example reflects on experiences with co-creation and place-based innovations in suburban contexts, showcases barriers to participation and presents approaches to co-creation going beyond traditional municipality-led public participation to co-create healthy liveable districts for humans and non-humans.

Engaging the public in a neighbourhood already undergoing several suburban renewal projects is challenging. Especially citizens belonging to vulnerable groups may face additional challenges that can create barriers for participation (Haziri, 2025, 42). Nevertheless their involvement is crucial to ensure an inclusive design and a sense of belonging.

The GreenInCities project focuses on two pilot sites in the Ala-Malmi district in Helsinki. Firstly, Longinoja park, a green area defined by meadows and a creek where NbS are utilised to foster biodiversity. Secondly, Ala-Malmi square, a medium-size, uninviting urban square within a densely built urban fabric, which will be transformed into a green, liveable, safe and inclusive urban square reflecting the local identity. Even though the two pilot sites differ in their characteristics, NbS are the key elements in both pilot sites for promoting health, safety, social inclusion, equity and climate resilience. Engagement and dialogue with residents is essential to improving the attractiveness of the suburban regeneration districts.

The Helsinki Innovation Districts project (2020-2024) spread innovation activities from new areas to four suburban regeneration areas and the fastly growing Pasila area. The work continues within new projects in the districts with GreeninCities as the key project 2024-2027.

From Grassroots Engagement to Ecosystem Innovation: Good Practices in Sport and Leisure (Practical case example)
Sanna Kangas, LAB University of Applied Sciences
Kirsi Kiiskinen, LAB University of Applied Sciences
Harri Kuusela, The Regional Council of Päijät-Häme
Ilkka Väänänen, LAB University of Applied Sciences

The European sport and leisure industry is rapidly transforming due to digitalisation, sustainability demands and new cross sectoral value chains. Supporting SMEs through this transition requires new collaboration models, innovation support mechanisms and effective knowledge exchange across regional ecosystems.

This presentation introduces practical case examplesgood—practices—that show how innovation in the S&L sector can be strengthened through targeted ecosystem development and policy-driven initiatives. These cases were identified through interregional cooperation and stakeholder engagement involving public authorities, research organisations, business support actors and companies.

A “good practice” is defined as an initiative, policy measure or support mechanism that has demonstrated concrete results and potential for transferability. The aim is not direct replication but mutual learning: regions and organisations can adopt successful ideas, adapt them to local contexts and further develop them within their own innovation environments.

The selected practices are presented under four thematic areas:

• Cross-sectoral multi-stakeholder collaboration, showing regional ecosystems connecting sport, tourism, technology, public authorities and researchers to create new innovation opportunities.
• SME innovation support mechanisms, illustrating how targeted services and ecosystem facilitation strengthen small companies’ innovation capacity.
• Digitalisation-driven innovation, demonstrating how data, digital platforms and emerging technologies enable new services, better user experiences and more efficient operations.
• Sustainability and eco-innovation, highlighting circular approaches and environmental responsibility driving new business models and competitive advantages.

Together, these examples show how shared learning and the transfer of effective practices and grassroot-level stakeholder engagement methods can accelerate innovation in the S&L ecosystem while supporting healthier lifestyles, sustainable growth, and resilient regional innovation systems.

Co-LIFE: Co-Designing Learning for Impact-Focused Entrepreneurship, chair: Olga Rantanen, room: A127

Impact-Focused Entrepreneurship Education for Sustainable Regions: An EU-India Collaboration (Practical case example)
Olga Rantanen, LAB University of Applied Sciences

Smart regional development depends not only on technological innovation but also on entrepreneurial ecosystems capable of generating sustainable and inclusive value. The Erasmus+ Capacity Building for Higher Education project Co-LIFE (Co-Designing Learning for Impact-Focused Entrepreneurship) examines how higher education institutions can catalyse climate-smart and circular regional development through structured entrepreneurship education. The project brings together four European and four Indian universities to co-create and institutionalise an accredited 6 ECTS module in Impact-Focused Entrepreneurship that embeds sustainability, circular economy principles, social inclusion, intercultural competence, and impact measurement into entrepreneurial learning.

Beyond curriculum innovation, Co-LIFE operates through a transnational network of universities, impact-driven enterprises, artisan-based industries, sustainability-oriented companies, educators, students, and regional development actors. Through this collaborative ecosystem, higher education institutions function as coordinators and knowledge brokers linking academic expertise with real-world sustainability challenges in water management, waste management, circular materials, and craft-based production systems.

The course is delivered in a nine-week hybrid format combining Learning by Developing and design thinking with intensive company collaboration. In Pilot 1, with the face-to-face weeks in Goa and Mumbai, multidisciplinary and intercultural student teams addressed sustainability challenges with Indian enterprises. Following evaluation and refinement, Pilot 2 is being implemented in Jaipur and Delhi with improved course content, students grouping and coaching. A parallel Faculty Development Programme involving over 80 educators, further strengthens pedagogical capabilities and long-term institutionalisation.

Impact-Focused Entrepreneurship through Responsible Innovation in Higher Education (Practical case example)
Nansi Van Geetsom, Thomas More University of Applied Sciences

Across Europe and beyond, organizations are seeking new ways to address societal and environmental challenges through responsible products, services, and business models. The Erasmus+ project CoLIFE supports this transition by strengthening the capacity of higher education institutions to teach impact‑focused entrepreneurship. In collaboration with partners in Finland, India, Denmark, and Belgium, the project developed a learning module that enables students from diverse disciplines, as well as staff, to work directly with sustainable enterprises.

At Thomas More University of Applied Sciences, the international Postgraduate in Space and Service Design brings over a decade of experience with learning‑by‑development approaches. Student teams work exclusively on real‑life challenges with public institutions, social organizations, and mission‑driven companies. This expertise supported the creation of the CoLIFE module, which combines online learning in design thinking, service design, and sustainable business strategies with hands‑on teamwork on real business cases from India.

The first CoLIFE pilot, coordinated by Thomas More, brought together international student teams to co‑create solutions for Indian impact‑focused enterprises. Students learned to analyze business challenges, collaborate across cultures and disciplines, and design responsible products, services, and systems that support sustainable growth. The project demonstrates how cross‑sector collaboration can simultaneously strengthen student competencies and contribute to enterprise development.

In addition to presenting the programme structure and approach, this contribution introduces a value‑proposition framework that highlights the benefits CoLIFE generates for higher education institutions, students, and international partners. It shows how real‑life collaboration fosters responsible innovation, supports sustainable entrepreneurship, and prepares learners to contribute to positive societal impact.

Revising an Impact-Focused Entrepreneurship Course: The International and Interdisciplinary Experience of the Co-LIFE Project
Eva Sørum Poulsen, Aarhus University

Entrepreneurship education is increasingly expected to help address social and environmental challenges. At the same time, we still know relatively little about how these kinds of courses are actually designed and improved, especially when several institutions and disciplines are involved.

This paper examines how an impact-focused entrepreneurship course was revised within an international collaboration. Instead of focusing mainly on the course content itself, the study looks at how the revision process unfolded in practice.

The analysis is based on meetings between partner institutions, feedback from the first pilot, and reflections from educators, coaches, and stakeholders. The course brought together students from engineering, business, and design backgrounds, who worked with established organisations addressing real-world challenges. It also included a coaching model that combined perspectives from Europe and India.

The findings show that the course was mainly improved through discussion, shared experience, and feedback from the pilot. Participants often had different views on what “impact” means, how the course should be taught, and how much structure it should include. These differences sometimes created tension, but they also helped improve the course.

Agreement was reached through ongoing dialogue and, when needed, direct decisions to move the process forward. The result is a course that combines interdisciplinary learning, real-world engagement, and flexibility.

The paper offers practical insights into how collaborative curriculum design can support more responsible and impact-oriented entrepreneurship education, particularly in the context of smart and sustainable regional development.

From Value Creation to Impact Pathways: A Dual-Lens Framework Using IBMC and Theory of Change (Practical case example)
Maitrayee Mukerji, Indian School of Development Management
Ravi Sreedharan, Indian School of Development Management
Naghma Abidi, Indian School of Development Management

Advancing smart and sustainable regions requires integrating economic systems with social and environmental impact pathways, particularly in transitions toward circular economies. However, tools used to design and assess impact enterprises often separate business viability from impact logic. The Impact Business Model Canvas (IBMC) explains how enterprises create and capture value, while Theory of Change (ToC) maps how activities lead to outcomes and long-term impact. This case proposes a dual-lens framework integrating IBMC and ToC to enable more coherent design and measurement of impact within smart regional systems.

The framework is illustrated through the case of Karo Sambhav, an Indian circular economy enterprise enabling responsible e-waste management. Operating within a regulatory environment shaped by Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) and a socio-economic context involving a large informal workforce, the case highlights how impact enterprises function as intermediaries in complex, multi-stakeholder systems and reflects the distinct institutional conditions of the Global South, including informality and evolving compliance regimes.

By aligning compliance-driven revenue models with environmental and livelihood outcomes, the case demonstrates how business and impact logics can be integrated to enable scalable, inclusive, and resource-efficient systems. The framework is transferable across regions, offering a structured approach to linking business models with impact pathways and supporting the design of smart, circular, and socially inclusive regional systems.

3.1 Designing Responsible and Sustainable Futures, chair: Pasi Juvonen, room: A116

User-Centred Insights on Integrating Smart Urban Air Mobility into Sustainable Cities
Minna-Maari Harmaala, Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences
Sirpa Lassila, Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences

Smart Urban Air Mobility (SUAM) is increasingly discussed as part of future sustainable transport systems, yet its successful integration depends not only on technology and infrastructure but also on user acceptance and perceived value. This presentation shares user-centred insights from 40 qualitative customer interviews exploring the potential of electric flying (eFlying) services, city airfields, new regional routes, and seamless customer journeys.

The interviews focused on understanding what value eFlying could bring to users, how it could complement existing transport systems, and which factors might enable or hinder adoption. Participants were shown a short video demonstrating a future customer journey from a proposed Pasila city airfield to Iisalmi, allowing them to reflect on real-world use rather than abstract concepts.

Our findings highlight strong perceived benefits related to time savings, regional connectivity, reduced travel stress, and improved accessibility between urban centres and regional cities. At the same time, users identified key bottlenecks, including pricing, safety perceptions, weather reliability, noise, regulatory uncertainty, and the need for smooth integration with ground transport and digital services.

Based on these insights, we outline practical pathways for integrating Smart Urban Air Mobility into sustainable city systems. These include the importance of multimodal planning, user-centred service design, transparent communication, and phased implementation aligned with climate and regional development goals.

The presentation demonstrates how qualitative user insights can support climate-smart mobility planning and help cities and regions move from visionary concepts toward responsible, accepted, and sustainable air mobility solutions.

Roadmap towards a Circular Economy in the Finnish Mechanical Engineering Industry (Practical case example)
Taina Lahtinen, Åbo Akademi University
Nina Tynkkynen, Åbo Akademi University
Johnny Långstedt, Turku University of Applied Sciences
Annika Holmbom, Turku University of Applied Sciences
Johanna Liipola, Turku University of Applied Sciences

We will introduce the first results of the research project Towards a Sustainable Finnish Re-manufacturing Industry (SuFiRe). The project aims to develop a roadmap to support the transition towards a circular economy in the Finnish mechanical engineering industry in the Pietarsaari region.

The project seeks to enhance enterprises’ capacity to respond to emerging environmental requirements and to identify both critical vulnerabilities and new business opportunities arising from the evolving regulatory landscape. Moreover, participating companies benefit from the project’s co-creation and co-innovation approach, which facilitates the joint development of regionally embedded business models.

Re-manufacturing and circular business models have significant potential to improve resource productivity and material circularity. However, the adoption of circular business models and compliance with ecodesign regulation necessitate changes both in production practices and in organizational work processes. Such transitions challenge established business models and logics, thereby highlighting the growing importance of change leadership capabilities within firms. Furthermore, circular business models may also be implemented at the regional level, where firms operating in similar sectors can benefit from collaborative development and shared learning.

The SuFiRe research project is structured around three interrelated objectives. First, it enhances the regional manufacturing industry’s readiness to adopt sustainable business practices by analysing the potential implications of the forthcoming ecodesign regulation. Second, it provides empirical insights into the current state of circularity within participating firms and identifies future pathways towards more circular business practices. Third, it supports organizational and regional transitions to a circular economy by developing innovative values-based change leadership model(s).

From Platforms to People: Rehumanizing Knowledge Transfer in Smart Regional Ecosystems
Sofia Ramos Velasquez, LAB University of Applied Sciences
Paula Pusenius, LAB University of Applied Sciences

Smart regions are often conceptualized through digital infrastructures, integrated ICT systems, data platforms, and technological innovations. Yet regional transformation depends not only on technological capability but also on how effectively knowledge moves across different actors such as higher education institutions (HEIs), private firms, and public organizations. Knowledge transfer (KT), central to the “third mission” of HEIs (i.e., their societal engagement beyond teaching and research), is frequently framed through measurable and digital outputs. Such an approach risks reducing KT to an overly formal, platform-centric activity, overlooking its relational and tacit dimensions.

This paper examines KT in smart regional ecosystems as a fundamentally human and socially embedded process. Drawing on insights from the Interreg Europe–funded KnowledgeAnalytics project in the Päijät-Häme region of Finland, we examine how KT takes place across diverse regional contexts within the project’s EU partner countries and identify common patterns emerging across the partner regions and the Päijät-Häme ecosystem. Our findings suggest that impactful KT does not rely solely on digital infrastructures and formal monitoring systems but also depends on trust-building, shared meaning-making, and sustained interpersonal interaction.

Building on the literature on the third mission, industry–university collaboration (IUC), and knowledge management, we propose a smart regional KT framework that accounts for structural infrastructures, co-creation mechanisms, and relational foundations. The framework suggests that while structural and co-created initiatives create conditions for interaction and collaboration, relational foundations play a critical role in supporting effective and sustained knowledge exchange across regional innovation ecosystems.

2.1 Active and Inclusive Well-being & 2.2 Solutions for Digital Health and Safety, chair: Riikka Puhakka, room: A122

Implications of Meaningful and Meaningless Work to Employee Well-being in Smart Cities' Research and Development
Terhi Saarijärvi, LAB University of Applied Sciences

Research on meaningful and meaningless work has grown significantly. The concept of meaningful work usually refers to work which is experienced as particularly significant and holds more positive meaning for individuals whereas meaningless work is often associated with issues such as emotional harm, spiritual violence, structurally constrained tasks or bureaucratic routines. Although the implications of meaningful and meaningless work are well documented, their role in smart city research and development remains underexplored. Finnish cities, like many public-sector environments, are undergoing structural, political, and technological transformations and these changes are likely to create both risks and opportunities for employee well-being and inclusive smart city development. Smart cities, driven by digitalization and new governance models, require innovative approaches to organizing and managing work. This article is based on a systematic review method and addresses two questions: (1) How the topics of meaningful and meaningless work have been investigated in the previous smart city research? and (2) What future research avenues emerge at the intersection of work meaningfulness, meaningless and smart city R&D? Results of this review showed that smart cities represent a contradictory context for meaningful work as they provide opportunities but also risks for employee well-being and inclusive and equal working life in the smart cities. Further, the current research has focused on the meaningless work topics and/or critical perspectives of digital platforms in smart city contexts. To conclude, future research should be more focused on problem-solving solutions and how to increase meaningful work when developing smart cities.

Evaluation of an Intervention on Young People’s Active Travel Practices
Elina Hasanen, South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Sciences
Anja Härkönen, South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Sciences
Tiina Rinne, Tampere University
Arto J. Pesola, South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Sciences

The study evaluates an intervention aimed at increasing young people’s daily physical activity by increasing the modal share of active travel in all-day trips. The school-year-long intervention comprised five active travel workshops organised in schools, addressing peer norms, knowledge and skills, and material prerequisites, and an information campaign. The intervention was part of a cluster-randomised controlled trial and targeted 13 to 15-year-old young people living in two Finnish mid-sized cities with peri-urban and rural areas.

The evaluation is a critical account on the intervention in relation to its theory-based aim of changing social practices by addressing the practice-elements of meanings, competences, and materials. First, the processes of recruitment, design and delivery, and participant response are examined. Second, perceived effects are explored. The material includes fieldnotes, interviews, and feedback surveys from the intervention clusters (n = 44; 2–20 per cluster), analysed using mainly content analyses.

Preliminary findings highlight the importance of recruiting real-life social groups, such as school classes, and adapting intervention content to cluster-specific contexts, such as public transport availability and transport cultures. Workshops with peers were generally experienced as engaging. Perceived effects appeared modest and largely limited to increased knowledge which, alone, is insufficient for practice change.

The findings underscore the importance of context-specific approaches to increasing active travel. For defining the contexts, multidisciplinary examinations prior to, during, and after interventions are recommended. Short intervention timeframes and limited scope for adaptation in trials may partly contradict with the slow and contextual nature of change in social practices.

Cohort as Community: Designing Self-Sustaining Peer Networks as Social Infrastructure for Smart Cities (Practical case example)
R Meenakshisundareswaran, Indian School of Development Management
Naghma Abidi, Indian School of Development Management

Smart cities invest in civic platforms and community apps that assume existing social trust. In most contexts, that trust is missing. This case presents a field study at the Indian School of Development Management (ISDM), Noida, with 102 students from 21 states. ISDM provides peer learning communities and field immersions. Yet when the program ends, the community disperses. Graduates enter the workforce without a trusted peer to call when something goes wrong. Digital platforms exist but remain unused. The reason is not access. It is the absence of trust. Two cohorts of seven and eight students were studied over nine months using participatory action research, with the researcher embedded in one group. The design drew on Self Help Group (SHG) principles: sub-groups of four, rotating leadership every two weeks, shared behavioral commitments, and progressive deepening of trust. Trust was treated not as a feeling but as a design problem. Survey data on help-seeking behavior and trust levels indicate that real help-seeking does not happen in large groups or through open platforms. It moves through one or two people inside a structured sub-group of four. Design's role is to engineer that pathway before a crisis hits. Once trust exists at the small-group level, digital civic tools shift from performative to functional. For smart city contexts, social resilience requires a prior layer of human infrastructure, not just technology. India has built this through SHG design for decades. This case offers a replicable framework: small groups, rotating leadership, shared commitments.

Knowledge Co‑Creation Promoting Social Inclusion in Health and Welfare Technology‑Assisted Health and Care Services
Suvi-Jonna Martikainen, LUT University
Helinä Melkas, LUT University
Riika Saurio, LUT University
Satu Pekkarinen, LUT University

The UPSCALE project examines the organization of health and care services assisted by health and welfare technology (HWT) paying special attention to user diversity. HWT holds immense expectations in tackling the challenges of organizing future health and care services. In practice, many obstacles hinder solving the challenges with the help of technology alone, due to the systemic nature of health and care services, where both technological, structural and human factors strongly interact.

UPSCALE project’s Finnish case study focused on HWT in maternity care (digital pathways of pregnancy) and organized co-creation workshops for 22 maternity clinic employees and clients. Participatory methods were utilized at aiming to co-create knowledge about HWT use, and to explore the role that knowledge co-creation plays in the transition of health and care services. This presentation is based on the qualitative content analysis of the workshop data. It discusses how users co-create knowledge around health and care services and HWT, and what this knowledge implies about socially inclusive HWT use and organizing HWT assisted health and care services.

The findings state that co-created knowledge spans across several dimensions and diverse themes around HWT use and HWT assisted health and care services: broad considerations of social inclusion in relation to HWT, notions of accessibility, equity, and ethical matters of HWT, and guidelines to different stakeholders in HWT development and implementation. The study findings contribute to increased user-centered understanding about the roles, characteristics and prerequisites of HWT use in the socially inclusive transition of health and care services.

3.2 Commercial Value through Responsibility?, chair: Päivi Karhunen, room: A135

How do Consumers Make Sense of Sustainability in Forest-Based Products?
Heidi Myyryläinen, LAB University of Applied Sciences

Sustainable consumption of forestry products remains an underexplored topic, and assumptions about what sustainability means in forest-based products, are unexamined. However, in real consumption settings, sustainability is not a fixed set of criteria but a multidimensional and context-dependent concept, that requires consumers to define what sustainability means and entails or specific products. Consumers construct the meaning of sustainability in specific consumption situations. In the case of forest-based products, consumers are likely to engage in processes of meaning construction to reconcile competing claims, labels, and narratives. Yet, there is a limited understanding of how these sensemaking processes unfold in practice.

This study examines how consumers interpret sustainability in forest-based products. The study focuses on the sensemaking processes and how sustainability in forest-based products is narrated by consumers. The study analyzes six consumer interviews, employing a qualitative, inductive coding approach.

The findings show how consumers interpret sustainability in forest-based products through a variety of cues, such as product labels, certifications, and product origin. The findings demonstrate that sustainability becomes practically meaningful when consumers link it to their self-understanding, trust signals in the marketplace, habitual purchasing practices. Sustainability preferences do not translate into decisions through rational evaluation alone. The findings extend practice-based understandings of sustainable consumption. As a practical implication, the study proposes that sustainability communication is likely to be more effective when it aligns with consumers’ identity narratives and communicates sustainability attributes clearly and in a reliable way.

Climate Adaptation as a Value Driver for Urban Businesses (Practical case example)
Mirka Råberg, Forum Virium Helsinki

Climate change presents escalating challenges for the built environment, as extreme weather events become more frequent and severe. For businesses and real estate owners, these conditions risk physical damage to assets and jeopardize operational continuity. Furthermore, ambiguity surrounding insurance coverage and liability for climate-induced damages creates significant financial uncertainty, complicating long-term risk management.

This case illustrates the adaptation levels and information needs of businesses in the Helsinki region. The research methodology follows a mixed-methods approach: a quantitative questionnaire (n=30) targeted at real estate owners and tenants in central Helsinki, complemented by five in-depth expert interviews conducted in Spring 2026. The study maps the current state of preparedness and identifies critical barriers to adaptation.

The findings highlight a diverse variety of motivations, worries, and preparedness levels across different business types. These results are synthesized into distinct user profiles. While concern over weather-related disruptions varies, a significant "information gap" exists regarding concrete adaptation measures, their financial viability and the division of responsibility across cities, property owners and tenants. The results will be utilized to develop a digital climate resilience toolkit tailored to these specific user profiles to help businesses integrate climate preparedness into their core operations. Also practical real-life pilots will be developed and implemented based on the findings. Ultimately, proactive adaptation by businesses and property owners ensures that urban services remain functional during extreme events, demonstrating how collaborative knowledge-sharing can generate long-term value for smart, resilient regions.

Affects of Digital Product Passport – a Critical Review of Power Asymmetries
Anu Kurvinen, LAB University of Applied Sciences
Outi-Maaria Palo-oja, LAB University of Applied Sciences

The European Union’s Digital Product Passport (DPP) initiative represents a major regulatory intervention aimed at supporting the transition towards circular economy. From 2024 onwards, DPP requirements will be introduced gradually across product categories with full implementation by 2030. DPP aims to enhance transparency in supply chains through e.g. raw material traceability and circular economy supporting data requirements (Chaudhuri et al., 2025). However, gathering the required data, integrating interoperable systems, and ensuring accessibility across supply chain actors require a digital leap in data management and considerable investment across different parts of the supply chain. From an industry perspective, these regulatory and technological shifts may reshape the competitive dynamics and redistribute power among supply chain actors.

This conceptual paper argues that DPP is not merely a sustainability instrument but also a structural industry-level intervention capable of influencing competitive dynamics. Drawing on Porter’s (1980) Five Forces framework, we analyse how regulatory and technological shifts associated with DPP may alter bargaining power between suppliers and buyers, raise entry barriers through compliance and digital capability requirements, intensify competitive rivalry, and potentially favour established firms with advanced digital infrastructures. Building on recent empirical insights into DPP-related drivers and barriers (Chaudhuri et al., 2025), the paper conceptualises DPP as a mechanism that redistributes power and reconfigures governance structures within industries. By reframing DPP through an industry structure lens, this study contributes to emerging debates on digital regulation and circular economy transitions, while identifying pathways for innovative value creation and strategic positioning among industry actors.

The Corporate ESG Implementation in Practice: Evidence from V4 Countries
Martin Maris, Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra
Eleonora Marisova, Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra

The European Green Deal (EGD) represents the EU’s most comprehensive framework for driving major structural changes in the economy, with the objective of achieving climate neutrality by 2050. The EGD also has a significant impact on corporate ESG standards, mobilising private stakeholders in areas such as climate action, resource efficiency and social responsibility. In this context, the EP and the EC adopted the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), Directive (EU) 2022/2464, mandating sustainability reporting for large companies. This directive replaces the Non-Financial Reporting Directive (NFRD) and enhances transparency regarding ESG impacts.

More recently, the European Commission adopted a new legislative package-Omnibus I-aimed at simplifying sustainability-related rules and EU investment regulations (2025/EC/0045).

The objective of this paper is to provide evidence on the scope of sustainable activity implementation by EU companies, using the V4 countries as a case study. The evaluation is based on the EU Taxonomy classification system for sustainable economic activities, established to support the EGD objective of achieving climate neutrality by 2050 (Regulation (EU) 2020/852).

Within the V4 countries, companies from the food industry that met the defined criteria were evaluated on the basis of their sustainability reports, focusing on their individual contributions to sustainability. Each activity falling within the scope of the EU Taxonomy was assigned a score according to a methodological approach drawn from AKI (2025).

Furthermore, statistical inference was conducted using multivariate analysis methods, enabling the identification of deeper relationships between the analysed activities. The paper provides evidence of ESG implementation at the European level.

Co-LIFE: Co-Designing Learning for Impact-Focused Entrepreneurship, chair: Olga Rantanen, room: A127

Designing Sustainable Business Development via Learning by Developing Pedagogics in India - EU HEI Collaboration: Exploring Student Views
Taina Vuorela, Laurea University of Applied Sciences
Anna Pajari, LAB University of Applied Sciences
Salla Kuuluvainen, Laurea University of Applied Sciences

The study investigates how Learning by Developing (LbD) pedagogics can foster sustainable impact business development related skills [AP1.1] in India through collaboration between Indian and EU higher education institutions (HEIs) in the context of Erasmus+ CBHE funded Co-LIFE project. The project developed a joint learning module in higher education: Impact-focused entrepreneurship (IFE). LbD, grounded in experiential learning, potentially enhances sustainability competencies by engaging students in real-world problem-solving. Participatory pedagogics aims to empower communities while supporting students’ academic, professional, and personal growth. The integration of digital, blended, and collaborative pedagogics has been shown to support sustainable learning, especially when aligned with cross-cultural teamwork.

The qualitative study explored European and Indian students’ views on LbD based international educational collaboration. The data consists of a student group interview and a student group discussion. The interview was analysed thematically for the development of sustainability and entrepreneurial skills; experiences of participatory learning and co-creation, digital and hybrid learning, working life collaboration, and cross-cultural teamwork. The analysis provides insight into how collaborative, practice based learning pedagogics (via LbD) developed – in students’ views - their sustainability awareness, entrepreneurial thinking, and readiness for global collaboration. The pedagogical approach succeeded in empowering the students as impact-focused business developers, whose input was taken seriously by the participating companies.

A Competency-Based Cross-Border Faculty Development Model for Impact-Focused Entrepreneurship Education
Arpita Amarnani, Goa Institute of Management

This paper presents the design and implementation of teacher training programme developed under the Co-LIFE project co-funded by European Union. This programme is in response to the growing challenge of aligning higher education to societal issues and hence, focuses on capacity building approach to prepare students for entrepreneurship for measurable social and environmental impact.

This module was designed using the competency mapping framework and integrated three interconnected yet progressive dimensions: Knowledge, Skill and Personal Attributes. It was based on inputs from curriculum, learning material and pilot experiences developed under the Co-LIFE project in order to align theory, practice and implementation. The programme began with a multi-stakeholder roundtable dialogue on the issue in the field ensuring that the participants understood the context and challenges of impact focused entrepreneurship. This was followed by introduction to diverse pedagogical approaches, including learning by developing, experiential learning, activity-based pedagogy, case-based teaching, and design thinking. These pedagogies were demonstrated through structured workshops supported by curated teaching materials and guided micro-practice sessions.

A unique feature of this training programme was its emphasis on collaborative learning and intercultural exchange. During the online workshops, time was set aside for experience sharing to encourage reflection on contextual challenges, address diversity amongst the participants and strengthen peer learning.

Evaluation feedback indicated enhanced educator confidence in teaching impact entrepreneurship and improved curriculum alignment with global sustainability priorities. The paper highlights lessons from cross-border academic collaboration and proposes a scalable model for embedding impact-focused entrepreneurship education within HEIs through competency-based faculty development.

Erasmus+ Co-Life Project - Saafwater (Practical case example)
Diya Guha Roy, Goa Institute of Management
Arpita Amarnani, Goa Institute of Management

Safe drinking water is essential for public health; however, water contamination remains a major global challenge. Approximately 2.2 billion people lack access to safe drinking water, while 3.5 billion lack adequate sanitation, increasing exposure to serious health risks. In 2019 alone, waterborne diseases caused 1.4 million deaths and imposed significant health burdens. Traditional water testing methods, which rely on delayed laboratory analysis, are often too slow to enable timely interventions, creating critical gaps in monitoring and public health protection.

This case study presents the implementation of an impact measurement framework for real-time water quality monitoring systems in rural India under the Erasmus+ Co-Life Project. Addressing persistent challenges of water contamination and its severe public health consequences, the project leverages Internet of Things (IoT)-enabled technologies to provide continuous monitoring of key water quality parameters, including pH, turbidity, and total dissolved solids (TDS).

Unlike conventional laboratory-based approaches, which are often inaccessible in remote areas, the system enables timely detection of contamination and rapid response to potential health risks. The framework evaluates environmental, social, and health impacts, ensuring a comprehensive understanding of system effectiveness.

The initiative emphasizes decentralized monitoring, empowering communities, stakeholders, and local authorities with actionable data. In collaboration with the NGO Saafwater (Goa), the project assesses device performance, usability, and scalability, contributing to improved water safety, sustainable resource management, and reduced public health risks.

1.3 Sustainable Systemic Transitions, chair: Ander de Keijzer & Meri Jalonen, room: A116

Understanding Current State of City Logistics and its Implications for Sustainable City Logistics Initiatives: A Stakeholder Perspective
Niina Sallinen, LAB University of Applied Sciences
Tiia Tuomisto, LAB University of Applied Sciences

Zero-Trail project investigated city logistics initiatives to improve the sustainability of logistics in Lahti, Finland. Ensuring smooth city logistics reduces vehicle kms travelled and supports efficient and economical vehicle utilization. Planning of logistics-friendly urban environments and transport systems can enable emissions reductions in urban freight transport.

Successful interventions require understanding of current state of delivery environment and stakeholder acceptance. This paper explores local brick-and-mortar stores’ (stores) and logistics operators’ (drivers) perspectives on the current state of city logistics and analyses their implications on sustainable city logistics initiatives. Perspectives were collected through semi-structured interviews of stores representatives and drivers in autumn 2025.

Findings indicate that stores are satisfied with present delivery arrangements and are reluctant to adopt city logistics models that add effort. Drivers face challenges in the physical street environment and imperatives of business economics set boundaries for adoption of new delivery practices. The results highlight the potential of consolidation and flexible curbside management as applicable city logistics initiatives.

While cities should consider the realities of the operating environment when planning initiatives aiming for emissions reductions, achieving meaningful change may require them to pursue ambitious measures. These measures may raise stakeholder opposition but can simultaneously encourage them to adapt and seek collaborative solutions.

AI-Driven Optimization of Urban EV Charging Infrastructure: A Structured Review and Conceptual Framework for Climate-Smart Regions
Hesam Vahib, LUT University

Urban electrification is accelerating the deployment of public electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure, increasing operational complexity at the intersection of mobility demand, distribution-grid constraints, and municipal sustainability targets. Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly positioned as an enabling capability for smart charging; however, the evidence base remains fragmented across methods, objectives, and evaluation settings, limiting transfer to city-scale operations and regional planning. This paper presents a structured review of AI-driven approaches for urban EV charging optimization, organizing the literature by (i) method class (predictive learning, reinforcement learning, and hybrid optimization–control schemes) and (ii) system-level performance objectives, including grid constraint compliance, peak-load mitigation, infrastructure utilization, service quality, and carbon-aware operation. Synthesizing findings across these dimensions, we highlight a persistent misalignment between algorithmic objectives and the practical requirements of municipal planning and governance. To address this gap, we propose a conceptual framework that links multi-modal data sources (e.g., EV/IoT charging-session data, grid telemetry, and reliability datasets) to AI decision layers, operational constraints, and regional governance mechanisms, and incorporates emerging generative AI capabilities for decision support and data harmonization. The review provides actionable guidance for researchers and practitioners designing scalable and responsible AI-enabled charging systems that support systemic transitions toward climate-smart urban regions.

Second-Order Norms and Sustainable Forestry Consumption: An Exploratory Study
Heidi Myyryläinen, LAB University of Applied Sciences
Nikos Georgantzis, Burgundy School of Business

Studying sustainable consumption in forestry matters because consumer preferences may determine to some extent how forests are managed. These choices can either support practices that protect ecosystems and store carbon or reinforce less sustainable production.

This study focuses on the role of social norms as nudges in consuming forestry-based products. Nudges are subtle ways of shaping the choice architecture. Social norms, perceived social codes, are one of the essential mechanisms in nudging. People are social beings, wired to notice what others think and do and to adapt. Studies show beliefs about others’ beliefs or what community values – second order normative beliefs - are behavioral cues influencing consumers choices. Studies on second-order beliefs and norm nudges have focused on prosocial behavior such as charitable donations or energy conservation. Little is known about how such second-order beliefs are made sense by forestry consumers.

This study examines individuals’ perceptions of social norms, focusing on how consumers understand others’ views and consumption practices related to forestry and the sustainability of forestry-based products. Six semi-structured interviews with consumers are analyzed using qualitative, theoretically informed thematic coding to explore the perceptions of social norms and expectations regarding sustainability of forest products and overall consuming forest-based products.

The study provides a nuanced account of how perceived social norms shape sustainability-related meaning-making and consumer orientations within the forestry sector.

The ENGAGE Model as a Social and Organisational Innovation for Engaging Health and Care Staff in the Green Transition
Anne Pässilä, LUT University
Riika Saurio, LUT University
Satu Pekkarinen, LUT University
Helinä Melkas, LUT University

The green transition remains a relatively new but increasingly important theme in health and care services, where staff engagement plays a critical role in advancing sustainability. Earlier work on knowledge co-creation processes has demonstrated that staff engagement supports situated learning, shared sense‑making and the co‑development of environmental practices. However, health and care organisations still need culturally embedded approaches to strengthen engagement across professional groups.

This research introduces the ENGAGE model, developed in the Horizon Europe project CARING NATURE (Grant Agreement No. 101137340) together with the Wellbeing Services County of Päijät‑Häme. The model builds on participatory processes utilised within the county’s network of environmental partners. It provides methods and guidance to help staff articulate challenges, identify opportunities and co‑develop practices for the green transition. ENGAGE’s situated learning approach aims to support ongoing staff engagement and strengthen sustainability‑related competencies. The model, available online, is being validated and refined with four international partners.

The ENGAGE model can be conceptualised as a social and organisational innovation. Its utilisation can enhance staff’s ideation and collective learning and support the integration of environmental sustainability into daily work. ENGAGE’s use can also promote staff’s ownership of environmental practices and their capability to contribute to sustainable health and care systems. The findings suggest that participatory staff engagement generates new forms of organisational value by advancing the green transition and innovation processes and embedding environmental awareness across operational levels.

3.2 Commercial Value through Responsibility?, chair: Katja Soini, room: A122

Smart Value Creation in SMEs: Responsible Strategy as a Catalyst for Sustainable Competitiveness
Jukka Sirkiä, LAB University of Applied Sciences
Suvi Siven, Laurea University of Applied Sciences

Small and medium-sized enterprises operate under increasing sustainability expectations shaped by the EU´s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive and the European Commission´s Omnibus initiative. These developments create practical implications for SMEs whose sustainability work is typically constrained by limited resources and a lack of specialized expertise. To examine how SMEs can translate these expectations into strategic practices, this study draws on empirical material from the VALIOT and ImpAct projects. The research applies a structured methodological design in which participating firms conducted VRIO, PESTEL, and 8‑field SWOT analyses, complemented by facilitated workshops and iterative data collection on firms’ sustainability competencies, challenges, and development actions. Through this analytical approach, the study identifies concrete sustainability factors that influence SMEs’ strategic decision-making, innovation efforts, and stakeholder interactions. The results show that sustainability becomes strategically meaningful when companies can connect regulatory expectations with internal capabilities, and when analytical tools support translation of abstract requirements into operational priorities. Key findings highlight three areas where sustainability acts as a driver of business development: (1) competence building that enables firms to interpret regulatory demands; (2) stakeholder‑driven pressures that shape strategic choices; and (3) responsible innovation practices that support long‑term competitiveness. The study contributes to research on SME sustainability transitions by demonstrating how structured analytical frameworks can reduce the perceived complexity of sustainability and support more evidence‑based decision‑making. It further shows how project‑based learning environments help SMEs progress from compliance‑oriented thinking toward value‑creating sustainability integration.

Sustainability as a Driver and Constraint in SME Internationalization: Evidence from Growth-Oriented Finnish Firms
Lasse Torkkeli, LAB University of Applied Sciences
Heidi Myyryläinen, LAB University of Applied Sciences
Sascha Fuerst, Tecnologico de Monterrey, EGADE Business School

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) seeking international growth increasingly operate in an environment where sustainability expectations from customers, regulators, and partners determine their market entry decisions, partner selection, and competitive positioning. Yet research on SME internationalization has largely seen sustainability as a peripheral concern rather than a strategic factor influencing how and why firms expand internationally. This study addresses the question: How do sustainability considerations determine internationalization decisions and strategies in growth-oriented SMEs?

The research draws on semi-structured thematic interviews with managers of Finnish knowledge-work SMEs that have international growth aims and operate in digital business environments. The data are analyzed using qualitative thematic analysis. The interview findings illustrate firms' growth objectives, the role of sustainability in impacting those objectives, how international partnerships and collaborations are influenced by sustainability considerations, and which sustainability themes managers perceive as most significant in international markets.

The findings suggest that sustainability has a multifaceted role in SME internationalization: it functions simultaneously as a market access requirement in certain international markets, a basis for selecting and being selected by international partners, and a source of competitive differentiation abroad. However, firms also report tensions when sustainability commitments constrain the internationalization process.

The study contributes to the conference theme of smart value creation by connecting the sustainability and internationalization agendas at the firm level. The findings also have practical implications for regional business support organizations seeking to help SMEs use sustainability as a competitive advantage in international markets, rather than experiencing it solely as a compliance burden.

Exploring Behavioural and Economic Barriers to Emotionally Charged Organic Materials Across Stakeholders
Paula Nurminen, LAB University of Applied Sciences
Aino Vepsäläinen, LAB University of Applied Sciences
Outi-Maaria Palo-oja, LAB University of Applied Sciences

The transition toward a circular economy is no longer just a strategic choice, but a necessity dictated by tightening legislation and a profound shift in societal values. As global frameworks increasingly enforce producer responsibility and the phase-out of plastics, educational institutions must step up to meet these systemic demands.

This research explores how education can bridge the gap between policy and practice, specifically by investigating the replacement of synthetic materials with bio-based alternatives like hair and wool. Interestingly, preliminary tests suggest that these natural fibres offer better durability and longer lifecycles in oil spill response than traditional plastic-based products.

Using a case study methodology, this research tracks the journey of transforming waste into functional raw materials, such as growth media and oil-sorption mats. To understand the viability of these innovations, we conducted interviews with various stakeholders.

Our preliminary findings highlight a significant gap in perception: while consumers may view natural materials like recycled hair to be authentically eco-friendly, businesses remain cautious due to high processing costs. Meanwhile, for design students, these materials provoke strong emotional reactions, suggesting that the "human" aspect of waste is a powerful yet underutilised tool in sustainable design.

The contribution of this work lies in its holistic view of systemic change. It demonstrates that moving toward a circular society is not just a technical challenge, but a pedagogical and communal one. By involving stakeholders early in the material refinement process, we can better navigate the emotional and economic barriers to truly sustainable innovation.

Developing a Smart Campus Concept & Service Portfolio - A Practical Case Example from Metropolia University of Applied Sciences (Practical case example)
Shree Gurudath, Metropolia University of Applied Sciences

Universities are increasingly evolving into “small smart cities” where digital technologies, sustainability, smart infrastructures, and collaboration with industry are becoming essential parts of campus development. However, many higher education institutions struggle to turn these initiatives into a clear and visible set of services that demonstrate their value to students, researchers, partners, and society stakeholders.

This case example presents how Metropolia University of Applied Sciences in Finland is developing its Smart Campus concept and Service portfolio from previously scattered initiatives. The work followed a five-step process that combined literature, analysis of Metropolia's current capabilities, with benchmarking of six Nordic universities: Aalto, Tampere, Oulu, KTH, DTU, and NTNU, to identify good examples of service portfolios and use them for own Smart Campus concept and service development.

The findings relate to formulating the Smart Campus concept, with three interconnected elements: infrastructure, governance, and service offerings, and the structured Service portfolio for Metropolia´s Smart Campus. The Service portfolio includes Data-as-a-Service, Digital Twin and Visualisation Services, Living Lab-as-a-Service, and XR Learning Environments, and other services.

The Service portfolio helps to demonstrate the Smart Campus sustainable and innovative services in a structured way, show its potential to support R&D and learning, and thus help in strengthening collaboration with industry and society, and creating new educational, societal, and commercial value from existing campus capabilities. It is created in hope that a clearly defined Service portfolio can help universities better communicate their innovations and position themselves as active contributors to regional development via value created in smart campuses.

2.2 Solutions for Digital Health and Safety, chair: Marketta Niemelä, room: A127

Assessing the Multidimensional Sustainability Impacts of Remote Health and Social Care Services: A Case from the Wellbeing Services County of Päijät-Häme, Finland (Practical case example)
Anni Toivanen, Wellbeing Services County of Päijät-Häme
Ville Nordberg, Trail Openers
Riitta-Maija Hämäläinen, Wellbeing Services County of Päijät-Häme
Sampo Juustila, Trail Openers

The health and social services account for 6.5% of Finland’s greenhouse gas emissions, creating a need to reduce environmental impacts while safeguarding accessibility, equity and cost efficiency. Digital remote services offer potential for more sustainable and accessible care, particularly in sparsely populated areas. This case study examines the multidimensional sustainability impacts of remote health services compared with with in‑person consultations within the Wellbeing services county of Päijät‑Häme, Finland.

The Päijät‑Sote application enables residents to access health services remotely and serves as the case example. An integrated methodology combines Environmental Life Cycle Assessment, Social Life Cycle Assessment, Life Cycle Costing, and a digital emissions assessment aligned with the Software Carbon Intensity (SCI) methodology. The functional unit is one completed consultation, enabling comparison between remote and in‑person services. The analysis focuses on relative impacts and includes the key processes that change in a remote consultation.

We underline the importance of transparent assumptions and fit‑for‑purpose sustainability frameworks. Preliminary findings suggest that remote health services can reduce operational emissions through decreased patient travel, while emissions related to digital services remain smaller but require monitoring. Social and economic impacts appear generally positive, though outcomes depend on inclusive service design, cost structures, and implementation practices. The findings support the expansion of remote services as part of a combined digi‑physical care model.

The assessment is conducted in collaboration with Trail Openers Ltd as part of the CARING NATURE project (2024-2026). This work has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe programme under Grant Agreement No.101137340.

Sustainability through AI Innovations in the Ageing Society
Marketta Niemelä, LAB University of Applied Sciences
Tuuli Turja, Tampere University

Digitalization and ageing are transforming societies, yet older adults are seldom presented as active participants in a digitalized society. We explored through narrative scenarios how AI-enabled innovations supporting older adults’ participation could contribute to sustainability of ageing societies. The study was conducted in four phases: rapid literature reviews, scenario development, expert evaluation, and multifaceted sustainability analysis. Sustainability was addressed from two perspectives: global Sustainable Development Goals of United Nations and sustainability principles for developing national services for older adults in Finland. We call this approach “two-perspective sustainability analysis” (2PSA).

Nine narrative scenarios were created, and five scenarios were evaluated by an expert group of decision-makers in elderly care services. Four scenarios were selected for analysis using the 2PSA approach to illustrate various ways that AI can contribute to sustainability.

Two of the scenarios described AI advancing usability, wellbeing and personalized health, and the other two scenarios showed how older adults’ knowledge and experience could be deployed in organizations and AI development. All scenarios aimed at presenting older adults as active participants in a digitalized society. The 2PSA analysis identified the AI implementations depicted in the scenarios as promoting multiple dimensions of sustainability in an ageing society, particularly economic and social sustainability, but also cultural and environmental sustainability. However, sustainability risks of AI should not be overlooked.

The study provides important, although initial, insight to researchers, developers and policymakers considering AI in the ageing society. The 2PSA approach facilitates multifaceted sustainability analysis of AI innovations.

1. Climate-Smart and Circular Economy

Reclaimed Water from WWTP Permeate: A Pilot Study
Vuokko Malk, South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Sciences
Niina Laurila, South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Sciences
Aki Mykkänen, South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Sciences
Minttu Paakkari, South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Sciences

Global water scarcity poses a threat to agriculture, but it also creates risks for industry and exposes supply chains to disruptions. Climate change is expected to intensify the problem. The European Union has introduced directives and a water resilience strategy to promote the sustainable use of water resources. Wastewater recycling and the use of reclaimed water in industrial applications can conserve freshwater resources for drinking and domestic use, while improving the responsibility and sustainability of products in a commercially viable way.

This study piloted the production of reclaimed water from municipal wastewater. Treated effluent from a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) was analysed in accordance with Finnish drinking water quality requirements. The effluent wastewater contained PFAS compounds and pesticides, as well as nitrate and manganese concentrations exceeding drinking water quality targets. Reclaimed water was produced using a laboratory-scale system using hollow-fibre nanofiltration membranes. After treatment, concentrations exceeding drinking water quality targets were no longer observed. The sum concentration of 20 PFAS compounds was reduced by more than 90%, and almost all detected pesticides were reduced to below their limits of quantification. The quality of the treated effluent and reclaimed water was further assessed using growth tests with garden cress (Lepidium sativum) and Aliivibrio fischeri luminescent bacteria ecotoxicity tests. No toxicity was observed and no significant differences in seed germination or growth index were detected compared to drinking water. The results indicated that the treated water is suitable for a range of applications, for example, in industrial uses.

Cost-Effective Lake Water Sampling with a Commercial Drone-Mounted Water Sampler
Niina Laurila, South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Sciences
Henri Kettunen, South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Sciences
Anna Dunderfelt, South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Sciences
Presenter: Leena Pekurinen, South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Sciences

Drones have significant potential for conducting surface water sampling tasks that would traditionally require the use of a boat to reach sampling spots. In recent years, numerous studies worldwide have developed customised mechanisms enabling drones to perform water sampling, thus progressively advancing the technology. Recently, commercial devices have become available. In XAMK’s Suovu project, a commercial drone-mountable water sampler was used to collect surface water samples from multiple sampling spots in Lake Suovunselkä, located in Haukivuori, Finland. The drone-based water sampling process was compared with traditional boat-based water sampling. When comparing the costs and effort required for both methods, drones can be considered a viable alternative for the water sampling tasks, while also improving occupational safety. However, the commercial sampler used in this project does have certain limitations. Its carrying capacity is still limited to 1.2 litres, and its winch-operated rope cannot reach depths greater than 10 meters. Fortunately, the same drone used for water sampling can also be deployed for other tasks with various payloads, such as mapping, meaning that the initial investment in the drone can be distributed across several operations. In addition, drones can respond more rapidly to emergency situations compared with the time required to transport and launch a boat for sampling. Although the investment in the drone and the sampling device is considerably higher than renting a boat and using a manual water sampler such as a Limnos sampler, the investment may become cost-effective in the long term if lake water sampling is conducted frequently.

50 Visions of Circular Economy 2033 – A Student-Generated Scenario Atlas
Kimmo Heponiemi, LAB University of Applied Sciences

The people who will implement tomorrow's circular economy solutions are students today — yet their visions of the future remain largely unmapped in the research literature. This study examines what kinds of circular economy futures students construct through a structured scenario method and what these student-generated future images reveal about broader societal expectations and values.

The dataset comprises approximately 50 reports produced by students at LAB University of Applied Sciences. Each student constructed a PESTEA analysis, a futures table and a future pathway to explore the operating environment in 2033. Students also developed a persona-based narrative in which a fictional character engages with circular economy services in everyday life. This narrative element bridges macro-level driving forces and individual lived experience, bringing a human dimension to the scenarios.

The methodological approach combines quantitative content analysis with qualitative thematic analysis. In the first phase, all futures tables are classified into a unified matrix, enabling frequency analysis of variable states across the dataset and revealing the political, technological, ecological and value-related conditions most commonly anticipated for 2033. In the second phase, future pathways and persona narratives are analysed thematically and organised into four archetypal scenarios using Jim Dator's generic futures framework — growth, collapse, discipline and transformation.

The study produces two key outputs: a quantitative map of how students distribute across different future states, and a qualitative scenario atlas synthesising the dominant narratives of circular economy development pathways. The findings contribute to both futures studies methodology and circular economy pedagogy.

Producing Organic Fertilisers from Biogas Plant Digestates Using the Paskìer® Process
Vuokko Malk, South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Sciences
Leena Pekurinen, South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Sciences
Tiina Saario, South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Sciences
Marleena Tirkkonen, South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Sciences
Lauri Turmola, Metsäsairila

The biogas process generates nutrient-rich digestates that can be used to produce organic fertilisers. This supports the circular economy by increasing recycling of nutrients and organic matter and reducing reliance on mineral fertilisers. Key challenges relate to economic profitability, and, for example, safety risks associated with harmful substances. Digestates can be applied directly as organic soil improvers but drying and granulation reduce transportation costs and increase nutrient concentrations.

This study aimed to create cost-effective fertiliser products from digestates and other waste side streams. Twelve mixtures from sewage sludge digestate, liquid fraction of biowaste digestate, co-digestion plant digestate, garden compost and bottom ash were processed with infrared drying (the Paskíer® process) to produce granules with 82% dry matter. The granules were analysed for nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium content, and their quality was tested through garden cress (Lepidium sativum) growth experiments under controlled conditions.

The fertiliser granules met the legislative requirements set by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of Finland for organic fertilisers. Total nutrient concentrations were partly lower than in commercial products, but the nutrient ratios were comparable. The advantage of the Paskíer® process is that bacteria and pathogens can be eliminated from the material during drying. The main challenges, on the other hand, are energy consumption and process control.

The Suitability of Demolition Concrete as Raw Material for Recycled Concrete
Salla Pulliainen, South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Sciences
Leena Pekurinen, South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Sciences
Henri Kettunen, South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Sciences

Concrete waste generated in Finland is mainly recycled in civil engineering and infrastructure construction, and the reuse of concrete is low due to the good availability of high-quality natural aggregate. However, recycled concrete aggregate can be used as aggregate in concrete products up to 15 percent without significantly weakening the strength of the concrete.

The South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Sciences studied the use of demolition concrete as raw material for recycled concrete. In addition, the study examined how partial replacement of cement with demolition concrete fine fraction affects the compressive strength properties of concrete. The properties of recycled concrete were examined by testing their compressive strength and density.

Based on the results, high-quality demolition concrete can replace part of the normal aggregate in concrete without weakening its strength properties. The test specimens containing recycled aggregate were stronger in tests than the reference specimens. The fine fraction of demolition concrete is better suited for other uses than as a cement substitute.

High-quality raw materials, successful proportioning, and appropriate manufacturing methods and conditions enable strong recycled concrete. In Finland, the challenges for the reuse of recycled concrete include higher costs, variations in demolition concrete quality, and the lack of uniform guidelines. However, concrete manufacturers are constantly developing new, low-carbon concrete types, and the reuse potential of demolished concrete should also be studied further. Currently, recycled concrete is available from some concrete manufacturers, but it is still more expensive than regular concrete.

Bridging the Gap Between CCU Innovation and Industrial Deployment: A Web-Based Technical Screening Framework to Accelerate Commercialization
Riikka Savijärvi, LAB University of Applied Sciences
Mikko Rahtola, LAB University of Applied Sciences
Joonas Mustonen, LAB University of Applied Sciences

Carbon capture and utilization (CCU) refers to processes in which carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions are converted into value-added products, such as carbonates, construction materials, single-cell proteins, and synthetic fuels. CCU is widely recognized as a critical component of the transition to carbon neutrality. However, despite rapid technological development, commercially deployed solutions and industrial reference cases remain limited.

The main limitation for CCU value chains arises from trace impurities that exceed allowable thresholds across multiple applications in terms of CO2 quality. To explore potential pre-treatment options, the effect of cryogenic liquefaction as a partial purification step was assessed using simplified estimates based on vapor–liquid equilibrium behavior. The results indicate that even liquefaction can reduce significantly a great number of impurities with water removal.

Furthermore, a browser-based techno-economic screening tool was developed, to evaluate the feasibility of utilizing biogenic CO₂ for synthetic methane production, compared with direct hydrogen sales with CO₂ release. The software allows the user to adjust CO₂ availability and its temporal variability, and electricity pricing as input parameters, enabling estimation of production volumes, energy demand, and economic performance under different scenarios. The scenarios were tested with three different CO2 source types and the results were discussed.

Together, the results identify the most critical impurity constraints limiting CO₂ utilization and highlight the conditions under which conversion to synthetic methane may become economically viable. By increasing transparency and awareness in early-stage feasibility assessment, the analysis supports informed decision-making and may accelerate industrial adoption of CCU solutions.

Utilization of Non-usable Books as Raw Material for Pyrolysis Char
Salla Pulliainen, South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Sciences
Miia Sourander, South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Sciences
Pauliina Kuukka, South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Sciences
Mikko Hokkanen, South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Sciences

In Finland, the circular economy of books focuses on the life cycle extension of books through recycling. When books are no longer read, according to the current guidelines, they are sorted into energy waste. According to the waste hierarchy, products should be used as raw material before energy recovery, and new opportunities should be found for the reuse of books.

South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Sciences, Xamk, studied difficult-to-recycle books as raw materials for pyrolysis. The study’s aims were to evaluate the properties and potential uses of pyrolysis char. Only the pages of books were used in this study. The pyrolysis was carried out using Xamk’s pilot-scale slow pyrolysis biochar unit. The process temperature was 450–640 °C, and the total duration was about 2.5 hours. The char yield from the pyrolysis process was 40%. Laboratory analyses were used to evaluate the properties of char, the concentrations of harmful substances, and the potential use of the produced char.

The results showed that non-usable book material is suitable for making pyrolysis char using a batch-type unit. The pyrolysis char did not have significant levels of harmful substances and could work for various applications, such as a raw material in building materials. Based on this experiment, further research is needed where the char would be tested in a suitable application, and the pyrolysis process would be optimised to improve economic viability. Additionally, the produced chars’ function as a carbon sink should be examined as part of climate change mitigation.

Urban Phosphorus Recovery: From Waste to Resource in Circular Wastewater Systems
Anu Karppinen, University of Helsinki
Merja Kontro, University of Helsinki

Modern societies and their food security rely heavily on mineral phosphorus fertilizers, yet natural reserves are being depleted due to increasing human use. The European Union is strengthening regulatory requirements for phosphorus recovery from waste streams, including wastewater sludge. In Finland alone, sewage sludge can accumulate approximately 4,5 kt of phosphorus annually. Recovering this resource is essential in advancing circular economy, resource-smart urban water management, and regional nutrient self-sufficiency.

This study aims to develop a technically and economically viable method for recovering phosphorus from wastewater sludge while simultaneously assessing the recycling potential of iron used as a coagulant in the treatment process. The central research question is how phosphorus and iron can be efficiently recovered in a way compatible with existing urban infrastructure, particularly biogas production systems.

Phosphorus was leached from four sludge types collected at different stages of the wastewater treatment process. Acidic and alkaline leaching approaches were studied and six pH levels were systematically tested. The release of phosphorus and other inorganic elements was analysed to evaluate potential recovery products, side streams, and process scalability.

Preliminary results indicate that both pH and sludge type significantly influence phosphorus release, with optimal conditions varying between materials. The findings highlight the need for sludge-specific process design to ensure process efficiency. This research advances scalable, regionally adapted nutrient recovery solutions, and strengthens circular economy development at regional and national levels.

Recycling Waste-Derived Carbon into Polyhydroxyalkanoates, A Raw Material for Biodegradable Plastics
Mubina Ghazi, University of Helsinki
Merja Kontro, University of Helsinki

Conventional fossil raw material-based plastics have become an indispensable part of our lives. However, their widespread usage has led to a substantial rise in plastic waste generation. Given these circumstances, there is an increasing urge to explore alternate options to effectively control synthetic plastic product consumption and its waste, particularly bio-based plastics made from renewable natural resources. Expanding bioplastic use reduces reliance on fossil raw materials and accelerates the transition to a circular bio-based economy.

Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) are microbial-derived polymers that stand out for their sustainability and biodegradability. Microbial PHA production from industrial wastes, particularly using activated sludge, has gained interest. Wastewater treatment plants generate a substantial amount of sewage sludge that requires innovative disposal methods. Therefore, recycling organic materials from sewage sludge into biodegradable plastics is a potential option.

The study aims to convert sewage sludge into volatile fatty acids (VFAs) through hydrolysis and utilize the resulting intermediates as a carbon source for PHA accumulation in pilot-scale bioreactors (500-1000 L). In this sub-study, sludge hydrolysis and inoculum cultivation were investigated for PHA accumulation. The effects of 3-fold concentrated activated sludge, pH and growth-limiting conditions on the enrichment of PHA-accumulating bacteria were evaluated by utilizing sludge from the wastewater treatment plant in Lahti. The pH values above 7 appeared to be suitable for hydrolysis, while accumulation occurred at pH values below 7. Overall, the results suggest that the PHA content of 40-70% of volatile solids, with maximum VFA production of about 13 g/L can be achieved under optimal conditions.

Benefits of Farm-scale Biogas Plants in the South Savo Region
Salla Pulliainen, South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Sciences
Taru Seppälä, South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Sciences
Timo Lehto, AFRY Finland

The South Savo region’s equity ratio in energy production is at lower level than in other Finland’s regions on average. There is still unused energy in the region’s agricultural side streams which the farms could utilise as raw material in biogas production and thus increase self-sufficiency in energy production. In the transformation of agriculture, the growth in farm sizes and changes in their energy needs create a need for farms to consider new, sustainable solutions to secure their energy supply.

The South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Sciences, Xamk, investigated the profitability of farm-scale biogas plants to develop self-sufficiency in South Savo using example calculations. The profitability analysis considered cow slurry and surplus feed as raw materials, and profitability was examined in terms of process technologies, the methane production potential of the feeds and the energy obtained from the process. Profitability was calculated for three different facility concepts. The plants were dimensioned for farms with approximately 160 and 600 dairy cows, and the review also included a dry digestion plant using only plant-based raw materials.

The results of the profitability analysis showed that the most important factors for the profitability of the farm-scale biogas plants considered were the reactor size and the methane production potential of the feeds. In small farm-scale plants the economic potential is achieved by electricity and heat energy made from biogas. Increasing biogas production using agricultural side streams can increase South Savo’s self-sufficiency in energy production and the use of recycled fertilisers and bedding.

2. Well-being in Smart Cities and Regions 

Using Heat‑Island Mapping to Support Urban Planning and Climate Change Adaptation: A Case Study of Päijät‑Häme, Finland
Erika Tapaninen, LAB University of Applied Sciences
Jonie Agas Hiltunen, LAB University of Applied Sciences

Urban Heat Islands (UHIs) and Heat Waves (HWs) are increasingly and strongly affecting society. As cities grow and the climate warms, both UHIs and HWs intensify, reinforcing each other. In densely built cities, the increase in health hazards becomes more pronounced as structures warm up and indoor temperatures remain high even at night, resulting in prolonged exposure to heat stress. Urbanisation and population ageing further increase the risk.

Major assessments underscore heat stress as one of the most significant climate‑related health risks, with disproportionate impacts on vulnerable groups, including older adults and people with chronic conditions. These converging pressures create an urgent need for actionable, place‑based adaptation that integrates climatic, spatial, and demographic insights.

Responding to this need, heat‑island maps have been produced for the Päijät‑Häme region to support urban planning and climate‑change adaptation as heatwaves become more frequent. These maps pinpoint local hotspots, enabling targeted protective measures where they are most needed and helping prioritize interventions that reduce exposure and health risks. The maps were produced based on satellite remote sensing. The maps show that, particularly in the Lahti area, the city centre exhibits higher temperatures than the surrounding more rural zones.

Strengthening Local Nature-based Well-being Initiatives: Health Forest Guides in the Lahti Region
Taru Pietilä, Wellbeing Services County of Päijät-Häme
Riitta-Maija Hämäläinen, Wellbeing Services County of Päijät-Häme

Research evidence on the health benefits of nature includes stress release, mental wellbeing, and increasing human immunity for diseases. To achieve the benefits for physical and mental health and well-being, the ways to enhance nature-connectedness and bring nature closer to people and daily lives is important.

A Health Forest is a scientifically proven, nature-based method for improving mental and physical wellbeing through guided, sensory, and relaxing exercises in nature. It is a structured model featuring designated trails with nature connected activities. Health Forest Guides, on the other hand, support the use of health forests for health promoting activities. The Health Forest Guide network in the Lahti region form a cross-professional network of healthcare professionals, freelance guides, and other experts that utilise nature-based approaches with their everyday work with clients, patients, and colleagues. In the Lahti region, monthly coffee morning online meetings and seasonal method workshops provide continuous learning and enhance peer support. These provide a low-threshold platform for peer exchange, skill development, experimentation with new methods, and the adaptation of practices to different seasons, user groups, and natural environments.

The low-threshold, bottom-up nature-based activities demonstrate how strengthening professional identity, peer learning, and regional cooperation further enhance nature-based solutions for health issues and can be integrated into lifestyle counselling in health services and inspire nature-based well-being initiatives. The model sets an example for promoting sustainable, inclusive well-being for individuals and communities year-round.

3. Smart Value Creation

Enabling SME Engagement in Regional Climate Implementation
Ismo Nieminen, LAB University of Applied Sciences
Katerina Medkova, LAB University of Applied Sciences
Christos Karkanias, Centre for Research and Technology, Hellas
Apostolos Malamakis, Open University of Cyprus
George Banias, Centre for Research and Technology, Hellas

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) play a central role in Europe’s green transition, yet their involvement in the implementation of regional climate policies remains uneven. This multinational study examines SME participation by focusing on current engagement and barriers. SMEs engage in climate actions through energy efficiency measures alongside broader sustainability initiatives and participation in regional policy processes. These activities help reduce emissions, manage costs, and meet new policy requirements. The study integrates four complementary perspectives: multi-level governance, policy implementation, stakeholder analysis, and innovation diffusion to understand how policies move across governance levels and become operational within the SME context. Methodologically, the study combines background analysis, a structured literature review, stakeholder workshops, stakeholder-informed survey design, and a targeted survey of 79 SMEs across five European countries.

Preliminary findings highlight several recurring challenges: limited SME participation in policy design, gaps in awareness and knowledge, fragmented support structures, scarcity of region-specific data and examples, and the heterogeneity of SME profiles, which undermines one-size-fits-all solutions. The study also highlights the importance of aligning climate objectives with business values such as cost savings, risk reduction, and competitiveness.

The findings reveal notable cross-country variation in participation levels, despite consistently high motivation, highlighting that motivation alone is insufficient without awareness of policies and clear participation opportunities. The study offers two key contributions: (1) provides a cross-regional assessment of SME awareness, participation, and barriers related to local climate actions, and (2) identifies the key conditions that enable active participation in regional climate implementation.

Unlocking Circular Opportunities in the Furniture Industry: Findings from the MAKE Project
Sini Roine, LAB University of Applied Sciences
Anna Palokangas, LAB University of Applied Sciences

28% of the world's furniture is manufactured in Europe. According to the European Federation of Furniture Manufacturers, 4% of domestic waste is furniture, which is approximately 10,87 million tons of waste per year. Only 10% of these are recycled, and most of the furniture ends up in the landfill (Forrest et al. 2017, 11-12.)

Design for long lifecycle and higher value – MAKE project studied the possibilities of circular economy in furniture business in Päijät-Häme region. Salpakierto, provider of municipal waste management, estimates that the amount of furniture waste is 500 tons per year in Päijät-Häme region (Kilpeläinen 2025). During the studies, interviews were conducted with stakeholders and citizens. The results showed that furniture manufacturers utilize circular economy solutions, but those actions could be extended. There seems to be untapped business opportunities. The conclusion of the interviews with the citizens was that they are interested in repairing, reselling, and refurbishing furniture, and some are willing to buy second-hand products. The barriers for using repair services were the cost of repair and difficulty finding repair services. In second-hand market citizens feel distrust of quality. Meeting the interest of citizens gives companies possibilities to explore circular strategies.

The MAKE project created concepts of how to extend the lifecycle of furniture based on interview findings. The objective was to show possibilities how manufacturers could utilize the circular economy business models, for example in different repair services and how digital product passport could help to build trust in second-hand market.

Three Dimensions of Regenerative Business
Eija Pimiä, Häme University of Applied Sciences
Susanna Reinikainen, LAB University of Applied Sciences

At the core of regenerative business lies the assumption that business activities influence the capacity of nature and communities to renew themselves, and that companies should actively strengthen the resilience, diversity, and vitality of the socio-ecological systems of which they are a part.

This study aimed to explore, from a business perspective, how regenerative business pioneers striving for regenerative practices navigate the realities of the current operating environment and systemic constraints: what challenges and difficulties they have faced, what trade-offs they have had to make, what solutions have been found, and how traditional businesses could leverage these insights in their own sustainability transitions. The method employed was thematic interviews with experts, and the data were analyzed using the Gioia methodology.

We synthesized the findings into three intertwined dimensions of regenerative business: mindset shift, impact, and long-term orientation.